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Today's Cultural Warfare Update
How the Republican party uses the fundamentalist right, in the words of a Tom DeLay's former aide Michael Scanion; I think what I like best is that Focus in the Family has been all busy screaming about reconstruction aid being available to casinos - apparently they've been part of the scam! Yay!;
Focus on the Family promotes several social conservative state ballot initiatives, and one including "funding [that] could conceivably go for support of embryonic stem-cell research" and therefore they oppose;
FotF and CWA say that Alito would work to build an anti-abortion majority on the court, but would not overturn Roe v. Wade; I suspect they don't like getting trapped out on these things in print; includes ACTION ITEM to support him;
FotF rails against Washington State court decision saying that lesbian couples can fall under Washington State's common-law marriage statues for certain purposes;
FotF says 9th Circuit "declares war" on parental rights; uses story to plug Alito for Supreme Court, includes ACTION ITEM to support him;
FotF attacks study showing no link between abortion and depression;
FotF reports poll showing zomg Arkansas is not pro-marriage rights;
CWA article on anti-marriage Federal Marriage Amendment;
Former President Jimmy Carter slams Democrats for being too supportive of abortion rights - Washington Times;
Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) floating revised indecency bill with half-million dollar finds AND which INCLUDES CABLE;
LifeNews also reports on Carter's anti-abortion commentary;
FRC blasts Senate for not holding immediate hearings on Alito;
FRC supports requiring husbands be notified before a married woman can have an abortion;
FRC supports anti-marriage amendment, urges passing out of committee;
FRC ACTION ITEM to support anti-marriage amendment;
Concerned Women for America on badgering department stores to specifically advertise Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays, ; talks about how even a commercialised Christmas is good because "it means the whole world has to focus on Christmas. They can't really escape it. You hear Christmas carols in the mall, you do hear Christmas music in ads, they can't quite wipe it away." Also calls the Sandanista communists the Nicaraguan ACLU. No, really;
Article 8 - anti-marriage-rights group in Massachusetts - spins the anti-ex-gay protests even harder than Focus on the Family did;
Jerry Falwell joins the "Christmas is Oppressed" theme expressed by CWA above.
----- 1 -----
Abramoff-Scanlon School of Sleaze
Wednesday's Senate hearings yielded more scandalous revelations about how the dynamic lobbying duo bilked American Indian tribes out of millions and used the money to win elections for their Republican clients.
By Michael Scherer
salon.com
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/11/03/abramoff/
Up-and-coming Republican hacks would do well to watch closely the ongoing Senate investigations of superstar lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his former business partner Michael Scanlon. The power duo stand accused of exploiting Native American tribes to the tune of roughly $66 million, laundering that money into bank accounts they controlled and then using it to buy favors for powerful members of Congress and the executive branch.
But they sure did know how to play the game.
Consider one memo highlighted in a Capitol Hill hearing Wednesday that Scanlon, a former aide to Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, sent the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana to describe his strategy for protecting the tribe's gambling business. In plain terms, Scanlon confessed the source code of recent Republican electoral victories: target religious conservatives, distract everyone else, and then railroad through complex initiatives.
"The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet and telephone trees," Scanlon wrote in the memo, which was read into the public record at a hearing of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. "Simply put, we want to bring out the wackos to vote /against/ something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them." The brilliance of this strategy was twofold: Not only would most voters not know about an initiative to protect Coushatta gambling revenues, but religious "wackos" could be tricked into supporting gambling at the Coushatta casino even as they thought they were opposing it.
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
PRO-FAMILY ISSUES TO BE DECIDED TUESDAY
Several states are voting on matters of key importance.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
by Pete Winn, associate editor
November 4, 2005
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038495.cfm
Voters in 22 states will face initiatives and ballot
questions Tuesday on issues ranging from roads and sewers
to marriage and stem-cell research.
But pro-family conservatives will be watching four states
in particular, according to Mona Passignano, state issues
analyst at Focus on the Family Action.
"These are four important issues, all of them different,"
she said. "They have very wide implications for those
states -- and in others, as well. Every state should be
aware of what happens."
[...]
-----------------------------------
MAINE QUESTION 1: People's Veto and Gender Identity
Secretary of State's Text: "Do you want to reject the
new law that would protect people from discrimination in
employment, housing, education, public accommodations and
credit based on their sexual orientation?"
Explanation: The initiative would repeal a law that was
passed this session by the Maine Legislature, and signed
by Gov. John Baldacci.
"With this law in effect," Passignano said, "if a male
high school basketball coach decides he wants to be a
woman -- or at least dress like one -- the next day, there
would be nothing parents could do to stop him. He would
have special protection to do so under this law. The
initiative, if approved, would keep that law from taking
effect."
FOR MORE INFORMATION: To learn more about the initiative,
please see the Christian Civic League of Main Web site.
http://www.cclmaine.org/
------------------------------------
TEXAS PROPOSITION 2: Marriage Protection
Secretary of State's Text: "The constitutional amendment
providing that marriage in this state consists only of the
union of one man and one woman and prohibiting this state
or a political subdivision of this state from creating or
recognizing any legal status identical or similar to
marriage."
Explanation: Proposition 2 would add an amendment to the
state constitution to define marriage in Texas as the
union of a man and woman, and stipulate that the state and
its political subdivisions could not create or recognize
any legal status identical to or similar to marriage,
including such legal status relationships created outside
of Texas.
"In essence, it would keep any other kind of relationship,
whether it's polygamous or homosexual, from getting the
same benefits as marriage," Passignano said.
[...]
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Please see the Texas Free Market
Foundation's Web site to learn more about this question.
http://www.freemarket.org
---------------------------------
CALIFORNIA PROPOSITION 73: Parental Notification
Secretary of State's Summary: Amends California
Constitution, prohibiting abortion for unemancipated minor
until 48 hours after physician notifies minor's
parent/legal guardian, except in medical emergency or with
parental waiver.
Defines abortion as causing "death of the unborn child, a
child conceived but not yet born."
Permits minor to obtain court order waiving notice based
on clear, convincing evidence of minor's maturity or best
interests.
[...]
FOR MORE INFORMATION: To learn more about the ballot
initiatives in California, please visit the California
Family Council Web site.
http://www.californiafamily.org
---------------------------------
OHIO STATE ISSUE 1: Money to fund embryonic stem-cell
research
Summary: Issue 1 is a multi-part question dealing with
funding for various projects, one of which is research.
Explanation: Ohio has five issues on the ballot. But
Issue 1 would grant tax dollars for several categories of
infrastructure improvements -- including research. That
funding could conceivably go for support of embryonic
stem-cell research.
"Focus on the Family Action opposes embryonic stem-cell
research," Passignano said.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: To learn more about the ballot
question -- and its implications, please see the Citizens
for Community Values Web site.
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
ALITO SEEN AS CONSERVATIVE ON ABORTION
Analysts say he would likely build a Court majority to restrict abortion.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
November 4, 2005
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038493.cfm
from staff reports
SUMMARY: Analysts say he might not tip the court against
Roe v. Wade, but would likely build a majority to restrict
abortion.
Judge Samuel Alito's former colleagues say the Supreme
Court nominee will move the court to the right, but stop
short of overturning Roe v Wade -- a view shared by many
pro-life organizations.
The issue, such groups say, is that even with Alito on the
Court, there likely would not be a majority of justices
opposed to Roe. But Jan LaRue, chief counsel of Concerned
Women for America, said a high court with Alito in the mix
would succeed in chipping away at abortion rights.
"What you do have, if you add Alito to the court, would be
five votes to uphold a ban on partial-birth abortion," she
told Family News in Focus.
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
Court Finds Biological Parents Nothing Special
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 4, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
The highest court in Washington State has ruled that
someone who has a relationship with a child's biological
parent can claim the same legal rights to the child as the
parent.
The case in question involved a lesbian couple -- Sue
Ellen Carvin and Page Britain, who raised Britain's
biological child from 1996 until their relationship ended
in 2001. Britain then married her child's father and
sought to terminate Carvin's contact with the child.
The Washington Supreme Court said she had no legal grounds
to do so, however, finding that the Evergreen State's
"common law recognizes the status of de facto parents and
places them in parity with biological and adoptive
parents."
Brian Fahling, senior trial attorney for the American
Family Association Center for Law and Policy, called the
decision "an unambiguous case of social engineering."
"This decision is judicial activism in the extreme," he
said. "It is evidence not that we are on a slippery slope,
but that we are already at the bottom of that slope."
----- 5 -----
9TH CIRCUIT 'DECLARES WAR' ON PARENTAL RIGHTS
Ultraliberal court makes outrageous ruling which dismisses
the right of parents to challenge what their children are taught.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
October 3, 2005
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038483.cfm
by Pete Winn, associate editor
SUMMARY: Ultraliberal court makes outrageous ruling which
dismisses the right of parents to challenge what their
children are taught.
A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of
Appeals has told parents with children in California's
Palmdale School District they have no rights when it comes
to what their children are being taught -- nor do they
even have the right to take action against anything they
might object to.
"This decision declares war on parental rights," said
Liberty Counsel President Mat Staver. "It essentially says
that parents have no rights. Once you drop your kids off
at school -- according to this court's decision -- you
have severed all of your parental rights until you pick
your kids up at the end of the day. But while they're in
the public school's jurisdiction, there are no parents,
according to this decision."
[...]
"It is the most reversed court, bar none, in the country,"
Staver said. "Hopefully, if this case is appealed to the
Supreme Court, the 9th Circuit will be reversed one more
time."
TAKE ACTION: Please contact your members of Congress, and
tell them that we need judges who will neither legislate
from the bench nor usurp the rights of parents.
Especially, tell your senators that it is important to
give President Bush's latest Supreme Court nominee, Samuel
Alito, a fair hearing and an up-or-down vote.
http://www3.capwiz.com/fof/dbq/officials/
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
Study Claiming No Abortion-Depression Link is Disputed
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
October 3, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
News outlets have been brimming over in the last week
about a study claiming no link between having an abortion
and a risk of depression. But experts are quickly pointing
out flaws in that conclusion, Earned Media reported.
Sarah Schmeige at the University of Colorado and Nancy
Felipe Russo at the University of Arizona authored the
report, which claims, "abortion does not raise depression
risk."
The two analyzed data from a 2002 study, funded by the
U.S. government, which examined data from women who
aborted a first unwanted pregnancy and women who carried a
first unwanted pregnancy to term.
But David Reardon, lead author of that original study,
said Schmeige and Russo presented their "new" results in a
way intended to mislead the public -- specifically they
claim their own personal analysis of the same data lead to
a different conclusion than Reardon.
"Schmeige and Russo have actually avoided replicating our
actual analysis," Reardon said. "They only look at mixed
groupings where we already knew the data are too weak to
support a statistically significant finding."
Reardon said his study showed that increased rates of
depression were found an average of eight years after an
unintended pregnancy -- especially among women who were
married at the time of the study. Among single women the
stress was significant with both choices; to end the life
of a pre-born or to become a single mother, which is
itself a big life stressor.
He said Schmeige and Russo set out to put headlines before
science.
----- 7 -----
Arkansans Disapprove of Same-Sex Unions
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
October 3, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
The majority of people in Arkansas oppose gay marriage and
believe homosexuality is wrong, according to the 2005
Arkansas Poll produced by the University of Arkansas.
Janine Perry, a professor at the university, directed the
poll. She told the Arkansas News the legal rights of
homosexuals is "a hot policy topic right now among
policymakers and academics."
Sixty-five percent of those questioned said sexual
relations between people of the same gender is wrong and
54 percent were against gay marriage and civil unions.
Only 15 percent were totally in favor of unions for
same-sex couples.
When questioned about school textbooks, 70 percent felt
children should be taught the definition of marriage is
one man and one woman.
Arkansas was one of 11 states in 2004 to vote in favor of
a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union of
one man and one woman.
----- 8 -----
Senate Judiciary Subcommittee to Examine Marriage Amendment
Robert Knight and Amelia Wigton
Concerned Women for America
November 4, 2005
http://www.cwalac.org/article_280.shtml
A Senate panel chaired by Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) will take a look at the proposed federal Marriage Protection Amendment on Wednesday, November 9.
“Given the more conservative makeup of the Senate since the 2004 elections, and the fact that judges continue to redefine marriage, as just occurred in Alaska, we think it’s time that the amendment was re-written to protect marriage in essence as well as in name,” said Michael Bowman, director of state legislative relations for Concerned Women for America. “CWA declined to support the original Federal Marriage Amendment because it was specifically drafted to allow state legislatures to create counterfeit marriage under other names. That is unacceptable. This time around, we hope they correct that error.”
[...]
The proposed Marriage Protection Amendment was previously known as the Federal Marriage Amendment. It failed to get the required two-thirds vote in either the House or Senate to send it on to the states for ratification. The amendment reads:
Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman.
[...]
Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) is chairman of the Judiciary Subcommitte on the Constitution where the amendment will be debated and voted on.
[...]
Another amendment, the Marriage Protection Act, was introduced in the House on March 17, 2005 by Rep. Daniel Lungren (R- California 3rd). The House version has 17 co-sponsors, and was referred to the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution.
CWA will continue to follow this vital legislation that could permanently define marriage as being only between a man and a woman.
[More at URL]
----- 9 -----
Carter condemns abortion culture
By Ralph Z. Hallow
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
November 4, 2005
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20051103-111740-7148r.htm
Former President Jimmy Carter yesterday condemned all abortions and chastised his party for its intolerance of candidates and nominees who oppose abortion.
"I never have felt that any abortion should be committed -- I think each abortion is the result of a series of errors," he told reporters over breakfast at the Ritz-CarltonHotel, while across town Senate Democrats deliberated whether to filibuster the nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. because he may share President Bush and Mr. Carter's abhorrence of abortion.
"These things impact other issues on which [Mr. Bush] and I basically agree," the Georgia Democrat said. "I've never been convinced, if you let me inject my Christianity into it, that Jesus Christ would approve abortion."
Mr. Carter said his party's congressional leadership only hurts Democrats by making a rigid pro-abortion rights stand the criterion for assessing judicial nominees.
[...]
While Mr. Carter has previously expressed ambivalence about abortion, his statements yesterday were "astonishing," said Robert Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute at Concerned Women for America.
"He has long professed to be an evangelical Christian and yet he had embraced virtually all the liberal political agenda," said Mr. Knight. "Maybe with Jimmy Carter saying things he never uttered before, more liberals will rethink their worship of abortion as the high holy sacrament of liberalism."
[More at URL]
----- 10 -----
CongressDaily
Stevens Bill Would Sharply Boost Fines For Indecent Broadcasts
By David Hatch
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-WUFL1131037181396.html
(Wednesday, November 2) Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, is quietly floating draft legislation on television indecency standards -- one of the most contentious media issues facing Congress as lawmakers seek to overhaul the nation's communications laws.
The draft bill would increase television and radio broadcast fines for indecency violations from $32,500 to $500,000 per incident. The penalties are imposed by the FCC.
Stevens discussed the measure with radio executives Wednesday and with cable industry officials in the past week, a Republican aide said. Committee staffers recently briefed broadcast executives as well.
"Sen. Stevens is clearly interested in getting industry feedback," the aide said, adding that the panel is exploring holding a hearing on indecency issues.
The cable industry dodges a bullet in the Oct. 4 staff draft, which contains no provisions mandating a la carte programming, family-friendly tiers or the application of broadcast indecency standards to cable.
Some lawmakers and religious groups are seeking tougher restrictions on cable content, raising thorny First Amendment concerns because cable is a subscription service that does not utilize the public airwaves.
Nevertheless, the GOP aide insisted Stevens is keeping the heat on cable. "I don't think you can assume cable's off-the-hook," the aide said.
[...]
In July, a coalition of 24 conservative and faith-based organizations launched a campaign to convince Stevens and other lawmakers to require cable operators to offer a la carte or per channel programming that would include family-friendly tiers.
Concerned Women for America, the Family Research Council, Focus on the Family and the Parents Television Council are part of the coalition.
[More at URL]
----- 11 -----
Former President Jimmy Carter Blasts Democrats for Supporting Abortion
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 4, 2005
http://www.lifenews.com/nat1764.html
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Former President Jimmy Carter yesterday condemned all abortions and took his party to task for its strong pro-abortion position. He said his Christian faith compels him to oppose abortion because it takes a human life.
"I never have felt that any abortion should be committed -- I think each abortion is the result of a series of errors," he told reporters over breakfast at a Washington hotel.
The comments came while senators across town were meeting with Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito and debating whether his position on abortion should compel them to oppose his nomination.
"These things impact other issues on which [Mr. Bush] and I basically agree," the former president said of his abortion stance. "I've never been convinced, if you let me inject my Christianity into it, that Jesus Christ would approve abortion."
Carter said leaders in the Democratic Party have hurt it because of their insistence on a rigid pro-abortion stance within the party and for party leadership positions.
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
FRC: Stop the Stalling Tactics on Alito Nomination
November 3, 2005 - Thursday
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 3, 2005 CONTACT: Amber Hildebrand, (202) 393-2100
FOR RADIO: J.P. Duffy
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PR05K03&f=PG03I03;
"It appears that partisan stalling tactics have triumphed over a fair and timely confirmation process."
~ FRC President Tony Perkins
Washington, D.C. - Today, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) announced that hearings on the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito would be delayed until Monday, January 9. Family Research Council (FRC) President Tony Perkins released the following statement:
"We are at a loss to understand why stalling tactics have been employed against Judge Alito's nomination. This does not reflect President Bush's expressed hopes for final confirmation by the end of the year.
"There is no reason for Judge Alito to wait 70 days to begin his confirmation hearings. Following 13 years as a federal judge, Justice Ginsburg was able to begin confirmation hearings 28 days following her nomination. Judge Alito with 15 years on the federal bench should receive the same due process. With many important Supreme Court cases pending, it is imperative that the Senate reconsider its schedule for confirmation hearings. It appears that partisan stalling tactics have triumphed over a fair and timely confirmation process."
-30-
----- 13 -----
Who's "Out of the Mainstream" on Spousal Notification?
Issue No.: 25
Family Research Council
by: Charmaine Yoest
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=CU05K02&f=PG03I03
Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel Alito is coming under fire from abortion rights supporters for his dissent in the Planned Parenthood v. Casey case. Differing from his colleagues on the Third Circuit, Alito supported the right of the Pennsylvania state legislature to pass a spousal notification requirement for women prior to an abortion.
The Left is working to paint Alito's decision as outside the mainstream of American opinion.
Reporting in today's Roll Call, Karlyn Bowman of the American Enterprise Institute writes that the vast majority of American people support requiring spousal notification before an abortion.
In 1992, when Gallup asked people whether they favored or opposed a law requiring that the husband of a married woman be notified if she decides to have an abortion, 73 percent said they were in favor. In 1996, 70 percent were in favor, and in 2003, 72 percent were. In each survey, about a quarter were opposed.
[More at URL]
----- 14 -----
FRC Urges Senators to Support the Marriage Protection Amendment
November 2, 2005 - Wednesday
Family Research Council
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 2, 2005 CONTACT: Amber Hildebrand, (202) 393-2100
"Marriage is not safe from activist courts until a U.S. Constitutional Amendment is ratified."
~Tony Perkins, President of Family Research Council
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PR05K02&f=PG03I03
Washington, D.C. -- Today, the Family Research Council (FRC) urged senators on the Judiciary Committee to support the Marriage Protection Amendment (Senate Joint Resolution 1) and to oppose any changes to its language in "markup" sessions this week.
"We are pleased to see the Senate take action on the amendment and hope the House follows their example," said FRC President Tony Perkins. "This is a crucial issue that deserves a full public debate.
"While most of the country is focused on Supreme Court nominations and the War on Terror, the assault on marriage grows.
"Actions in Nebraska, where a federal judge struck down a state constitutional amendment approved by the state's voters, should be a warning that marriage is not safe from activist courts until a U.S. Constitutional Amendment is ratified."
The Marriage Protection Amendment would define marriage nationwide as the union of one man and one woman, and would prevent courts from redefining marriage or redistributing its legal benefits.
The Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights is scheduled to act on the amendment Wednesday, with action by the full Judiciary Committee to follow on Thursday, November 3.
To interview Tony Perkins or an FRC expert please contact theFRC press office at 202.393.2100 or e-mail Amber Hildebrand at adh@frc.org.
-30-
----- 15 -----
Marriage Momentum
November 2, 2005 - Wednesday
Family Research Council
Forward to a Friend!
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=AL05K03&f=PG03I03
Lone Star state voters can give marriage needed protections by voting FOR Proposition 2 on November 8th. This is vitally important.
Federal district court Judge Joseph Bataillon recently struck down Nebraska's marriage protection amendment even though it had been approved by 70 percent of Nebraskans. We cannot afford any backsliding on marriage.
Tomorrow, the Senate Judiciary Committee will mark up the Marriage Protection Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Please call these members of the Judiciary Committee now. Urge these members:
1) to make sure they show up for the markup, and
2) to oppose any changes in the language of the amendment. This amendment has been carefully written to protect marriage in the United States as the union of one man and one woman.
The actions of that federal judge in Nebraska demonstrate why we cannot take any chances on marriage. They also show why nominations to the Supreme Court of the United States are vitally important to us all.
[More at URL]
----- 16 -----
Concerned Women for America
Family Research Council
11/4/2005
http://www.cwfa.org/articledisplay.asp?id=9385&department=CWA&categoryid=misc
It fills the malls, the media and the mailbox this time each year; the annual onslaught of “happy holidays,” “celebrate the season,” and “festive holiday.” But as Bob Knight, Director of CWA’s Culture & Family Institute points out, there is some good news this year and ways you can fight back and encourage the culture to acknowledge real holiday, Christmas. Click here to listen.
["The battle over whether to _say_ Christmas is already here." Robert Knight: "You'd think it was just holiday... everything's 'festive' or 'holiday'... I'm looking at a traditional catalogue right here in front of me... but the cover shows a family dragging a christmas tree towards a barn ... yet it says... Holiday 2005 and... Holiday traditions... Y'know, why don't they put it on the cover? It's a Christmas catalogue, for gracious sake, why don't they just admit it?" "Virtually all merchants do it; L.L. Bean tries to have it both ways, they come out with a Christmas 2005 catalogue, which we've gotten, and I was thrilled to see the word 'Christmas', then about weeks later we got 'Holiday 2005' from L. L. Bean, so I guess that's supposed to satisfy the secular-minded folks."
"Federated [Department Stores] is huge, it has Bloomingdale's, it has Macy's... they're associated with Christmas, because of the Miracle on 34th Street... Macy's has been under scrutiny by a group in California, the 'Save Merry Christmas Group,' and they have written to Macy's, and last year they launched a boycott of Macy's, and said 'until you acknowledge Christmas in your advertising and in your Christmas displays, we don't see any reason to spend our Christmas dollars there.' ... I have good news to report... we at CWA have talked to Macy's and asked them, 'have you reconsidered this policy?' [They] said 'absolutely... you'll see Christmas this year.' ... We'll be watching to make sure they do carry it through."
"The Alliance Defense Fund, which is a group that defends Civil liberties, particularly for Christians under attack in the public square... they say they have more than 800 attorneys nationwide ready to combat attempts to censor Christmas. And they're urging people to say Merry Christmas, and to to use Christmas in celebrations, even in public places like in schools, and on public property, and they point out that 96% of Americas celebrate Christmas, according to the Fox News opinion dynamics poll in 2003; 90% recognise Christmas as the birthday of Jesus Christ; 88% say it's okay for people to wish others Merry Christmas; seems like the only people who have a problem with this are the ACLU, merchants who are terrified of appearing too religious, and not too many other Americans, really. it's getting to the point where you hear "happy holidays," it's a mark of cowardice, almost... it means you're afraid to acknowledge the reason for the season."
"TV and radio, you hear it constantly... 'for your holiday feast, do your holiday shopping... it's like holiday, holiday... after a while, the word holiday becomes kind of an ongoing Chinese water drip torture... I want to hear the word Christmas now and then! I don't mind hearing the word Chanukah..."
Talks about "Operation Nativity" to set up nativity scenes everywhere they can. "If you want to change a culture, you do it starting right at home. If you see lots and lots of nativity scenes out there, ti's a reminder... it's about celebrating the birth of Jesus, the greatest gift God ever gave us." "Well, the Nicaraguans, you know, got rid of the Sandanistas, their version of the ACLU, and so they're celebrating more freedom now. And I would hope we find that same kind of freedom in America to recognise our heritage in public places."
"It forces people to recognise [Christ] is what it's about." "I remember a friend, a few years ago, said, he had another friend, who said, "Well, I can't stand the commercialisation of Christmas, it's just... and you see Santa Claus and all that stuff," and he said, "Calm down. Don't you realise even with this commercialisation, it means the whole world has to focus on Christmas. They can't really escape it. You hear Christmas carols in the mall, you do hear Christmas music in ads, they can't quite wipe it away. So relax, and enjoy Christmas."]
More resources:
Alliance Defense Fund’s Third Annual Christmas Project: www.saychristmas.org
Save Merry Christmas (an effort aimed at Federated Department Stores): www.savemerrychristmas.org
The Truth Matters, encouraging Christians to display a nativity scene this year:
http://www.earnedmedia.org/truth1025.htm and
http://www.thetruthmatters.com/ME2/Audiences/Default.asp
----- 17 -----
Homosexual activists terrorize Boston church during ex-Gay conference while police watch.
Demonstrators had no permit, but Boston police stand by and do nothing
Sound truck, coffins placed at church door. Police allow near-riot outside, but tell people inside they can't leave.
Ignored by Boston media. (Why aren't we surprised?)
. . . Coming to churches across America?
October 29, 2005
http://www.article8.org/docs/news_events/love_won_out/conf_1029.htm
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS (OCTOBER 29, 2005) As hundreds of people from across Massachusetts and other states came to the Tremont Temple Baptist Church to attend a widely acclaimed conference on recovering from homosexuality through a relationship with God, angry and enraged homosexual activists converged outside to intimidate and terrorize them.
The all-day conference, titled "Love Won Out" featured renowned lecturers, many of whom had left the homosexual lifestyle and are now married or in heterosexual relationships. Major themes included theology and relationships with God, as well as practical information for those struggling with homosexuality or who know people who are in that situation.
But outside, homosexual activists gathered before 8 am and stayed until that evening when the conference ended. They were joined by more activists as the day went on, including many who apparently came from an anti-war rally on the Boston Common.
They did whatever they could to harass and intimidate the attendees, including waving signs, yelling and screaming, and later they even brought a sound truck. Some of the activists went up to individual attendees and took close up photos at them, taunting them personally.
[More at URL]
----- 18 -----
Fight the Grinch!
Posted: November 5, 2005
Jerry Falwell
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47240
Last year, Dr. Jerry Prevo, pastor of the Anchorage Baptist Temple, Alaska's largest church, decided to purchase full-page ads in state newspapers, defining what individuals may do – under constitutional protection – in regard to publicly celebrating the Christmas season.
Dr. Prevo, who is chairman of the Liberty University Board of Trustees, thought the ads were necessary in this age of political correctness that has convinced many of our fellow Americans that Christmas is a dirty word.
In many public venues, and in our schools and workplaces, many Americans have discovered that they are not permitted to erect Christmas decorations, exchange Christmas cards or sing Christmas carols.
Dr. Prevo, after posting the ads in Alaska newspapers, said, "The ads were a greater success than I had ever imagined. We received an outpouring of community support, and best of all, the pre-emptive measures resulted in not one incident of religious discrimination. I would encourage every pastor and church to participate."
[More at URL]
Focus on the Family promotes several social conservative state ballot initiatives, and one including "funding [that] could conceivably go for support of embryonic stem-cell research" and therefore they oppose;
FotF and CWA say that Alito would work to build an anti-abortion majority on the court, but would not overturn Roe v. Wade; I suspect they don't like getting trapped out on these things in print; includes ACTION ITEM to support him;
FotF rails against Washington State court decision saying that lesbian couples can fall under Washington State's common-law marriage statues for certain purposes;
FotF says 9th Circuit "declares war" on parental rights; uses story to plug Alito for Supreme Court, includes ACTION ITEM to support him;
FotF attacks study showing no link between abortion and depression;
FotF reports poll showing zomg Arkansas is not pro-marriage rights;
CWA article on anti-marriage Federal Marriage Amendment;
Former President Jimmy Carter slams Democrats for being too supportive of abortion rights - Washington Times;
Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) floating revised indecency bill with half-million dollar finds AND which INCLUDES CABLE;
LifeNews also reports on Carter's anti-abortion commentary;
FRC blasts Senate for not holding immediate hearings on Alito;
FRC supports requiring husbands be notified before a married woman can have an abortion;
FRC supports anti-marriage amendment, urges passing out of committee;
FRC ACTION ITEM to support anti-marriage amendment;
Concerned Women for America on badgering department stores to specifically advertise Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays, ; talks about how even a commercialised Christmas is good because "it means the whole world has to focus on Christmas. They can't really escape it. You hear Christmas carols in the mall, you do hear Christmas music in ads, they can't quite wipe it away." Also calls the Sandanista communists the Nicaraguan ACLU. No, really;
Article 8 - anti-marriage-rights group in Massachusetts - spins the anti-ex-gay protests even harder than Focus on the Family did;
Jerry Falwell joins the "Christmas is Oppressed" theme expressed by CWA above.
----- 1 -----
Abramoff-Scanlon School of Sleaze
Wednesday's Senate hearings yielded more scandalous revelations about how the dynamic lobbying duo bilked American Indian tribes out of millions and used the money to win elections for their Republican clients.
By Michael Scherer
salon.com
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/11/03/abramoff/
Up-and-coming Republican hacks would do well to watch closely the ongoing Senate investigations of superstar lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his former business partner Michael Scanlon. The power duo stand accused of exploiting Native American tribes to the tune of roughly $66 million, laundering that money into bank accounts they controlled and then using it to buy favors for powerful members of Congress and the executive branch.
But they sure did know how to play the game.
Consider one memo highlighted in a Capitol Hill hearing Wednesday that Scanlon, a former aide to Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, sent the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana to describe his strategy for protecting the tribe's gambling business. In plain terms, Scanlon confessed the source code of recent Republican electoral victories: target religious conservatives, distract everyone else, and then railroad through complex initiatives.
"The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet and telephone trees," Scanlon wrote in the memo, which was read into the public record at a hearing of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. "Simply put, we want to bring out the wackos to vote /against/ something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them." The brilliance of this strategy was twofold: Not only would most voters not know about an initiative to protect Coushatta gambling revenues, but religious "wackos" could be tricked into supporting gambling at the Coushatta casino even as they thought they were opposing it.
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
PRO-FAMILY ISSUES TO BE DECIDED TUESDAY
Several states are voting on matters of key importance.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
by Pete Winn, associate editor
November 4, 2005
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038495.cfm
Voters in 22 states will face initiatives and ballot
questions Tuesday on issues ranging from roads and sewers
to marriage and stem-cell research.
But pro-family conservatives will be watching four states
in particular, according to Mona Passignano, state issues
analyst at Focus on the Family Action.
"These are four important issues, all of them different,"
she said. "They have very wide implications for those
states -- and in others, as well. Every state should be
aware of what happens."
[...]
-----------------------------------
MAINE QUESTION 1: People's Veto and Gender Identity
Secretary of State's Text: "Do you want to reject the
new law that would protect people from discrimination in
employment, housing, education, public accommodations and
credit based on their sexual orientation?"
Explanation: The initiative would repeal a law that was
passed this session by the Maine Legislature, and signed
by Gov. John Baldacci.
"With this law in effect," Passignano said, "if a male
high school basketball coach decides he wants to be a
woman -- or at least dress like one -- the next day, there
would be nothing parents could do to stop him. He would
have special protection to do so under this law. The
initiative, if approved, would keep that law from taking
effect."
FOR MORE INFORMATION: To learn more about the initiative,
please see the Christian Civic League of Main Web site.
http://www.cclmaine.org/
------------------------------------
TEXAS PROPOSITION 2: Marriage Protection
Secretary of State's Text: "The constitutional amendment
providing that marriage in this state consists only of the
union of one man and one woman and prohibiting this state
or a political subdivision of this state from creating or
recognizing any legal status identical or similar to
marriage."
Explanation: Proposition 2 would add an amendment to the
state constitution to define marriage in Texas as the
union of a man and woman, and stipulate that the state and
its political subdivisions could not create or recognize
any legal status identical to or similar to marriage,
including such legal status relationships created outside
of Texas.
"In essence, it would keep any other kind of relationship,
whether it's polygamous or homosexual, from getting the
same benefits as marriage," Passignano said.
[...]
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Please see the Texas Free Market
Foundation's Web site to learn more about this question.
http://www.freemarket.org
---------------------------------
CALIFORNIA PROPOSITION 73: Parental Notification
Secretary of State's Summary: Amends California
Constitution, prohibiting abortion for unemancipated minor
until 48 hours after physician notifies minor's
parent/legal guardian, except in medical emergency or with
parental waiver.
Defines abortion as causing "death of the unborn child, a
child conceived but not yet born."
Permits minor to obtain court order waiving notice based
on clear, convincing evidence of minor's maturity or best
interests.
[...]
FOR MORE INFORMATION: To learn more about the ballot
initiatives in California, please visit the California
Family Council Web site.
http://www.californiafamily.org
---------------------------------
OHIO STATE ISSUE 1: Money to fund embryonic stem-cell
research
Summary: Issue 1 is a multi-part question dealing with
funding for various projects, one of which is research.
Explanation: Ohio has five issues on the ballot. But
Issue 1 would grant tax dollars for several categories of
infrastructure improvements -- including research. That
funding could conceivably go for support of embryonic
stem-cell research.
"Focus on the Family Action opposes embryonic stem-cell
research," Passignano said.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: To learn more about the ballot
question -- and its implications, please see the Citizens
for Community Values Web site.
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
ALITO SEEN AS CONSERVATIVE ON ABORTION
Analysts say he would likely build a Court majority to restrict abortion.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
November 4, 2005
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038493.cfm
from staff reports
SUMMARY: Analysts say he might not tip the court against
Roe v. Wade, but would likely build a majority to restrict
abortion.
Judge Samuel Alito's former colleagues say the Supreme
Court nominee will move the court to the right, but stop
short of overturning Roe v Wade -- a view shared by many
pro-life organizations.
The issue, such groups say, is that even with Alito on the
Court, there likely would not be a majority of justices
opposed to Roe. But Jan LaRue, chief counsel of Concerned
Women for America, said a high court with Alito in the mix
would succeed in chipping away at abortion rights.
"What you do have, if you add Alito to the court, would be
five votes to uphold a ban on partial-birth abortion," she
told Family News in Focus.
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
Court Finds Biological Parents Nothing Special
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 4, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
The highest court in Washington State has ruled that
someone who has a relationship with a child's biological
parent can claim the same legal rights to the child as the
parent.
The case in question involved a lesbian couple -- Sue
Ellen Carvin and Page Britain, who raised Britain's
biological child from 1996 until their relationship ended
in 2001. Britain then married her child's father and
sought to terminate Carvin's contact with the child.
The Washington Supreme Court said she had no legal grounds
to do so, however, finding that the Evergreen State's
"common law recognizes the status of de facto parents and
places them in parity with biological and adoptive
parents."
Brian Fahling, senior trial attorney for the American
Family Association Center for Law and Policy, called the
decision "an unambiguous case of social engineering."
"This decision is judicial activism in the extreme," he
said. "It is evidence not that we are on a slippery slope,
but that we are already at the bottom of that slope."
----- 5 -----
9TH CIRCUIT 'DECLARES WAR' ON PARENTAL RIGHTS
Ultraliberal court makes outrageous ruling which dismisses
the right of parents to challenge what their children are taught.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
October 3, 2005
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038483.cfm
by Pete Winn, associate editor
SUMMARY: Ultraliberal court makes outrageous ruling which
dismisses the right of parents to challenge what their
children are taught.
A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of
Appeals has told parents with children in California's
Palmdale School District they have no rights when it comes
to what their children are being taught -- nor do they
even have the right to take action against anything they
might object to.
"This decision declares war on parental rights," said
Liberty Counsel President Mat Staver. "It essentially says
that parents have no rights. Once you drop your kids off
at school -- according to this court's decision -- you
have severed all of your parental rights until you pick
your kids up at the end of the day. But while they're in
the public school's jurisdiction, there are no parents,
according to this decision."
[...]
"It is the most reversed court, bar none, in the country,"
Staver said. "Hopefully, if this case is appealed to the
Supreme Court, the 9th Circuit will be reversed one more
time."
TAKE ACTION: Please contact your members of Congress, and
tell them that we need judges who will neither legislate
from the bench nor usurp the rights of parents.
Especially, tell your senators that it is important to
give President Bush's latest Supreme Court nominee, Samuel
Alito, a fair hearing and an up-or-down vote.
http://www3.capwiz.com/fof/dbq/officials/
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
Study Claiming No Abortion-Depression Link is Disputed
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
October 3, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
News outlets have been brimming over in the last week
about a study claiming no link between having an abortion
and a risk of depression. But experts are quickly pointing
out flaws in that conclusion, Earned Media reported.
Sarah Schmeige at the University of Colorado and Nancy
Felipe Russo at the University of Arizona authored the
report, which claims, "abortion does not raise depression
risk."
The two analyzed data from a 2002 study, funded by the
U.S. government, which examined data from women who
aborted a first unwanted pregnancy and women who carried a
first unwanted pregnancy to term.
But David Reardon, lead author of that original study,
said Schmeige and Russo presented their "new" results in a
way intended to mislead the public -- specifically they
claim their own personal analysis of the same data lead to
a different conclusion than Reardon.
"Schmeige and Russo have actually avoided replicating our
actual analysis," Reardon said. "They only look at mixed
groupings where we already knew the data are too weak to
support a statistically significant finding."
Reardon said his study showed that increased rates of
depression were found an average of eight years after an
unintended pregnancy -- especially among women who were
married at the time of the study. Among single women the
stress was significant with both choices; to end the life
of a pre-born or to become a single mother, which is
itself a big life stressor.
He said Schmeige and Russo set out to put headlines before
science.
----- 7 -----
Arkansans Disapprove of Same-Sex Unions
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
October 3, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
The majority of people in Arkansas oppose gay marriage and
believe homosexuality is wrong, according to the 2005
Arkansas Poll produced by the University of Arkansas.
Janine Perry, a professor at the university, directed the
poll. She told the Arkansas News the legal rights of
homosexuals is "a hot policy topic right now among
policymakers and academics."
Sixty-five percent of those questioned said sexual
relations between people of the same gender is wrong and
54 percent were against gay marriage and civil unions.
Only 15 percent were totally in favor of unions for
same-sex couples.
When questioned about school textbooks, 70 percent felt
children should be taught the definition of marriage is
one man and one woman.
Arkansas was one of 11 states in 2004 to vote in favor of
a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union of
one man and one woman.
----- 8 -----
Senate Judiciary Subcommittee to Examine Marriage Amendment
Robert Knight and Amelia Wigton
Concerned Women for America
November 4, 2005
http://www.cwalac.org/article_280.shtml
A Senate panel chaired by Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) will take a look at the proposed federal Marriage Protection Amendment on Wednesday, November 9.
“Given the more conservative makeup of the Senate since the 2004 elections, and the fact that judges continue to redefine marriage, as just occurred in Alaska, we think it’s time that the amendment was re-written to protect marriage in essence as well as in name,” said Michael Bowman, director of state legislative relations for Concerned Women for America. “CWA declined to support the original Federal Marriage Amendment because it was specifically drafted to allow state legislatures to create counterfeit marriage under other names. That is unacceptable. This time around, we hope they correct that error.”
[...]
The proposed Marriage Protection Amendment was previously known as the Federal Marriage Amendment. It failed to get the required two-thirds vote in either the House or Senate to send it on to the states for ratification. The amendment reads:
Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman.
[...]
Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) is chairman of the Judiciary Subcommitte on the Constitution where the amendment will be debated and voted on.
[...]
Another amendment, the Marriage Protection Act, was introduced in the House on March 17, 2005 by Rep. Daniel Lungren (R- California 3rd). The House version has 17 co-sponsors, and was referred to the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution.
CWA will continue to follow this vital legislation that could permanently define marriage as being only between a man and a woman.
[More at URL]
----- 9 -----
Carter condemns abortion culture
By Ralph Z. Hallow
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
November 4, 2005
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20051103-111740-7148r.htm
Former President Jimmy Carter yesterday condemned all abortions and chastised his party for its intolerance of candidates and nominees who oppose abortion.
"I never have felt that any abortion should be committed -- I think each abortion is the result of a series of errors," he told reporters over breakfast at the Ritz-CarltonHotel, while across town Senate Democrats deliberated whether to filibuster the nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. because he may share President Bush and Mr. Carter's abhorrence of abortion.
"These things impact other issues on which [Mr. Bush] and I basically agree," the Georgia Democrat said. "I've never been convinced, if you let me inject my Christianity into it, that Jesus Christ would approve abortion."
Mr. Carter said his party's congressional leadership only hurts Democrats by making a rigid pro-abortion rights stand the criterion for assessing judicial nominees.
[...]
While Mr. Carter has previously expressed ambivalence about abortion, his statements yesterday were "astonishing," said Robert Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute at Concerned Women for America.
"He has long professed to be an evangelical Christian and yet he had embraced virtually all the liberal political agenda," said Mr. Knight. "Maybe with Jimmy Carter saying things he never uttered before, more liberals will rethink their worship of abortion as the high holy sacrament of liberalism."
[More at URL]
----- 10 -----
CongressDaily
Stevens Bill Would Sharply Boost Fines For Indecent Broadcasts
By David Hatch
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-WUFL1131037181396.html
(Wednesday, November 2) Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, is quietly floating draft legislation on television indecency standards -- one of the most contentious media issues facing Congress as lawmakers seek to overhaul the nation's communications laws.
The draft bill would increase television and radio broadcast fines for indecency violations from $32,500 to $500,000 per incident. The penalties are imposed by the FCC.
Stevens discussed the measure with radio executives Wednesday and with cable industry officials in the past week, a Republican aide said. Committee staffers recently briefed broadcast executives as well.
"Sen. Stevens is clearly interested in getting industry feedback," the aide said, adding that the panel is exploring holding a hearing on indecency issues.
The cable industry dodges a bullet in the Oct. 4 staff draft, which contains no provisions mandating a la carte programming, family-friendly tiers or the application of broadcast indecency standards to cable.
Some lawmakers and religious groups are seeking tougher restrictions on cable content, raising thorny First Amendment concerns because cable is a subscription service that does not utilize the public airwaves.
Nevertheless, the GOP aide insisted Stevens is keeping the heat on cable. "I don't think you can assume cable's off-the-hook," the aide said.
[...]
In July, a coalition of 24 conservative and faith-based organizations launched a campaign to convince Stevens and other lawmakers to require cable operators to offer a la carte or per channel programming that would include family-friendly tiers.
Concerned Women for America, the Family Research Council, Focus on the Family and the Parents Television Council are part of the coalition.
[More at URL]
----- 11 -----
Former President Jimmy Carter Blasts Democrats for Supporting Abortion
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 4, 2005
http://www.lifenews.com/nat1764.html
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Former President Jimmy Carter yesterday condemned all abortions and took his party to task for its strong pro-abortion position. He said his Christian faith compels him to oppose abortion because it takes a human life.
"I never have felt that any abortion should be committed -- I think each abortion is the result of a series of errors," he told reporters over breakfast at a Washington hotel.
The comments came while senators across town were meeting with Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito and debating whether his position on abortion should compel them to oppose his nomination.
"These things impact other issues on which [Mr. Bush] and I basically agree," the former president said of his abortion stance. "I've never been convinced, if you let me inject my Christianity into it, that Jesus Christ would approve abortion."
Carter said leaders in the Democratic Party have hurt it because of their insistence on a rigid pro-abortion stance within the party and for party leadership positions.
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
FRC: Stop the Stalling Tactics on Alito Nomination
November 3, 2005 - Thursday
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 3, 2005 CONTACT: Amber Hildebrand, (202) 393-2100
FOR RADIO: J.P. Duffy
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PR05K03&f=PG03I03;
"It appears that partisan stalling tactics have triumphed over a fair and timely confirmation process."
~ FRC President Tony Perkins
Washington, D.C. - Today, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) announced that hearings on the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito would be delayed until Monday, January 9. Family Research Council (FRC) President Tony Perkins released the following statement:
"We are at a loss to understand why stalling tactics have been employed against Judge Alito's nomination. This does not reflect President Bush's expressed hopes for final confirmation by the end of the year.
"There is no reason for Judge Alito to wait 70 days to begin his confirmation hearings. Following 13 years as a federal judge, Justice Ginsburg was able to begin confirmation hearings 28 days following her nomination. Judge Alito with 15 years on the federal bench should receive the same due process. With many important Supreme Court cases pending, it is imperative that the Senate reconsider its schedule for confirmation hearings. It appears that partisan stalling tactics have triumphed over a fair and timely confirmation process."
-30-
----- 13 -----
Who's "Out of the Mainstream" on Spousal Notification?
Issue No.: 25
Family Research Council
by: Charmaine Yoest
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=CU05K02&f=PG03I03
Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel Alito is coming under fire from abortion rights supporters for his dissent in the Planned Parenthood v. Casey case. Differing from his colleagues on the Third Circuit, Alito supported the right of the Pennsylvania state legislature to pass a spousal notification requirement for women prior to an abortion.
The Left is working to paint Alito's decision as outside the mainstream of American opinion.
Reporting in today's Roll Call, Karlyn Bowman of the American Enterprise Institute writes that the vast majority of American people support requiring spousal notification before an abortion.
In 1992, when Gallup asked people whether they favored or opposed a law requiring that the husband of a married woman be notified if she decides to have an abortion, 73 percent said they were in favor. In 1996, 70 percent were in favor, and in 2003, 72 percent were. In each survey, about a quarter were opposed.
[More at URL]
----- 14 -----
FRC Urges Senators to Support the Marriage Protection Amendment
November 2, 2005 - Wednesday
Family Research Council
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 2, 2005 CONTACT: Amber Hildebrand, (202) 393-2100
"Marriage is not safe from activist courts until a U.S. Constitutional Amendment is ratified."
~Tony Perkins, President of Family Research Council
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PR05K02&f=PG03I03
Washington, D.C. -- Today, the Family Research Council (FRC) urged senators on the Judiciary Committee to support the Marriage Protection Amendment (Senate Joint Resolution 1) and to oppose any changes to its language in "markup" sessions this week.
"We are pleased to see the Senate take action on the amendment and hope the House follows their example," said FRC President Tony Perkins. "This is a crucial issue that deserves a full public debate.
"While most of the country is focused on Supreme Court nominations and the War on Terror, the assault on marriage grows.
"Actions in Nebraska, where a federal judge struck down a state constitutional amendment approved by the state's voters, should be a warning that marriage is not safe from activist courts until a U.S. Constitutional Amendment is ratified."
The Marriage Protection Amendment would define marriage nationwide as the union of one man and one woman, and would prevent courts from redefining marriage or redistributing its legal benefits.
The Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights is scheduled to act on the amendment Wednesday, with action by the full Judiciary Committee to follow on Thursday, November 3.
To interview Tony Perkins or an FRC expert please contact theFRC press office at 202.393.2100 or e-mail Amber Hildebrand at adh@frc.org.
-30-
----- 15 -----
Marriage Momentum
November 2, 2005 - Wednesday
Family Research Council
Forward to a Friend!
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=AL05K03&f=PG03I03
Lone Star state voters can give marriage needed protections by voting FOR Proposition 2 on November 8th. This is vitally important.
Federal district court Judge Joseph Bataillon recently struck down Nebraska's marriage protection amendment even though it had been approved by 70 percent of Nebraskans. We cannot afford any backsliding on marriage.
Tomorrow, the Senate Judiciary Committee will mark up the Marriage Protection Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Please call these members of the Judiciary Committee now. Urge these members:
1) to make sure they show up for the markup, and
2) to oppose any changes in the language of the amendment. This amendment has been carefully written to protect marriage in the United States as the union of one man and one woman.
The actions of that federal judge in Nebraska demonstrate why we cannot take any chances on marriage. They also show why nominations to the Supreme Court of the United States are vitally important to us all.
[More at URL]
----- 16 -----
Concerned Women for America
Family Research Council
11/4/2005
http://www.cwfa.org/articledisplay.asp?id=9385&department=CWA&categoryid=misc
It fills the malls, the media and the mailbox this time each year; the annual onslaught of “happy holidays,” “celebrate the season,” and “festive holiday.” But as Bob Knight, Director of CWA’s Culture & Family Institute points out, there is some good news this year and ways you can fight back and encourage the culture to acknowledge real holiday, Christmas. Click here to listen.
["The battle over whether to _say_ Christmas is already here." Robert Knight: "You'd think it was just holiday... everything's 'festive' or 'holiday'... I'm looking at a traditional catalogue right here in front of me... but the cover shows a family dragging a christmas tree towards a barn ... yet it says... Holiday 2005 and... Holiday traditions... Y'know, why don't they put it on the cover? It's a Christmas catalogue, for gracious sake, why don't they just admit it?" "Virtually all merchants do it; L.L. Bean tries to have it both ways, they come out with a Christmas 2005 catalogue, which we've gotten, and I was thrilled to see the word 'Christmas', then about weeks later we got 'Holiday 2005' from L. L. Bean, so I guess that's supposed to satisfy the secular-minded folks."
"Federated [Department Stores] is huge, it has Bloomingdale's, it has Macy's... they're associated with Christmas, because of the Miracle on 34th Street... Macy's has been under scrutiny by a group in California, the 'Save Merry Christmas Group,' and they have written to Macy's, and last year they launched a boycott of Macy's, and said 'until you acknowledge Christmas in your advertising and in your Christmas displays, we don't see any reason to spend our Christmas dollars there.' ... I have good news to report... we at CWA have talked to Macy's and asked them, 'have you reconsidered this policy?' [They] said 'absolutely... you'll see Christmas this year.' ... We'll be watching to make sure they do carry it through."
"The Alliance Defense Fund, which is a group that defends Civil liberties, particularly for Christians under attack in the public square... they say they have more than 800 attorneys nationwide ready to combat attempts to censor Christmas. And they're urging people to say Merry Christmas, and to to use Christmas in celebrations, even in public places like in schools, and on public property, and they point out that 96% of Americas celebrate Christmas, according to the Fox News opinion dynamics poll in 2003; 90% recognise Christmas as the birthday of Jesus Christ; 88% say it's okay for people to wish others Merry Christmas; seems like the only people who have a problem with this are the ACLU, merchants who are terrified of appearing too religious, and not too many other Americans, really. it's getting to the point where you hear "happy holidays," it's a mark of cowardice, almost... it means you're afraid to acknowledge the reason for the season."
"TV and radio, you hear it constantly... 'for your holiday feast, do your holiday shopping... it's like holiday, holiday... after a while, the word holiday becomes kind of an ongoing Chinese water drip torture... I want to hear the word Christmas now and then! I don't mind hearing the word Chanukah..."
Talks about "Operation Nativity" to set up nativity scenes everywhere they can. "If you want to change a culture, you do it starting right at home. If you see lots and lots of nativity scenes out there, ti's a reminder... it's about celebrating the birth of Jesus, the greatest gift God ever gave us." "Well, the Nicaraguans, you know, got rid of the Sandanistas, their version of the ACLU, and so they're celebrating more freedom now. And I would hope we find that same kind of freedom in America to recognise our heritage in public places."
"It forces people to recognise [Christ] is what it's about." "I remember a friend, a few years ago, said, he had another friend, who said, "Well, I can't stand the commercialisation of Christmas, it's just... and you see Santa Claus and all that stuff," and he said, "Calm down. Don't you realise even with this commercialisation, it means the whole world has to focus on Christmas. They can't really escape it. You hear Christmas carols in the mall, you do hear Christmas music in ads, they can't quite wipe it away. So relax, and enjoy Christmas."]
More resources:
Alliance Defense Fund’s Third Annual Christmas Project: www.saychristmas.org
Save Merry Christmas (an effort aimed at Federated Department Stores): www.savemerrychristmas.org
The Truth Matters, encouraging Christians to display a nativity scene this year:
http://www.earnedmedia.org/truth1025.htm and
http://www.thetruthmatters.com/ME2/Audiences/Default.asp
----- 17 -----
Homosexual activists terrorize Boston church during ex-Gay conference while police watch.
Demonstrators had no permit, but Boston police stand by and do nothing
Sound truck, coffins placed at church door. Police allow near-riot outside, but tell people inside they can't leave.
Ignored by Boston media. (Why aren't we surprised?)
. . . Coming to churches across America?
October 29, 2005
http://www.article8.org/docs/news_events/love_won_out/conf_1029.htm
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS (OCTOBER 29, 2005) As hundreds of people from across Massachusetts and other states came to the Tremont Temple Baptist Church to attend a widely acclaimed conference on recovering from homosexuality through a relationship with God, angry and enraged homosexual activists converged outside to intimidate and terrorize them.
The all-day conference, titled "Love Won Out" featured renowned lecturers, many of whom had left the homosexual lifestyle and are now married or in heterosexual relationships. Major themes included theology and relationships with God, as well as practical information for those struggling with homosexuality or who know people who are in that situation.
But outside, homosexual activists gathered before 8 am and stayed until that evening when the conference ended. They were joined by more activists as the day went on, including many who apparently came from an anti-war rally on the Boston Common.
They did whatever they could to harass and intimidate the attendees, including waving signs, yelling and screaming, and later they even brought a sound truck. Some of the activists went up to individual attendees and took close up photos at them, taunting them personally.
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Fight the Grinch!
Posted: November 5, 2005
Jerry Falwell
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47240
Last year, Dr. Jerry Prevo, pastor of the Anchorage Baptist Temple, Alaska's largest church, decided to purchase full-page ads in state newspapers, defining what individuals may do – under constitutional protection – in regard to publicly celebrating the Christmas season.
Dr. Prevo, who is chairman of the Liberty University Board of Trustees, thought the ads were necessary in this age of political correctness that has convinced many of our fellow Americans that Christmas is a dirty word.
In many public venues, and in our schools and workplaces, many Americans have discovered that they are not permitted to erect Christmas decorations, exchange Christmas cards or sing Christmas carols.
Dr. Prevo, after posting the ads in Alaska newspapers, said, "The ads were a greater success than I had ever imagined. We received an outpouring of community support, and best of all, the pre-emptive measures resulted in not one incident of religious discrimination. I would encourage every pastor and church to participate."
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