Today's Cultural Warfare Update
Oct. 22nd, 2005 12:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdKansas supreme court rejects disproportionate treatment for same-sex relationships; says "Romeo and Juliet" law cannot exclude same-sex events;
Family Research Council condemns Grover Norquist for speaking to the Log Cabin Republicans, a GBLT Republican group;
Cybercast News Service reports on general fundamentalist unhappiness with Grover Norquist for speaking to the Log Cabin Republicans - the Texas Eagle Forum calls the appearance "traitorous";
GOP pollster pollster Tony Fabrizio indicates that 34% of Republicans primarily support smaller government; 49% are primarily in it for the anti-gay and anti-abortion activism;
FotF: Stem-cell bills put on hold in Congress for lack of time - includes ACTION ITEM to ban some research (Brownback bill);
FotF: Soulforce to protest "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" at Air Force Academy;
FotF coverage of settlement offer by Air Force Academy religious-harassment complainant;
Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution heard testimony Thursday on a new anti-marriage Federal amendment;
FotF commentary: queers must not get to marry, at all costs;
Walgreens sponsours Gay Games; Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM to complain about it if you're a fundamentalist;
Hate-crimes language pulled back out of bill;
FotF: Another article(!) saying Commander in Chief is groundwork for a Hillary Clinton 2008 campaign;
FotF pushes for more obscenity prosecutions on the web, using local obscenity laws;
"Father Won't Go to Trial for Opposing Gay Curriculum" - he wasn't arrested for that, he was arrested for trespassing after he refused to leave when the meeting ended;
"Nation's top anti-rap activist dies";
Focus on the Family promotes book claiming homosexuals are going to outlaw Christianity;
CWA condemns Grover Norquist for speaking to the Log Cabin Republicans, calling it a betrayal;
Link to CWA's resource kit for the Texas anti-marriage amendment;
Canadian Christian Reconstuctionist says homosexuals want him arrested for his writings;
Agape Press reports on fundamentalist groups trying to block gay-straight alliance clubs in Michigan - the school is refusing permission for students to set one up; accuses ACLU, "homosexual activist groups" of "pulling students' strings";
Family Research Council urgent bulletin to support Texas anti-marriage amendment.
----- 1 -----
Kansas high court rejects harsher treatment of gay sex
October 21, 2005
USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-10-21-sodomy-sentencing_x.htm
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas cannot punish illegal underage sex more severely if it involves homosexual conduct, the state's highest court ruled unanimously Friday in a case watched by national groups on both sides of the gay rights debate.
The Supreme Court said in a unanimous ruling that a law that specified such harsher treatment and led to a 17-year prison sentence for an 18-year-old defendant "suggests animus toward teenagers who engage in homosexual sex."
"Moral disapproval of a group cannot be a legitimate state interest," said Justice Marla Luckert, writing for the high court.
The defendant, Matthew R. Limon, has been behind bars since he was convicted in 2000 of performing a sex act on a 14-year-old boy. Had one of them been a girl, the state's "Romeo and Juliet" law would have dictated a maximum sentence of 15 months.
[...]
"We are very happy that Matthew will soon be getting out of prison. We are sorry there is no way to make up for the extra four years he spent in prison simply because he is gay," said Limon's attorney James Esseks, of the American Civil Liberties Union's Gay and Lesbian Rights Project.
National health groups and the National Association of Social workers had filed legal arguments supporting Limon's position. A conservative law group, Orlando-based Liberty Counsel, helped prepare written arguments from 25 legislators in support of the law.
Limon and the other boy, identified only as M.A.R., lived at a group home for the developmentally disabled. In court, an official described M.A.R. as mildly mentally retarded and Limon as functioning at a slightly higher level but not as an 18-year-old.
Limon's attorneys described the relationship with the younger boy as consensual and suggested that they were adolescents experimenting with sex.
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
To: Friends of Family Research Council
From: Tony Perkins, President
October 14, 2005 - Friday
Please forward this to your Friends and Family!
Taxing Our Tolerance
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WU05J10&f=PG03I03
Texas leaders of the Log Cabin Republicans, a homosexual organization within the G.O.P., are headlining Grover Norquist as their main speaker at a fund-raiser tomorrow night. Norquist is the well-respected leader of Americans for Tax Reform, a group I was once part of as a Louisiana legislator. FRC has worked with Grover Norquist on tax issues and their impact on the family for many years. Because of our relationship we have voiced our concern directly with Mr. Norquist over his apparent support of this anti-family group. We pointed out to Mr. Norquist that some of the funds raised would be plowed into Log Cabin's fight against the pro-marriage amendment on the ballot next month in Texas.
Grover has spent years working to assemble a coalition of fiscal and social conservatives and his decision to aid those who are trying to destroy the institution of marriage is truly a disappointment and will no doubt split this important coalition. As social conservatives we remain committed to the country's fiscal and social well-being; we have tolerance neither for increasing taxes nor marginalizing marriage. If only that commitment were mutual.
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
Grover Norquist Betrayed Conservatives, Critics Charge
By Randy Hall
CNSNews.com Staff Writer/Editor
October 19, 2005
Long URL here
(CNSNews.com) - A number of conservatives are seething over the fact that Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), was the featured speaker at a fund-raising event for a group of homosexual Republicans last weekend. One pro-family leader called Norquist's appearance "an act of utter betrayal."
Norquist was the main attraction at the "Grand Ol' Party," the largest fund-raising event of the year for the Dallas, Tex., chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans, a homosexual advocacy group within the GOP.
Carla Halbrook, a member of the national Log Cabin board and the organization's chapter in Dallas, told Cybercast News Service that Norquist gave a "fantastic" speech at the dinner on Saturday night.
Halbrook said that during his speech, Norquist discussed "Social Security reform and reducing taxes and government in general. It was his normal message.
"The fact that the group is gay was irrelevant," she said. "It was one conservative talking to other conservatives."
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
REPUBLICANS PREPARE FOR LIFE AFTER BUSH.
Beached Party
by Ryan Lizza
Post date 10.21.05 | Issue date 10.31.05
The New Republic
http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20051031&s=lizza103105
That was fast. Last month, George W. Bush was the leader of the conservative movement. This month, he's a traitor. "I don't think that Bush was ever one of us," says Bruce Bartlett, the conservative columnist and former Reagan and Bush 41 official. "And conservatives knew that. He was the anointed one. You can tell if someone is really part of your movement or not or whether he's someone from the outside. He's never said or written anything that would lead one to believe he has any clue what movement conservatism is all about. You were stuck with what you had, and I think conservatives made the best of it."
Bartlett, who is writing a book about Bush's betrayal of conservatives, was a critic before it became cool. Now, of course, his bandwagon is getting very crowded. "Bush was not the second coming of Ronald Reagan," says former Bush speechwriter David Frum, whose memoir about serving the president is called The Right Man but who is now one of the rebel leaders of the anti-Harriet Miers campaign. "He was a new thing. Every conservative knew he was a blend and was going to reach out to new constituencies. What the old coalition was going to get was a tax cut and judges. ... But the tax cut has turned out not to be a very valuable thing. Because of the deficits, this tax cut is not going to be permanent. Now here [with Miers] is the other most important thing he was going to do for conservatives, and he didn't do it."
[...]
The demographics of the GOP also make a hard-right run tempting. Recently, pollster Tony Fabrizio has been asking Republican voters whether their most important goal "is to promote individual freedom by reducing the size and scope of government and its intrusion into the lives of its citizens" or "to promote traditional values by protecting traditional marriage and the life of the unborn." In his most recent survey, 34 percent of Republicans take the freedom position and 49 percent take the values position. "Every time I've stratified out the Republican Party, we've come up with roughly 45 to 50 percent of the party that falls into the category of being theocrats," he says. That's right, half of Republicans are Republicans not because they want to reduce the size of government but because of gay marriage and abortion. (And Fabrizio reports that the 49 percent is far more homogenous in its views than the 34 percent.) Becoming the king of that 49 percent in a time of conservative frustration with Bush and no dominant establishment candidate could pay dividends. The key is distinguishing oneself. "Prayer in school, abortion, gay marriage. What's the next thing? All those are old hat," says Fabrizio, who, it should be said, takes a dim view of this strategy. "What's it going to be, speaking in tongues?"
[More at URL]
----- 5 -----
STEM-CELL BILLS PUT ON HOLD FOR NOW
Experts says Congress needs to take up the stem-cell and cloning issue.
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
21 October 2005
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038334.cfm
SUMMARY: Experts says Congress needs to take up the
stem-cell and cloning issue.
The U.S. Senate will temporarily postpone taking action on
bills affecting embryonic stem-cell research.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, at the beginning of the
week, indicated the chamber's plate is too full to vote on
the measures before the holiday break.
Dr. David Prentice, senior fellow for life sciences at the
Family Research Council, said that's good news because it
puts a hold on the effort to pass a bill that would loosen
President Bush's restrictions on embryonic stem-cell
research.
"We do fund, at a federal level, human embryonic stem-cell
research, probably to a higher amount of dollars than any
other country in the world," Prentice said, "but President
Bush said he would not use federal funds to destroy
embryos. But there's a bill in the Senate -- it's already
passed the House -- that proponents of embryo research
want to bring up and pass."
Bush has said repeatedly he would veto that legislation,
H.R. 810, which is sponsored by Reps. Dianna Degette,
D-Colo., and Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del.
But Prentice said other stem-cell bills are also pending
-- including one sponsored by Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.,
that would ban all forms of human cloning, and another
which would ban the formation of human-animal hybrids,
called "chimeras."
"It kind of gives you a view of the 'Island of Dr.
Moreau,' but there are some scientists who want to move in
that direction," Prentice said.
[...]
TAKE ACTION: Please contact your senators and ask them to:
-- Oppose the Castle-DeGette stem-cell bill, H.R. 810.
-- Support the cord blood bill sponsored by Re.
Christopher Smith, R-N.J.
-- Support Sen. Brownback's bill banning all forms of
human cloning.
To find contact information, visit the CitizenLink Action
Center.
Long URL here
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
Gay Group Targets Military Academies
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
21 October 2005
from staff reports
SUMMARY: Soulforce at Naval Academy today to protest
"Don't ask, don't tell."
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038327.cfm
A pro-homosexual activist group is targeting the nation's
military academies for protest, complaining that they are
"epicenters of intolerance."
Members of Soulforce, who in the past have protested at
Christian ministries like Focus on the Family, are at the
U.S. Naval Academy today to call for an end to the
military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, which prohibits
open homosexuals from serving in the armed forces.
More than 9,000 servicemen and women have been discharged
under the policy since it was instituted in 1993 by the
Clinton administration.
"Our hope is to go out to the Naval Academy and have
conversations with midshipmen about 'Don't ask, don't
tell' . . . and try to converse with them about gay and
lesbian issues," said Jacob Reitan, leader of Soulforce's
"Equality Rides" campaign.
The Naval Academy, though, isn't inclined to let that
happen.
"No protest, gathering or discussions with midshipmen will
be allowed on Academy grounds," the academy announced in a
news release, noting that the policy applies to all
special interest groups.
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
Air Force Academy Challenger Offers to Settle Suit
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
21 October 2005
from staff reports
SUMMARY: Chaplains would only be allowed to minister to
those who seek them out.
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038326.cfm
Mikey Weinstein, who filed suit against the U.S. Air Force
Academy, claiming it imposed Christianity on the cadets,
has made a settlement offer.
Sam Bregman, Weinstein's attorney, said chaplains and
other officials have violated the Establishment Clause of
the First Amendment.
"As late as July on the front page of the New York Times,"
he said, "a brigadier general of the United States Air
Force said that 'we reserve the right to evangelize the
unchurched.' "
Bregman's latest move is an offer to drop the case -- if
the Air Force will agree to only allow chaplains to
minister to those who seek them out, but order them to
leave others alone.
Bob Maginnis, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, said
Weinstein is using the Academy as a mechanism to push an
anti-faith message throughout the Air Force.
[More at URL]
----- 8 -----
WHO WILL DEFINE MARRIAGE: JUDGES OR THE PEOPLE?
One Democrat says Americans don't care either way.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
21 October 2005
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038325.cfm
The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution
heard testimony Thursday on a constitutional amendment
that would define marriage as between one man and one
woman.
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., pointed to polls that show
Americans overwhelmingly support traditional marriage and
want to protect it.
"The will of the American people is today in danger of
being thwarted by the will of activist judiciary," he
said. "In order to protect this vital institution so
central to the health and stability of families and
society at large, we will have to define marriage. The
only question is who will do the defining, the people or
the judges?"
The politics of the marriage amendment was underscored by
Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., who said it's about same-sex
marriage -- something he said Americans don't take a
strong position on.
"The issue of same-sex marriage is not seen to be an issue
that the public itself is all that concerned about," he
said. "They don't seem as interested in passing judgment
on the private lives of their neighbors."
Carrie Gordon Earll, director of issues analysis for Focus
on the Family Action, said marriage supporters must wage
the battle on all fronts.
"While we are working with Congress and moving toward the
ratification process, hopefully with a federal marriage
amendment," she told Family News in Focus, "it is
important for states to continue to try to protect their
particular constitution."
[More at URL]
----- 9 -----
COMMENTARY: THE TIME TO FLY
Marriage was created by God -- and remains under His control.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
Commentary
21 October 2005
by Pete Winn, associate editor
SUMMARY: Marriage is under fire, yes, and it must be
protected from those who seek to render it meaningless.
But we must remember the institution was created by God --
and remains under His control.
http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/commentary/a0038335.cfm
"This is the time to fly."
I will never forget those words, uttered by Christian
Broadcasting Network founder Pat Robertson nearly two
decades ago. They were a message, as I saw it, to a
hardened and nearly grizzled journalist who had seen too
much death and destruction -- and the treachery and
chicanery of politics -- not to sniff of the despair of
the world.
"This is the time to fly; now is the time to dream dreams,
to seek visions."
He was reminding me that a sovereign God -- who in grace
and mercy reached out to us while we were yet dead in our
sins; who loves us and who is in control in ways we can
barely fathom -- has plans for us for good, not for evil.
[...]
I'm about to join in an institution which has been
weakened externally by threats from out-of-control courts
and homosexual activists; and from the inside by wholesale
divorce, cohabitation, adultery and the all-too-pervasive
sexualization of culture. There has been a systematic
dismantling of marriage and family over the last few
decades by people guided by an ideology which would have
made Karl Marx blush.
It takes faith to get married in today's culture, it would
seem. But then it always has.
[...]
The institution of marriage will never be killed by those
who are working hard for its destruction, try as they
will. True, it has taken a beating and badly needs to be
protected from further disfigurement. It will take all of
us working very hard to keep marriage from redefinition.
We do absolutely need a marriage-protection amendment to
the U.S. Constitution.
But gay activists and others cannot kill marriage by
themselves. What God has given, only God can take away.
Individual marriages may die, but not the institution
itself. It was God who breathed life into it, who made it
for man. Woe be unto anyone, whether Satan or man, who
would try to take the life of something God has breathed
His life into.
[More at URL]
----- 10 -----
Drug Store Chain Becomes Major Sponsor of Gay Games
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
21 October 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
The Walgreens Corp. has committed $100,000 in support of
the 7th annual Gay Games in Chicago -- a move that has
many questioning whether one of the country's largest
dispensers of pharmaceuticals really has the nation's
health in mind.
Walgreens said the agreement to sponsor the event was
borne out of the desire to contribute to HIV/AIDS
prevention. But the Gay Games Web site makes that claim
look preposterous.
"The Gay Games Social Committee is currently in the
process of gathering together Chicago's best bars and
clubs, and some of the biggest and best party promoters in
the country to create a Social Schedule unlike anything
you've ever seen," the site reads. "Chicago's LGBT scene
is fierce no matter what time of the year it is, but
during that one week in July 2006, we are committed to
making sure you have the time of your life."
Don Wildmon, chairman of the American Family Association,
called donating money under the guise of AIDS prevention a
farce.
"To make their sponsorship appear to be a good thing
publicly, they say they are providing AIDS education," he
said. "If any group should be aware of the dangers of AIDS
and how to prevent it, it should be homosexual activists."
FOR MORE INFORMATION: To see the official sponsors as
listed on the Gay Games Web site, click on the following
link. (If you are easily offended, please skip this part.)
http://www.gaygameschicago.org/sponsors/home.php
TAKE ACTION: You may call the Walgreens headquarters in
Deerfield, Ill., at 847-914-2500 or toll-free at
877-250-5823. You may also e-mail the company's president
through the CitizenLink Action Center:
http://www3.capwiz.com/fof/issues/alert/?alertid=8151051&type=CU
----- 11 -----
JUDICIARY COMMITTEE STRIPS OUT HATE-CRIMES AMENDMENT
There was good news / bad news on the language today in the U.S. Senate.
by Wendy Cloyd, senior editorial coordinator
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
October 20, 2005
by Pete Winn, associate editor
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038314.cfm
The Senate Judiciary Committee has passed a new version of
the Children's Safety Act -- one without the hate-crimes
amendment the House attached just before it sent the bill
over to the Senate.
Bob Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute,
said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, successfully stripped the
amendment from the Children's Safety Act, and turned that
bill into a new one -- S. 1086, the Sex Offender
Registration and Notification Act.
But the move does not mean an end to efforts by Sen.
Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., to get hate-crimes legislation
passed.
Kennedy, the prime mover behind the legislation, indicated
he will again try to introduce an amendment when the bill
comes to the Senate floor. No timeline has been given for
a full Senate vote.
The Massachusetts liberal is also poised to add
hate-crimes language to another, unrelated bill, S. 1088,
the Streamlined Procedures Act of 2005.
"Mr. Kennedy may have gotten the word that many people
have been warning the Senate not to add his amendment to
the Senate version of the Children's Safety Act," Knight
said, "so he appears to be trying to slip it in under the
radar."
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
PRESIDENTIAL DRAMA MAY HAVE REAL-LIFE AIMS
Some conservatives are wondering whether President
Mackenzie Allen is meant to pave the way for another
hopeful.
by Wendy Cloyd, senior editorial coordinator
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
October 20, 2005
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038313.cfm
ABC's hit series "Commander in Chief" chronicles the life
of the first female president, but many conservatives are
wary that it may just be Hollywood's way of smoothing the
election path for Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Geena Davis plays Mackenzie Allen, the view president who
takes over when the president dies unexpectedly. Allen
must overcome the negative perceptions of hesitant peers
while she balances family and career. And thanks to a
well-written script, she not only does that with
perfection and flair, she also manages to single-handedly
mend a tense relationship with the president of Russia and
look smashing in a ball gown -- all in under an hour.
The show has many speculating whether the real goal is not
just entertainment, but to prepare viewers to more easily
accept a Clinton candidacy.
But can a TV show really change how we think?
Timothy Watkins, president and CEO of Leo McWatkins Films,
said the answer is unequivocally "yes."
"Mind-bending with television has been occurring for many,
many, many years," he said. "Even when you go back to when
TV first started -- you had the appropriate way a man and
a women should behave -- the hilarity of 'The
Honeymooners,' 'The Flintstones;' you have the Petries
from 'The Dick VanDyke Show.' You have all these examples
that have been put out there."
In fact, Watkins said, one recent attempt to positively
frame an agenda comes from the homosexual community.
"I believe it was back in 1989 there was a group of people
that got together at a resort and their sole purpose was
to figure out and brainstorm how they could mainstream
homosexuality," he said. "They came up with a concept that
wound up being a TV show. And on the TV show there was a
hip, groovy, neat husband and wife with a quirky friend.
Well, as time went by, you found out that the quirky
friend was gay. And then as further time went by, holy
cow, the husband was gay. The name of that show is 'Will
and Grace.' "
Watkins said even the name of the show was well thought
out: Will implying "free will" and Grace implying
"tolerance."
Dr. Bill Maier, vice president and psychologist in
residence at Focus on the Family, agreed that a fictional
show can change the culture.
[More at URL]
----- 13 -----
Local Laws Used Against Online Obscenity
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
October 20, 2005
from staff reports
SUMMARY: Florida sheriff's detectives arrest a Web site
operator.
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038311.cfm
Christopher Michael Wilson of Lakeland, Fla., was arrested
by detectives of the Polk County Sheriff's Department Oct.
7 and charged with 300 obscenity-related counts in
connection with a Web site he operates.
The arrest suggests that local obscenity laws may be used
against operators of pornographic Web sites.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said the investigation is
ongoing.
"In my 33 years of law enforcement experience, this is one
of the most horrific examples of filthy, obscene materials
we have ever seized," he said.
Tom Hymes with the Free Speech Coalition, a group that
defends the porn industry, said local obscenity laws
should not apply in this case.
"You can't speak about the internet like it's a brick and
mortar world or community, it's simply not," he told
Family News in Focus. "The fact is, it's a global
community."
But Phil Burress with Citizens for Community Values said
it's no different than selling obscene materials in a
bookstore. He said using the Internet to send obscenity
does not protect someone from the law.
[More at URL]
----- 14 -----
Father Won't Go to Trial for Opposing Gay Curriculum
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
Newsbriefs
October 20, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
A Massachusetts man arrested at his son's elementary
school after objecting to the administration's failure to
alert him to homosexual material being shared in the
classroom will not go to trial, The Associated Press
reported.
Prosecutors agreed to drop the charges against David
Parker, who asked to meet with school officials last April
after his kindergartner brought home assigned reading
material that featured same-sex families. Parker asked to
be informed when the topic of homosexuality was to be
taught -- with the option of pulling his child out of
class.
When no compromise was reached at that meeting, Parker
refused to leave and school officials called police. He
spent the night in jail.
Though Massachusetts law requires parental notification
when a teacher intends to discuss issues of sexuality, the
superintendent of the district, Paul Ash, said that did
not apply to this case because the topic was not "human
sexuality," but "tolerance and respect."
The agreement between Parker and the court requires that
he must stay off the school grounds for one year, but he
and his family are relieved the court fight is over.
"My wife and I are satisfied with the outcome," he said.
"We will continue to move forward as we always have with
tolerance and patience in these matters."
----- 15 -----
Nation's Top Anti-Rap Activist Dies
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
October 18, 2005
by Pete Winn, associate editor
SUMMARY: The woman who joined hands with conservatives to
take on rap music in the 1990s, has died at 78.
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038281.cfm
Dr. C. DeLores Tucker gained worldwide acclaim when she
joined hands with conservatives to do battle against
gangsta rap music -- and its harmful effects.
The well-known civil-rights activist had marched from
Selma to Montgomery, Ala., alongside Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr., in 1965. She became the first African-American
woman to serve as a Secretary of State (for Pennsylvania),
and founded the National Political Congress of Black
Women.
She died last Wednesday.
Conservative black leader Mychal Massie said he did not
agree with Tucker's liberal ideology -- but stood
shoulder-to-shoulder with her in her campaign against rap
music and what it was doing to the black community -- and
the youth of America.
"She was a stalwart in that battle," Massie, a nationally
prominent radio talk-show host and columnist, told
CitizenLink. "She saw it as misogynistic, vulgar,
anti-woman, anti-societal music that promoted crimes
against children and humanity."
In 1995, Tucker joined forces with former Education
Secretary William Bennett to develop advertisements
criticizing media giant Time Warner's role in promoting
the violent and sleazy music. The ad made history:
[More at URL]
----- 16 -----
JANET FOLGER WARNS OF 'THE CRIMINALIZATION OF CHRISTIANITY'
Her new book explains what's happening to religious
liberties in the courts and what the future holds if we
don't protect those rights.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
October 18, 2005
http://www.family.org/cforum/feature/a0038278.cfm
In "The Criminalization of Christianity -- Read This
Before It Becomes Illegal!" author and radio host Janet
Folger makes a bold prediction: If Christians don't stand
up for their First Amendment rights, it won't be long
before speaking out becomes a crime.
CitizenLink spoke with Folger about what she sees down the
road if the nation's courts are not reined in.
Q. You have pulled together a tremendous amount of
information in such a way that shows how out of control
our courts have become. What motivates you to spend the
time that you do researching these issues?
A. One thing is that I'd like to stay out of jail! A lot
of people, when they finish reading this -- one word I
hear very often is, 'Scary. The book is scary.'
Even our pro-family leaders say, 'I thought I was plugged
in, I thought I was informed. I read the clips but it's
worse than I thought. It's later than I knew.' And I think
that's really the message -- that we don't have much time
to use these freedoms, and we'd better use them now while
we still can.
I write in the book that Christians have the right to
remain silent, but if we remain silent very much longer
those are precisely the words we are going to hear before
we see the inside of a prison cell.
Q. You titled the book, "The Criminalization of
Christianity." What would become of our nation if it did
become illegal to express Christian beliefs?
A. I think we're quickly approaching that. We see Jesus
being taken out of prayers, we see Christmas being removed
from any public celebrations. But when you look at the
homosexual agenda in particular, that's the issue I
believe for which Christians are going to be criminalized
if they speak out.
[More at URL]
----- 17 -----
Grover Norquist Betrays Conservatives, Speaks At Log Cabin Republican Fundraiser
Concerned Women for America
10/21/2005
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/9223/CWA/family/index.htm
Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, is under fire for speaking at a Log Cabin Republican fundraiser in Texas. The Dallas event, the largest fundraising event of the year for the homosexual Republican group, was raising funds in part to fight Proposition 2; the proposed Texas amendment that would define marriage as between one man and one woman. Bob Knight, Director of CWA’s Culture & Family Institute, says this is not the first time high-profile conservative leaders have turned on the social conservatives of their own party. Click here to listen.
[Robert Knight, CWA's Culture and Family Institute: "Grover Norquist is president of Americans for Tax Reform and he's considered a conservative leader in strategist in Washington DC... and he was a keynote speaker at a fundraising event in texas for the Log Cabin Republicans which is a homosexual activist group in the Republican party... this has caused ripples... for him to give aid and comfort to a group that is utterly opposed to the social agenda of the Republican party, the pro family planks, makes you wonder whether Grover has gone over the line, I happen tot hink he has. ... he's one of the founding members of the Republican Unity Coalition, founded by Charles Francis, an open homosexual... who Grover says created the group to make homosexuality a non-issue in the Republican party. That sounds like a neutral stance, doesn't it? ... this group that Grover just raised funds for in Texas raised them partly to fight the marriage amendment that will be on the ballot in Texas, so he's aiding and abetting a group that is determined to radically redefine marriage, so it's not just a man and a woman."
"There are Big Tent Republicans, and they even call themselves that, and they feel that there's room under the Republican Big Tent for lots of views. So there are pro-abortion Republicans, Republicans for choice... people like Mary Madeline who is an advisor to vice-president Cheyney, and was an advisor to President Bush, who is very openly pro-homosexual... and they have a lot of influence at top levels of the Republican party, and they feel that the social conservatives agenda is at odds with some of the more liberal agendas in the Republican party..."
"I think Gary Glenn, who is the president of the American Family Association of Michigan, who brought this to everyone's attention initially... suggests that Grover, who has candidates sign a no-tax pledge... should himself sign a don't-support-homosexual-marriage pledge, and that he ought to support candidates to sign such a pledge, because if you look at this fiscally... major growth in government has come from the collapse of the family... so if you're truly a fiscal conservative, you would support any way you can the formation and continuance of the married two-parent intact family. That's the surest cure for poverty, ti's the antidote to big government, and for an allegedly fiscal conservative like Grover Norquist to give aid to a group that's really out to destroy marriage as we know it shows that some things even trump fiscal good sense, and you gotta wonder why. ... I think Grover needs to hear from all of us."]
----- 18 -----
Texas Marriage Amendment Information
10/20/2005
Concerned Women for America
Long URL here
Please click on the links below for more information.
2005 Voter's Guide
Bulletin Insert
Yard Signs
Election Facts
Frequently Asked Questions
----- 19 -----
The Knock on the Door
10/20/2005
By Lee Duigon
Concerned Women for America
Canadian police pay a visit to Christian commentator.
http://www.cwfa.org/articledisplay.asp?id=9227&department=CFI&categoryid=family
As a writer, I can't imagine anything more chilling than for the police to come to my door and tell me I'd better stop writing about certain issues. As an American, I can't imagine a worse insult to my First Amendment rights.
But Robert Jason is a Canadian citizen, and he doesn't have to imagine a thing like that, because it really happened—to him.
Jason, 70, a retired high school teacher who supports himself by caring for mentally handicapped persons in his home, writes columns and collects news items in support of Christian, pro-family issues, such as the defense of marriage. He sends them daily to like-minded persons on his e-mail list.
On New Year's Day 2004, Jason and his wife received a visit from two plainclothes policemen.
“They were there because someone showed a homosexual activist one of my e-mails, and the activist complained to the police,” Jason said. "He told them he felt personally threatened by my e-mails. He convinced the police that I was threatening his life."
At the time, Canada's current "hate speech" law had not yet been enacted. That didn't stop the police from getting involved.
“The officers were quiet and friendly,” Jason said, “but just having them there was very intimidating to me and my wife. All the neighbors were watching, and we were terrified.”
The officers didn't tell him to stop writing, he said, but they “implied” that he should.
“I replied, how could I threaten this person? I'm only defending my values. And the e-mail wasn't sent to him.”
Jason said incidents like this will happen in the United States if “hate crime” legislation, followed by “hate speech” legislation, becomes federal law.
“If you give homosexuals special rights, they're just going to use them to threaten your rights,” he said. “Canada doesn't have a First Amendment, and it’s going to get worse here before it gets better. We're just hoping that someday there’ll be a backlash among people with common sense.”
In spite of his warning from the police, Robert Jason is still writing his columns and sending them to fellow Christians on his e-mail list.
He does not know when the police will come again.
Lee Duigon is a Christian free-lance writer whose work periodically appears on www.cwfa.org and frequently appears at www.chalcedon.org.
----- 20 -----
Homosexual Activists Suspected of Pulling Students' Strings in GSA Lawsuit
By Jim Brown
October 18, 2005
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/10/182005e.asp
(AgapePress) - A conservative activist group is accusing the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union of using students to further its radical, pro-homosexual agenda in schools.
Two seniors at Maple Grove High School have sued their school and the Osseo School District for allegedly discriminating against their student group called "Straights and Gays for Equality," or SAGE. The students claim the school has violated the Federal Equal Access Act by not allowing the homosexual group access to meeting rooms, bulletin boards, and the public address system on campus.
However, Linda Harvey of the conservative pro-family group Mission America believes the students' lawsuit is yet another ploy orchestrated by pro-homosexual activists in an effort to gain legitimization for homosexuality. "This is one more of these situations, I would have to say, where students are being motivated and manipulated by adult homosexual activists and civil liberties proponents, and especially the American Civil Liberties Union," she contends.
Harvey believes Maple Grove High School can avoid trouble by not considering homosexuality to be a viewpoint, as the students claim. She argues that the Osseo School District need not accept Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) like SAGE in order to have "viewpoint equality" on the campus, because homosexuality is not a viewpoint -- rather, it is a dangerous, high-risk behavior.
[More at URL]
----- 21 -----
Texas Needs to Affirm Traditional Marriage by Voting Yes on Prop. 2
October 19, 2005 - Wednesday
Family Research Council
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=AL05J08&f=PG03I03
It is a crucial time for the direction of our nation and Texans have a unique opportunity to greatly influence the course of events in America as marriage continues to be debated across the country. As a concerned citizen it is vital that you vote YES for Proposition 2 in the Constitutional Amendments Election on Tuesday, November 8.
Proposition 2 is necessary because it takes the issue out of the state courts, allows you to decide the definition of marriage, and safeguards the institution of marriage from any legal battles. In other states activist judges are striking down the traditional definition of marriage, and overturning the will of the people.
It is of utmost importance that you go to the polls and vote for Proposition 2 on Tuesday, November 8th. Voter turnout is traditionally very low on Constitutional Amendments Elections. Homosexual activists and pro same-sex "marriage" groups from around the country are focusing all of their energy on getting out the vote against Proposition 2.
You have the opportunity to protect marriage and a small percentage of voters will decide this issue, therefore your vote is critical. Let your voice be heard, and vote yes for Proposition 2!
For more information, go to:
http://www.freemarket.org
http://www.texansformarriage.org
Family Research Council condemns Grover Norquist for speaking to the Log Cabin Republicans, a GBLT Republican group;
Cybercast News Service reports on general fundamentalist unhappiness with Grover Norquist for speaking to the Log Cabin Republicans - the Texas Eagle Forum calls the appearance "traitorous";
GOP pollster pollster Tony Fabrizio indicates that 34% of Republicans primarily support smaller government; 49% are primarily in it for the anti-gay and anti-abortion activism;
FotF: Stem-cell bills put on hold in Congress for lack of time - includes ACTION ITEM to ban some research (Brownback bill);
FotF: Soulforce to protest "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" at Air Force Academy;
FotF coverage of settlement offer by Air Force Academy religious-harassment complainant;
Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution heard testimony Thursday on a new anti-marriage Federal amendment;
FotF commentary: queers must not get to marry, at all costs;
Walgreens sponsours Gay Games; Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM to complain about it if you're a fundamentalist;
Hate-crimes language pulled back out of bill;
FotF: Another article(!) saying Commander in Chief is groundwork for a Hillary Clinton 2008 campaign;
FotF pushes for more obscenity prosecutions on the web, using local obscenity laws;
"Father Won't Go to Trial for Opposing Gay Curriculum" - he wasn't arrested for that, he was arrested for trespassing after he refused to leave when the meeting ended;
"Nation's top anti-rap activist dies";
Focus on the Family promotes book claiming homosexuals are going to outlaw Christianity;
CWA condemns Grover Norquist for speaking to the Log Cabin Republicans, calling it a betrayal;
Link to CWA's resource kit for the Texas anti-marriage amendment;
Canadian Christian Reconstuctionist says homosexuals want him arrested for his writings;
Agape Press reports on fundamentalist groups trying to block gay-straight alliance clubs in Michigan - the school is refusing permission for students to set one up; accuses ACLU, "homosexual activist groups" of "pulling students' strings";
Family Research Council urgent bulletin to support Texas anti-marriage amendment.
----- 1 -----
Kansas high court rejects harsher treatment of gay sex
October 21, 2005
USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-10-21-sodomy-sentencing_x.htm
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas cannot punish illegal underage sex more severely if it involves homosexual conduct, the state's highest court ruled unanimously Friday in a case watched by national groups on both sides of the gay rights debate.
The Supreme Court said in a unanimous ruling that a law that specified such harsher treatment and led to a 17-year prison sentence for an 18-year-old defendant "suggests animus toward teenagers who engage in homosexual sex."
"Moral disapproval of a group cannot be a legitimate state interest," said Justice Marla Luckert, writing for the high court.
The defendant, Matthew R. Limon, has been behind bars since he was convicted in 2000 of performing a sex act on a 14-year-old boy. Had one of them been a girl, the state's "Romeo and Juliet" law would have dictated a maximum sentence of 15 months.
[...]
"We are very happy that Matthew will soon be getting out of prison. We are sorry there is no way to make up for the extra four years he spent in prison simply because he is gay," said Limon's attorney James Esseks, of the American Civil Liberties Union's Gay and Lesbian Rights Project.
National health groups and the National Association of Social workers had filed legal arguments supporting Limon's position. A conservative law group, Orlando-based Liberty Counsel, helped prepare written arguments from 25 legislators in support of the law.
Limon and the other boy, identified only as M.A.R., lived at a group home for the developmentally disabled. In court, an official described M.A.R. as mildly mentally retarded and Limon as functioning at a slightly higher level but not as an 18-year-old.
Limon's attorneys described the relationship with the younger boy as consensual and suggested that they were adolescents experimenting with sex.
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
To: Friends of Family Research Council
From: Tony Perkins, President
October 14, 2005 - Friday
Please forward this to your Friends and Family!
Taxing Our Tolerance
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WU05J10&f=PG03I03
Texas leaders of the Log Cabin Republicans, a homosexual organization within the G.O.P., are headlining Grover Norquist as their main speaker at a fund-raiser tomorrow night. Norquist is the well-respected leader of Americans for Tax Reform, a group I was once part of as a Louisiana legislator. FRC has worked with Grover Norquist on tax issues and their impact on the family for many years. Because of our relationship we have voiced our concern directly with Mr. Norquist over his apparent support of this anti-family group. We pointed out to Mr. Norquist that some of the funds raised would be plowed into Log Cabin's fight against the pro-marriage amendment on the ballot next month in Texas.
Grover has spent years working to assemble a coalition of fiscal and social conservatives and his decision to aid those who are trying to destroy the institution of marriage is truly a disappointment and will no doubt split this important coalition. As social conservatives we remain committed to the country's fiscal and social well-being; we have tolerance neither for increasing taxes nor marginalizing marriage. If only that commitment were mutual.
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
Grover Norquist Betrayed Conservatives, Critics Charge
By Randy Hall
CNSNews.com Staff Writer/Editor
October 19, 2005
Long URL here
(CNSNews.com) - A number of conservatives are seething over the fact that Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), was the featured speaker at a fund-raising event for a group of homosexual Republicans last weekend. One pro-family leader called Norquist's appearance "an act of utter betrayal."
Norquist was the main attraction at the "Grand Ol' Party," the largest fund-raising event of the year for the Dallas, Tex., chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans, a homosexual advocacy group within the GOP.
Carla Halbrook, a member of the national Log Cabin board and the organization's chapter in Dallas, told Cybercast News Service that Norquist gave a "fantastic" speech at the dinner on Saturday night.
Halbrook said that during his speech, Norquist discussed "Social Security reform and reducing taxes and government in general. It was his normal message.
"The fact that the group is gay was irrelevant," she said. "It was one conservative talking to other conservatives."
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
REPUBLICANS PREPARE FOR LIFE AFTER BUSH.
Beached Party
by Ryan Lizza
Post date 10.21.05 | Issue date 10.31.05
The New Republic
http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20051031&s=lizza103105
That was fast. Last month, George W. Bush was the leader of the conservative movement. This month, he's a traitor. "I don't think that Bush was ever one of us," says Bruce Bartlett, the conservative columnist and former Reagan and Bush 41 official. "And conservatives knew that. He was the anointed one. You can tell if someone is really part of your movement or not or whether he's someone from the outside. He's never said or written anything that would lead one to believe he has any clue what movement conservatism is all about. You were stuck with what you had, and I think conservatives made the best of it."
Bartlett, who is writing a book about Bush's betrayal of conservatives, was a critic before it became cool. Now, of course, his bandwagon is getting very crowded. "Bush was not the second coming of Ronald Reagan," says former Bush speechwriter David Frum, whose memoir about serving the president is called The Right Man but who is now one of the rebel leaders of the anti-Harriet Miers campaign. "He was a new thing. Every conservative knew he was a blend and was going to reach out to new constituencies. What the old coalition was going to get was a tax cut and judges. ... But the tax cut has turned out not to be a very valuable thing. Because of the deficits, this tax cut is not going to be permanent. Now here [with Miers] is the other most important thing he was going to do for conservatives, and he didn't do it."
[...]
The demographics of the GOP also make a hard-right run tempting. Recently, pollster Tony Fabrizio has been asking Republican voters whether their most important goal "is to promote individual freedom by reducing the size and scope of government and its intrusion into the lives of its citizens" or "to promote traditional values by protecting traditional marriage and the life of the unborn." In his most recent survey, 34 percent of Republicans take the freedom position and 49 percent take the values position. "Every time I've stratified out the Republican Party, we've come up with roughly 45 to 50 percent of the party that falls into the category of being theocrats," he says. That's right, half of Republicans are Republicans not because they want to reduce the size of government but because of gay marriage and abortion. (And Fabrizio reports that the 49 percent is far more homogenous in its views than the 34 percent.) Becoming the king of that 49 percent in a time of conservative frustration with Bush and no dominant establishment candidate could pay dividends. The key is distinguishing oneself. "Prayer in school, abortion, gay marriage. What's the next thing? All those are old hat," says Fabrizio, who, it should be said, takes a dim view of this strategy. "What's it going to be, speaking in tongues?"
[More at URL]
----- 5 -----
STEM-CELL BILLS PUT ON HOLD FOR NOW
Experts says Congress needs to take up the stem-cell and cloning issue.
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
21 October 2005
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038334.cfm
SUMMARY: Experts says Congress needs to take up the
stem-cell and cloning issue.
The U.S. Senate will temporarily postpone taking action on
bills affecting embryonic stem-cell research.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, at the beginning of the
week, indicated the chamber's plate is too full to vote on
the measures before the holiday break.
Dr. David Prentice, senior fellow for life sciences at the
Family Research Council, said that's good news because it
puts a hold on the effort to pass a bill that would loosen
President Bush's restrictions on embryonic stem-cell
research.
"We do fund, at a federal level, human embryonic stem-cell
research, probably to a higher amount of dollars than any
other country in the world," Prentice said, "but President
Bush said he would not use federal funds to destroy
embryos. But there's a bill in the Senate -- it's already
passed the House -- that proponents of embryo research
want to bring up and pass."
Bush has said repeatedly he would veto that legislation,
H.R. 810, which is sponsored by Reps. Dianna Degette,
D-Colo., and Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del.
But Prentice said other stem-cell bills are also pending
-- including one sponsored by Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.,
that would ban all forms of human cloning, and another
which would ban the formation of human-animal hybrids,
called "chimeras."
"It kind of gives you a view of the 'Island of Dr.
Moreau,' but there are some scientists who want to move in
that direction," Prentice said.
[...]
TAKE ACTION: Please contact your senators and ask them to:
-- Oppose the Castle-DeGette stem-cell bill, H.R. 810.
-- Support the cord blood bill sponsored by Re.
Christopher Smith, R-N.J.
-- Support Sen. Brownback's bill banning all forms of
human cloning.
To find contact information, visit the CitizenLink Action
Center.
Long URL here
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
Gay Group Targets Military Academies
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
21 October 2005
from staff reports
SUMMARY: Soulforce at Naval Academy today to protest
"Don't ask, don't tell."
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038327.cfm
A pro-homosexual activist group is targeting the nation's
military academies for protest, complaining that they are
"epicenters of intolerance."
Members of Soulforce, who in the past have protested at
Christian ministries like Focus on the Family, are at the
U.S. Naval Academy today to call for an end to the
military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, which prohibits
open homosexuals from serving in the armed forces.
More than 9,000 servicemen and women have been discharged
under the policy since it was instituted in 1993 by the
Clinton administration.
"Our hope is to go out to the Naval Academy and have
conversations with midshipmen about 'Don't ask, don't
tell' . . . and try to converse with them about gay and
lesbian issues," said Jacob Reitan, leader of Soulforce's
"Equality Rides" campaign.
The Naval Academy, though, isn't inclined to let that
happen.
"No protest, gathering or discussions with midshipmen will
be allowed on Academy grounds," the academy announced in a
news release, noting that the policy applies to all
special interest groups.
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
Air Force Academy Challenger Offers to Settle Suit
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
21 October 2005
from staff reports
SUMMARY: Chaplains would only be allowed to minister to
those who seek them out.
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038326.cfm
Mikey Weinstein, who filed suit against the U.S. Air Force
Academy, claiming it imposed Christianity on the cadets,
has made a settlement offer.
Sam Bregman, Weinstein's attorney, said chaplains and
other officials have violated the Establishment Clause of
the First Amendment.
"As late as July on the front page of the New York Times,"
he said, "a brigadier general of the United States Air
Force said that 'we reserve the right to evangelize the
unchurched.' "
Bregman's latest move is an offer to drop the case -- if
the Air Force will agree to only allow chaplains to
minister to those who seek them out, but order them to
leave others alone.
Bob Maginnis, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, said
Weinstein is using the Academy as a mechanism to push an
anti-faith message throughout the Air Force.
[More at URL]
----- 8 -----
WHO WILL DEFINE MARRIAGE: JUDGES OR THE PEOPLE?
One Democrat says Americans don't care either way.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
21 October 2005
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038325.cfm
The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution
heard testimony Thursday on a constitutional amendment
that would define marriage as between one man and one
woman.
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., pointed to polls that show
Americans overwhelmingly support traditional marriage and
want to protect it.
"The will of the American people is today in danger of
being thwarted by the will of activist judiciary," he
said. "In order to protect this vital institution so
central to the health and stability of families and
society at large, we will have to define marriage. The
only question is who will do the defining, the people or
the judges?"
The politics of the marriage amendment was underscored by
Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., who said it's about same-sex
marriage -- something he said Americans don't take a
strong position on.
"The issue of same-sex marriage is not seen to be an issue
that the public itself is all that concerned about," he
said. "They don't seem as interested in passing judgment
on the private lives of their neighbors."
Carrie Gordon Earll, director of issues analysis for Focus
on the Family Action, said marriage supporters must wage
the battle on all fronts.
"While we are working with Congress and moving toward the
ratification process, hopefully with a federal marriage
amendment," she told Family News in Focus, "it is
important for states to continue to try to protect their
particular constitution."
[More at URL]
----- 9 -----
COMMENTARY: THE TIME TO FLY
Marriage was created by God -- and remains under His control.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
Commentary
21 October 2005
by Pete Winn, associate editor
SUMMARY: Marriage is under fire, yes, and it must be
protected from those who seek to render it meaningless.
But we must remember the institution was created by God --
and remains under His control.
http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/commentary/a0038335.cfm
"This is the time to fly."
I will never forget those words, uttered by Christian
Broadcasting Network founder Pat Robertson nearly two
decades ago. They were a message, as I saw it, to a
hardened and nearly grizzled journalist who had seen too
much death and destruction -- and the treachery and
chicanery of politics -- not to sniff of the despair of
the world.
"This is the time to fly; now is the time to dream dreams,
to seek visions."
He was reminding me that a sovereign God -- who in grace
and mercy reached out to us while we were yet dead in our
sins; who loves us and who is in control in ways we can
barely fathom -- has plans for us for good, not for evil.
[...]
I'm about to join in an institution which has been
weakened externally by threats from out-of-control courts
and homosexual activists; and from the inside by wholesale
divorce, cohabitation, adultery and the all-too-pervasive
sexualization of culture. There has been a systematic
dismantling of marriage and family over the last few
decades by people guided by an ideology which would have
made Karl Marx blush.
It takes faith to get married in today's culture, it would
seem. But then it always has.
[...]
The institution of marriage will never be killed by those
who are working hard for its destruction, try as they
will. True, it has taken a beating and badly needs to be
protected from further disfigurement. It will take all of
us working very hard to keep marriage from redefinition.
We do absolutely need a marriage-protection amendment to
the U.S. Constitution.
But gay activists and others cannot kill marriage by
themselves. What God has given, only God can take away.
Individual marriages may die, but not the institution
itself. It was God who breathed life into it, who made it
for man. Woe be unto anyone, whether Satan or man, who
would try to take the life of something God has breathed
His life into.
[More at URL]
----- 10 -----
Drug Store Chain Becomes Major Sponsor of Gay Games
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
21 October 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
The Walgreens Corp. has committed $100,000 in support of
the 7th annual Gay Games in Chicago -- a move that has
many questioning whether one of the country's largest
dispensers of pharmaceuticals really has the nation's
health in mind.
Walgreens said the agreement to sponsor the event was
borne out of the desire to contribute to HIV/AIDS
prevention. But the Gay Games Web site makes that claim
look preposterous.
"The Gay Games Social Committee is currently in the
process of gathering together Chicago's best bars and
clubs, and some of the biggest and best party promoters in
the country to create a Social Schedule unlike anything
you've ever seen," the site reads. "Chicago's LGBT scene
is fierce no matter what time of the year it is, but
during that one week in July 2006, we are committed to
making sure you have the time of your life."
Don Wildmon, chairman of the American Family Association,
called donating money under the guise of AIDS prevention a
farce.
"To make their sponsorship appear to be a good thing
publicly, they say they are providing AIDS education," he
said. "If any group should be aware of the dangers of AIDS
and how to prevent it, it should be homosexual activists."
FOR MORE INFORMATION: To see the official sponsors as
listed on the Gay Games Web site, click on the following
link. (If you are easily offended, please skip this part.)
http://www.gaygameschicago.org/sponsors/home.php
TAKE ACTION: You may call the Walgreens headquarters in
Deerfield, Ill., at 847-914-2500 or toll-free at
877-250-5823. You may also e-mail the company's president
through the CitizenLink Action Center:
http://www3.capwiz.com/fof/issues/alert/?alertid=8151051&type=CU
----- 11 -----
JUDICIARY COMMITTEE STRIPS OUT HATE-CRIMES AMENDMENT
There was good news / bad news on the language today in the U.S. Senate.
by Wendy Cloyd, senior editorial coordinator
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
October 20, 2005
by Pete Winn, associate editor
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038314.cfm
The Senate Judiciary Committee has passed a new version of
the Children's Safety Act -- one without the hate-crimes
amendment the House attached just before it sent the bill
over to the Senate.
Bob Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute,
said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, successfully stripped the
amendment from the Children's Safety Act, and turned that
bill into a new one -- S. 1086, the Sex Offender
Registration and Notification Act.
But the move does not mean an end to efforts by Sen.
Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., to get hate-crimes legislation
passed.
Kennedy, the prime mover behind the legislation, indicated
he will again try to introduce an amendment when the bill
comes to the Senate floor. No timeline has been given for
a full Senate vote.
The Massachusetts liberal is also poised to add
hate-crimes language to another, unrelated bill, S. 1088,
the Streamlined Procedures Act of 2005.
"Mr. Kennedy may have gotten the word that many people
have been warning the Senate not to add his amendment to
the Senate version of the Children's Safety Act," Knight
said, "so he appears to be trying to slip it in under the
radar."
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
PRESIDENTIAL DRAMA MAY HAVE REAL-LIFE AIMS
Some conservatives are wondering whether President
Mackenzie Allen is meant to pave the way for another
hopeful.
by Wendy Cloyd, senior editorial coordinator
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
October 20, 2005
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038313.cfm
ABC's hit series "Commander in Chief" chronicles the life
of the first female president, but many conservatives are
wary that it may just be Hollywood's way of smoothing the
election path for Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Geena Davis plays Mackenzie Allen, the view president who
takes over when the president dies unexpectedly. Allen
must overcome the negative perceptions of hesitant peers
while she balances family and career. And thanks to a
well-written script, she not only does that with
perfection and flair, she also manages to single-handedly
mend a tense relationship with the president of Russia and
look smashing in a ball gown -- all in under an hour.
The show has many speculating whether the real goal is not
just entertainment, but to prepare viewers to more easily
accept a Clinton candidacy.
But can a TV show really change how we think?
Timothy Watkins, president and CEO of Leo McWatkins Films,
said the answer is unequivocally "yes."
"Mind-bending with television has been occurring for many,
many, many years," he said. "Even when you go back to when
TV first started -- you had the appropriate way a man and
a women should behave -- the hilarity of 'The
Honeymooners,' 'The Flintstones;' you have the Petries
from 'The Dick VanDyke Show.' You have all these examples
that have been put out there."
In fact, Watkins said, one recent attempt to positively
frame an agenda comes from the homosexual community.
"I believe it was back in 1989 there was a group of people
that got together at a resort and their sole purpose was
to figure out and brainstorm how they could mainstream
homosexuality," he said. "They came up with a concept that
wound up being a TV show. And on the TV show there was a
hip, groovy, neat husband and wife with a quirky friend.
Well, as time went by, you found out that the quirky
friend was gay. And then as further time went by, holy
cow, the husband was gay. The name of that show is 'Will
and Grace.' "
Watkins said even the name of the show was well thought
out: Will implying "free will" and Grace implying
"tolerance."
Dr. Bill Maier, vice president and psychologist in
residence at Focus on the Family, agreed that a fictional
show can change the culture.
[More at URL]
----- 13 -----
Local Laws Used Against Online Obscenity
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
October 20, 2005
from staff reports
SUMMARY: Florida sheriff's detectives arrest a Web site
operator.
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038311.cfm
Christopher Michael Wilson of Lakeland, Fla., was arrested
by detectives of the Polk County Sheriff's Department Oct.
7 and charged with 300 obscenity-related counts in
connection with a Web site he operates.
The arrest suggests that local obscenity laws may be used
against operators of pornographic Web sites.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said the investigation is
ongoing.
"In my 33 years of law enforcement experience, this is one
of the most horrific examples of filthy, obscene materials
we have ever seized," he said.
Tom Hymes with the Free Speech Coalition, a group that
defends the porn industry, said local obscenity laws
should not apply in this case.
"You can't speak about the internet like it's a brick and
mortar world or community, it's simply not," he told
Family News in Focus. "The fact is, it's a global
community."
But Phil Burress with Citizens for Community Values said
it's no different than selling obscene materials in a
bookstore. He said using the Internet to send obscenity
does not protect someone from the law.
[More at URL]
----- 14 -----
Father Won't Go to Trial for Opposing Gay Curriculum
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
Newsbriefs
October 20, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
A Massachusetts man arrested at his son's elementary
school after objecting to the administration's failure to
alert him to homosexual material being shared in the
classroom will not go to trial, The Associated Press
reported.
Prosecutors agreed to drop the charges against David
Parker, who asked to meet with school officials last April
after his kindergartner brought home assigned reading
material that featured same-sex families. Parker asked to
be informed when the topic of homosexuality was to be
taught -- with the option of pulling his child out of
class.
When no compromise was reached at that meeting, Parker
refused to leave and school officials called police. He
spent the night in jail.
Though Massachusetts law requires parental notification
when a teacher intends to discuss issues of sexuality, the
superintendent of the district, Paul Ash, said that did
not apply to this case because the topic was not "human
sexuality," but "tolerance and respect."
The agreement between Parker and the court requires that
he must stay off the school grounds for one year, but he
and his family are relieved the court fight is over.
"My wife and I are satisfied with the outcome," he said.
"We will continue to move forward as we always have with
tolerance and patience in these matters."
----- 15 -----
Nation's Top Anti-Rap Activist Dies
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
October 18, 2005
by Pete Winn, associate editor
SUMMARY: The woman who joined hands with conservatives to
take on rap music in the 1990s, has died at 78.
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038281.cfm
Dr. C. DeLores Tucker gained worldwide acclaim when she
joined hands with conservatives to do battle against
gangsta rap music -- and its harmful effects.
The well-known civil-rights activist had marched from
Selma to Montgomery, Ala., alongside Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr., in 1965. She became the first African-American
woman to serve as a Secretary of State (for Pennsylvania),
and founded the National Political Congress of Black
Women.
She died last Wednesday.
Conservative black leader Mychal Massie said he did not
agree with Tucker's liberal ideology -- but stood
shoulder-to-shoulder with her in her campaign against rap
music and what it was doing to the black community -- and
the youth of America.
"She was a stalwart in that battle," Massie, a nationally
prominent radio talk-show host and columnist, told
CitizenLink. "She saw it as misogynistic, vulgar,
anti-woman, anti-societal music that promoted crimes
against children and humanity."
In 1995, Tucker joined forces with former Education
Secretary William Bennett to develop advertisements
criticizing media giant Time Warner's role in promoting
the violent and sleazy music. The ad made history:
[More at URL]
----- 16 -----
JANET FOLGER WARNS OF 'THE CRIMINALIZATION OF CHRISTIANITY'
Her new book explains what's happening to religious
liberties in the courts and what the future holds if we
don't protect those rights.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
October 18, 2005
http://www.family.org/cforum/feature/a0038278.cfm
In "The Criminalization of Christianity -- Read This
Before It Becomes Illegal!" author and radio host Janet
Folger makes a bold prediction: If Christians don't stand
up for their First Amendment rights, it won't be long
before speaking out becomes a crime.
CitizenLink spoke with Folger about what she sees down the
road if the nation's courts are not reined in.
Q. You have pulled together a tremendous amount of
information in such a way that shows how out of control
our courts have become. What motivates you to spend the
time that you do researching these issues?
A. One thing is that I'd like to stay out of jail! A lot
of people, when they finish reading this -- one word I
hear very often is, 'Scary. The book is scary.'
Even our pro-family leaders say, 'I thought I was plugged
in, I thought I was informed. I read the clips but it's
worse than I thought. It's later than I knew.' And I think
that's really the message -- that we don't have much time
to use these freedoms, and we'd better use them now while
we still can.
I write in the book that Christians have the right to
remain silent, but if we remain silent very much longer
those are precisely the words we are going to hear before
we see the inside of a prison cell.
Q. You titled the book, "The Criminalization of
Christianity." What would become of our nation if it did
become illegal to express Christian beliefs?
A. I think we're quickly approaching that. We see Jesus
being taken out of prayers, we see Christmas being removed
from any public celebrations. But when you look at the
homosexual agenda in particular, that's the issue I
believe for which Christians are going to be criminalized
if they speak out.
[More at URL]
----- 17 -----
Grover Norquist Betrays Conservatives, Speaks At Log Cabin Republican Fundraiser
Concerned Women for America
10/21/2005
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/9223/CWA/family/index.htm
Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, is under fire for speaking at a Log Cabin Republican fundraiser in Texas. The Dallas event, the largest fundraising event of the year for the homosexual Republican group, was raising funds in part to fight Proposition 2; the proposed Texas amendment that would define marriage as between one man and one woman. Bob Knight, Director of CWA’s Culture & Family Institute, says this is not the first time high-profile conservative leaders have turned on the social conservatives of their own party. Click here to listen.
[Robert Knight, CWA's Culture and Family Institute: "Grover Norquist is president of Americans for Tax Reform and he's considered a conservative leader in strategist in Washington DC... and he was a keynote speaker at a fundraising event in texas for the Log Cabin Republicans which is a homosexual activist group in the Republican party... this has caused ripples... for him to give aid and comfort to a group that is utterly opposed to the social agenda of the Republican party, the pro family planks, makes you wonder whether Grover has gone over the line, I happen tot hink he has. ... he's one of the founding members of the Republican Unity Coalition, founded by Charles Francis, an open homosexual... who Grover says created the group to make homosexuality a non-issue in the Republican party. That sounds like a neutral stance, doesn't it? ... this group that Grover just raised funds for in Texas raised them partly to fight the marriage amendment that will be on the ballot in Texas, so he's aiding and abetting a group that is determined to radically redefine marriage, so it's not just a man and a woman."
"There are Big Tent Republicans, and they even call themselves that, and they feel that there's room under the Republican Big Tent for lots of views. So there are pro-abortion Republicans, Republicans for choice... people like Mary Madeline who is an advisor to vice-president Cheyney, and was an advisor to President Bush, who is very openly pro-homosexual... and they have a lot of influence at top levels of the Republican party, and they feel that the social conservatives agenda is at odds with some of the more liberal agendas in the Republican party..."
"I think Gary Glenn, who is the president of the American Family Association of Michigan, who brought this to everyone's attention initially... suggests that Grover, who has candidates sign a no-tax pledge... should himself sign a don't-support-homosexual-marriage pledge, and that he ought to support candidates to sign such a pledge, because if you look at this fiscally... major growth in government has come from the collapse of the family... so if you're truly a fiscal conservative, you would support any way you can the formation and continuance of the married two-parent intact family. That's the surest cure for poverty, ti's the antidote to big government, and for an allegedly fiscal conservative like Grover Norquist to give aid to a group that's really out to destroy marriage as we know it shows that some things even trump fiscal good sense, and you gotta wonder why. ... I think Grover needs to hear from all of us."]
----- 18 -----
Texas Marriage Amendment Information
10/20/2005
Concerned Women for America
Long URL here
Please click on the links below for more information.
2005 Voter's Guide
Bulletin Insert
Yard Signs
Election Facts
Frequently Asked Questions
----- 19 -----
The Knock on the Door
10/20/2005
By Lee Duigon
Concerned Women for America
Canadian police pay a visit to Christian commentator.
http://www.cwfa.org/articledisplay.asp?id=9227&department=CFI&categoryid=family
As a writer, I can't imagine anything more chilling than for the police to come to my door and tell me I'd better stop writing about certain issues. As an American, I can't imagine a worse insult to my First Amendment rights.
But Robert Jason is a Canadian citizen, and he doesn't have to imagine a thing like that, because it really happened—to him.
Jason, 70, a retired high school teacher who supports himself by caring for mentally handicapped persons in his home, writes columns and collects news items in support of Christian, pro-family issues, such as the defense of marriage. He sends them daily to like-minded persons on his e-mail list.
On New Year's Day 2004, Jason and his wife received a visit from two plainclothes policemen.
“They were there because someone showed a homosexual activist one of my e-mails, and the activist complained to the police,” Jason said. "He told them he felt personally threatened by my e-mails. He convinced the police that I was threatening his life."
At the time, Canada's current "hate speech" law had not yet been enacted. That didn't stop the police from getting involved.
“The officers were quiet and friendly,” Jason said, “but just having them there was very intimidating to me and my wife. All the neighbors were watching, and we were terrified.”
The officers didn't tell him to stop writing, he said, but they “implied” that he should.
“I replied, how could I threaten this person? I'm only defending my values. And the e-mail wasn't sent to him.”
Jason said incidents like this will happen in the United States if “hate crime” legislation, followed by “hate speech” legislation, becomes federal law.
“If you give homosexuals special rights, they're just going to use them to threaten your rights,” he said. “Canada doesn't have a First Amendment, and it’s going to get worse here before it gets better. We're just hoping that someday there’ll be a backlash among people with common sense.”
In spite of his warning from the police, Robert Jason is still writing his columns and sending them to fellow Christians on his e-mail list.
He does not know when the police will come again.
Lee Duigon is a Christian free-lance writer whose work periodically appears on www.cwfa.org and frequently appears at www.chalcedon.org.
----- 20 -----
Homosexual Activists Suspected of Pulling Students' Strings in GSA Lawsuit
By Jim Brown
October 18, 2005
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/10/182005e.asp
(AgapePress) - A conservative activist group is accusing the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union of using students to further its radical, pro-homosexual agenda in schools.
Two seniors at Maple Grove High School have sued their school and the Osseo School District for allegedly discriminating against their student group called "Straights and Gays for Equality," or SAGE. The students claim the school has violated the Federal Equal Access Act by not allowing the homosexual group access to meeting rooms, bulletin boards, and the public address system on campus.
However, Linda Harvey of the conservative pro-family group Mission America believes the students' lawsuit is yet another ploy orchestrated by pro-homosexual activists in an effort to gain legitimization for homosexuality. "This is one more of these situations, I would have to say, where students are being motivated and manipulated by adult homosexual activists and civil liberties proponents, and especially the American Civil Liberties Union," she contends.
Harvey believes Maple Grove High School can avoid trouble by not considering homosexuality to be a viewpoint, as the students claim. She argues that the Osseo School District need not accept Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) like SAGE in order to have "viewpoint equality" on the campus, because homosexuality is not a viewpoint -- rather, it is a dangerous, high-risk behavior.
[More at URL]
----- 21 -----
Texas Needs to Affirm Traditional Marriage by Voting Yes on Prop. 2
October 19, 2005 - Wednesday
Family Research Council
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=AL05J08&f=PG03I03
It is a crucial time for the direction of our nation and Texans have a unique opportunity to greatly influence the course of events in America as marriage continues to be debated across the country. As a concerned citizen it is vital that you vote YES for Proposition 2 in the Constitutional Amendments Election on Tuesday, November 8.
Proposition 2 is necessary because it takes the issue out of the state courts, allows you to decide the definition of marriage, and safeguards the institution of marriage from any legal battles. In other states activist judges are striking down the traditional definition of marriage, and overturning the will of the people.
It is of utmost importance that you go to the polls and vote for Proposition 2 on Tuesday, November 8th. Voter turnout is traditionally very low on Constitutional Amendments Elections. Homosexual activists and pro same-sex "marriage" groups from around the country are focusing all of their energy on getting out the vote against Proposition 2.
You have the opportunity to protect marriage and a small percentage of voters will decide this issue, therefore your vote is critical. Let your voice be heard, and vote yes for Proposition 2!
For more information, go to:
http://www.freemarket.org
http://www.texansformarriage.org
