Today's Cultural Warfare Update
Nov. 16th, 2005 09:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdInspector General: Kenneth Tomlinson violated his office's Code of Ethics in applying political tests to hiring;
Fox News's John Gibson: liberals want to destroy Christmas as part of a war to eliminate Christianity; Focus on the Family uses the word "secularists," but he uses the word "liberals";
Californian Michael Newdow starts lawsuit to remove "In God We Trust" from money;
17-year-old in Florida granted abortion without parental consent despite new law against it, granted legal exemption for cause by court;
Focus on the Family argues against "Winter break" and "Holiday parties" in schools, demanding Christmas be used instead - Alliance Defense Fund on standby for interventions; a group called "Gateways to Better Education" is also involved;
FotF blasts crankiness over new condom labels;
FotF attacks Planned Parenthood over their protest of Target's policy allowing pharmacists to refuse to dispense Plan B emergency contraception, which the fundamentalist movement condemns as an abortifacient;
Focus on the Family upset about a lack of massive indecency fines from FCC so far this year, want to see a lot of fines levied;
Ohio considers ban on any state monies going to embryonic stem-cell research - in other versions of this sort of thing, it's often included things like faculty salaries, but I don't know that this is the case here;
Bill in Wisconsin house to mandate "schools to teach abstinence until marriage as the ideal choice for teens";
Lawsuit over Las Cruces city seal, which contains a set of three crosses;
Some context over what's going on in Las Cruces recently - including condemnation of abortion as murder in public school sex ed classes, and fundamentalist videos and religious newspaper advertising receiving Federal funding, and also being shown as part of class - the cross thing is apparently part of an ongoing battle between the New Mexico chapter of the ACLU and local fundamentalists over tax dollars going directly to religious activities;
Concerned Women for America presents parody protest as terrorism;
CWA's article about the Federal Marriage Amendment, currently entitled the Marriage Protection Amendment, going to the full Judiciary committee, courtesy Senator Brownback (R-Kansas); CWA's Robert Knight is there, also talks about how Robert Knight helped draft DOMA;
Current version of the active Federal Marriage Amendment, currently entitled the "Marriage Protection Amendment," which is Senate Joint Resolution 1 (S.J.RES 1);
Conservative Catholics demand all pro-choice politicians be denied communion;
CWA's bullet-point-listed talking-points for Supreme Court nominee Alito;
Counsellor at Canadian (BC) public school disciplined for anti-gay public statements - Traditional Values Coalition tries to imply it was a Christian (private) school and a government fine, but his supporters (supporters) in Canada call it a suspension without pay from his counseling and teaching job at a public school;
Bush endorses splitting 9th Circuit Court into multiple circuits; Traditional Values Coalition sends out an action item in support. The general idea is to create a bunch of new judgeships and appoint people they like to the open positions. When Roosevelt tried this with the Supreme Court to push it to the left in the early 1930s, it was called "packing the court";
TVC urges support for Oklahoma Senator Inhofe's determination to fight any attempt to reduce carbon emissions in the US.
----- 1 -----
Report Faults Ex-CPB Chair Tomlinson on Ethics
National Public Radio
November 15, 2005
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5013575
NPR.org, November 15, 2005 · Former Corporation for Public Broadcasting chairman Kenneth Tomlinson violated his office's code of ethics as he sought to bring political change to the organization, according to the agency's internal investigation.
Inspector General Kenneth Konz's report confirms that Tomlinson applied a political test in pushing for the hiring of a new president and chief executive to lead the CPB. Tomlinson vigorously promoted Patricia Harrison, a former co-chair of the Republican National Committee, for the dual posts earlier this year. The full, Republican-dominated CPB board successfully demanded a formal search -- but ended up picking Harrison anyway
Tomlinson, a Republican, ended his controversial tenure when he resigned from the CPB board on Nov. 3.
The report also faulted Tomlinson for acting without the CPB board's knowledge or approval when he commissioned intensive monitoring of public radio and television shows such as The Diane Rehm Show and Now with Bill Moyers. Outside consultants were hired to perform the reviews, in which the political views of guests -- independent, liberal or conservative -- were tabulated.
Tomlinson's role in creating a new public affairs show, The Journal Editorial Report, violated the director's code of ethics, according to the review. Tomlinson "violated his fiduciary responsibilities and statutory prohibitions against Board member involvement in programming decisions" in his handling of the show, according to Konz's report.
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
HE WISHES YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
by Gary Schneeberger, editor
November 15, 2005
The Fox News Channel's John Gibson documents the liberal attack on the holiday in his new book, concluding that what secularists really hope to eradicate is Christianity.
http://www.family.org/cforum/feature/a0038610.cfm
Be careful if you're reading this story in a public school, state university, government building or municipal library. You just might find yourself charged with 42 counts of Christmas.
That's how many times the word "Christmas" appears in the headline and paragraphs that make up this piece. And that many mentions of the holiday — well, it's just not fit for public consumption.
If you don't believe it, check out "The War on Christmas," the new book from Fox News Channel anchor John Gibson, host of the "We Report, You Decide" network's midday show "The Big Story." He documents seven particularly egregious examples of anti-Christmas apoplexy — including a Georgia school's refusal even to print the word "Christmas" on its semester calendar — concluding that enough is more than enough.
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
'In God We Trust' to be Challenged
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 15, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
Michael Newdow, who filed the lawsuit over the words
"under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, said Sunday he
will sue to remove the nation's motto from money.
According to KXTV in Sacramento, Calif., Newdow, an
atheist, said having the words "In God We Trust" on U.S.
currency violates the separation of church and state.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a case
brought by two lawyers who wanted the same words removed
from the side of a government building. The action left
the words in place.
----- 4 -----
Court Grants Abortion Without Parental Consent
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 15, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
A Florida appeals court ruled last week that a 17-year-old
girl may have an abortion without telling her parents,
despite a law that says she must, The Kaiser Network
reported.
Florida passed a law -- effective June 30 -- that requires
parental notification if a minor seeks abortion services.
The law does allow for exceptions in the case of a
medical emergency, if the minor is married or has other
children, or if the girl is a victim of abuse. An
exception can also be made if the judge determines the
girl is mature enough to make her own decision.
Last month, Circuit Judge Ellen Masters refused the girl's
request for a waiver.
The girl told an appeals court judge she was unable to
support a child and was afraid her Catholic parents would
make her move out. She was granted the waiver and allowed
to obtain an abortion without her parent's knowledge.
The three-judge panel noted it was the first time such a
case had come up, so they had to "sort out and apply a new
and uninterpreted" parental notification law.
----- 5 -----
CHRISTMAS IS OK -- EVEN IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Focus on the Family
Family News in focus
by Wendy Cloyd, senior editorial coordinator
November 16, 2005
Pro-family groups are once again spreading the word that there's no need to talk about "winter break" or "holiday parties."
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038627.cfm
Pro-family groups are making a list and checking it twice, hoping to ensure that public school students and their parents are armed with all the facts — and support — they need to properly celebrate Christmas in the classroom.
The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) recently announced its third annual Christmas Project, designed to educate people coast to coast about what the law says concerning religious holiday displays and just what is allowed in schools and on public property.
Gateways to Better Education, meanwhile, continues to promote its Holiday Restoration Campaign, designed to help correct misinformation and restore accurate teaching of the religious nature of not only Christmas, but also Thanksgiving and Easter.
[...]
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
ADF has more than 800 attorneys available nationwide to combat any attempts to censor the celebration of Christmas. They have also prepared a free informational pamphlet titled, "The Truth about Religious Expression at Christmastime." To learn more and to ask ADF to send a legal memorandum to school officials in your area, visit this Web site.
To learn more about Gateways to Better Education's Holiday Restoration Campaign, visit the group's Web site.
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
COMMENTARY: CONDOM LABELS AND LEFT-WING LIES
Politics gets in the way of medical accuracy.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
November 16, 2005
http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/commentary/a0038631.cfm
As I opened my e-mail this morning, I found an alert from
the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, the research arm of
Planned Parenthood. I shouldn't have been surprised as I
read the loaded headline, "FDA Proposes New Condom
Labeling Guidelines: New Rules Could Decrease Condom Use,
Put Lives at Risk," but the first line of the article
jolted me to read on.
"In response to political pressure from social
conservatives, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has
proposed changes to the existing labels for male condoms
to include irrelevant and extraneous information that will
only confuse condom users and may even discourage them
from using condoms altogether," it read.
Lately, Guttmacher, Planned Parenthood and the Sexuality
Information and Education Council of the U.S. (SIECUS)
have been on a medical-accuracy witch hunt. So who was the
"conservative" who initially called for this change in
condom labeling? What is "medically accurate" when it
comes to the proposed revision? And how many folks are
using condoms, anyway? Liberal groups that want to keep
the truth from the American public should pay special
attention.
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
PLANNED PARENTHOOD TAKES AIM AT TARGET
Pro-abortion group objects to pharmacists having a right of conscience.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
from staff reports
November 16, 2005
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038629.cfm
The Planned Parenthood Federation of American (PPFA) is
encouraging its constituents to complain to Target about a
policy that allows pharmacists to conscientiously opt out
of dispensing controversial emergency contraception and to
refer customers elsewhere.
Some drugs such as "Plan B" have the potential to cause an
early abortion, and many pharmacists object to dispensing
it.
Karen Pearl, interim president at PPFA, said Target gets a
"thumbs down" from her group for allowing pharmacists to
have a choice.
"Women should never be denied legal medications by
pharmacists who decide to impose their own personal bias
on others," she said. "Target's refuse-and-refer policy is
unacceptable. Our patients should be able to get
prescriptions filled in any store, without discrimination
or delay."
Lena Michaud, a spokeswoman for Target, said her company
is working to fulfill the needs of customers as well as
its employees.
"We're absolutely committed to making sure our guest gets
what she needs and at the same time, trying to have a
balanced policy that respects our team members who may
have some dearly held religious beliefs," she told Family
News in Focus.
[More at URL]
----- 8 -----
So Far This Year, No Fines Levied By the FCC
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 16, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued $7.9
million in indecency-related fines in 2004, but despite
receiving 189,000 complaints so far this year, has yet to
issue a single fine in 2005, The Wall Street Journal
reported.
Brent Bozell, president of the Parents Television Council,
said he supports FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, but expects to
see some action his part soon.
"It's high time they started doing something," Bozell
said.
The FCC has promised to release a bundle of fines on some
of the stalled complaints.
"We are working very hard to address the backlog of
complaints before us, which is fairly substantial," Martin
said. "In clearing out this backlog, we are trying to act
in a consistent and comprehensive manner."
The number of complaints received by the FCC has declined
from the same time last year, though it only takes one
complaint to potentially launch an investigation.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: The FCC has made it easier to file
a complaint about indecency and obscenity on the airwaves.
Please see this CitizenLink story for more information.
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038520.cfm
----- 9 -----
Ohio Considers Ban on Funding Embryonic Stem-Cell Research
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 16, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
The Ohio Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would prohibit
the state from funding embryonic stem-cell research,
Crain's Cleveland Business reported.
The 21-11 vote highlighted the divided Senate -- most
Republicans support the ban on state-funded research while
Democrats voted to oppose the bill.
Republican Sen. Jim Jordan introduced the legislation
that, if passed by the House, would put Ohio's policy in
line with federal restrictions put in place by President
Bush in August 2001.
The president's policy limits federal funding of embryonic
stem-cell research to certain existing lines.
Sen. Eric Fingerhut voted for Ohio's ban.
The measure, he said, "will send a message to top
researchers to go somewhere else."
----- 10 -----
Abstinence Legislation Before Badger State House
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 16, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
A bill under consideration by the Wisconsin Legislature
would require schools to teach abstinence until marriage
as the ideal choice for teens, The Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel reported.
Sen. Mary Lazich, a Republican from New Berlin, is the
sponsor of the bill. Her hope is that curriculum would
reflect that abstinence is the only "100 percent effective
method" of avoiding pregnancy and sexually transmitted
disease.
"Abstinence should be taught to students
unapologetically," she said.
Right now, she said, it isn't emphasized in the classroom.
Opponents, such as Democratic Rep. Tamara Grigsby, want
schools to offer more detailed information about sexually
transmitted diseases and condom use.
"The reality is, (abstinence) is not the choice that's
being made right now," she said, pointing to Milwaukee's
teen pregnancy and dropout rates, which are among the
nation's highest.
Julaine Appling, executive director of the Family Research
Institute of Wisconsin, said it's up to legislators to
keep raising the bar of what's expected of teens.
"We need to keep before our young people a very strong,
very clear, abstinence message," she said.
The bill has already passed the state Senate.
----- 11 -----
ACLU Wants No Crosses in Las Cruces
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 16, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) continues to
seek to remove three crosses from the seal of Las Cruces,
N.M., -- no matter that the name of the town means "the
crosses."
Fox News reported that Paul Wienbaum and Martin Boyd, who
brought the suit to the ACLU, said the presence of the
crosses amounts to religious persecution of
non-Christians.
"The last time we saw crosses on a police uniform is the
examples from Nazi Germany," Wienbaum said. "And we got
police in Las Cruces with crosses on their uniforms."
Bill Mattiace, the mayor of Las Cruces, is fighting to
keep the logo.
"Anyone can perceive what they want out of that logo," he
said. "They have no right to change it for the others that
are depicting and seeing something else in that symbol."
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
Faith–based funding and the rise of fundamentalism
Crosswinds Weekly
On the Front Lines
by Peter Simonson
http://www.crosswindsweekly.com/archives/cover/64.htm
[...]
The ACLU’s first clue that the winds of religious freedom were shifting in New Mexico came in February of 2003. At a middle school in Las Cruces, the son of an ACLU member attended a sexual health education class provided by an outside speaker from the innocently–named Mesilla Valley Pregnancy Resource Center. The speaker boldly characterized abortion as ‘murder’ and showed students a video called Sex Has a Price Tag, produced by the Youth for Christ Organization. The ACLU member’s antennae went up when her son told her after school one day that he’d watched a video “about God” in his sex–ed class. Through discussions with Department of Health officials, it soon became known that the center was funded by a federal grant to promote abstinence– only programming. More than a dozen other, similar entities were supported across the state.
After the Las Cruces incident, new problems began to surface. A Socorro newspaper printed a half–page ad that displayed quotes from scripture and from local clergy to promote teenage abstinence. At the bottom a caption read, “paid for with a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.”
Last November and December, the ACLU fielded more complaints of religious establishment in the tax–supported schools than in any holiday season past. An Albuquerque middle school erected a display for selling books that featured CD–ROM and hard–copy versions of the Bible. State Sen. Joseph Carraro (R–Dist. 23) sent memos, embossed with the official New Mexico state seal, to school districts across the state encouraging them to “teach about Jesus Christ.” And in an unprecedented move, Gov. Richardson declared a holiday for state employees to recognize the passing of the pope, an honor not accorded on behalf of other religious or political leaders.
The sudden rise in these problems can be traced to the influx of federal dollars to New Mexico religious organizations through President Bush’s “faith–based funding” initiatives. Much of this funding currently goes to the promotion of “abstinence only” sexual health education in the public high schools. However, New Mexico recently joined 13 other states and one tribal organization in receiving special federal grants to fund faith–based alcohol and substance abuse treatment. Congress is also considering a bill to promote job skills training through faith–based venues. So active is this new sector of government funding that Gov. Richardson recently created a new Office of Faith–based and Community Initiatives, declaring that faith–based organizations “should have access to every available public dollar.”
[More at URL]
----- 13 -----
Homosexual Activists Introduce the ‘GayKK’ in Maine
Concerned Women for America
11/15/2005
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/9474/CFI/misc/index.htm
They show up dressed in tall, pointed hats, face masks and bed sheets to disrupt any attempt to proclaim the truth about homosexuality. Bob Knight, Director of CWA’s Culture & Family Institute, has more on this homosexual intimidation group that mimics the KKK. This group made its appearance in Maine during the battle to overturn the state’s ‘gay rights’ law. He says similar groups and actions are popping up again. Click here to listen.
[Robert Knight: "Well, I think people really ought to be aware of what the pro-family folks faced during that losing campaign to repeal the gay-rights law. This was incident at the University of Maine in Matrius(?), Maine, and Mike Heath, of the Christian Civic League of Maine, had gone to speak, and he sent us an account of it, and he sent this picture along, these people dressed up in Klu Klux Klan-like outfits, and one of them, who turned out to have been a lesbian professor at the University of Maine, held up a sign saying "Fairies against Gay Sinners." And, of course, the sign implies a couple of things, that people who oppose the gay rights agenda are haters, or that they're closet homosexuals themselves. See, that's the real message here, then they will smear you as a closet gay, and then Mike Heath said that they also had a wall of posters, one with a quote by a Nazi, and a picture of him and a quote by him, juxtaposed, which implies you're a Nazi if you take Mike Heath's stance, which is a traditionally Biblical stance on this issue, that homosexuals deserve the same rights as anybody else but no more, certainly none based on their practice of abnormal sexual behaviour.
CWA: "Did they have any outrageous things that they did that were, I guess, unique to the Maine issue?"
Robert Knight: "Well, it's not unique. They interrupted Mike repeatedly. They had one girl in the audience so confused she thought that turning down the gay-rights law would be tantamount to allowing beatings and violence against homosexuals, and as Mike tried to correct the record, they shouted him down. Later, they thanked him for his courage for even showing up. He said, "I felt patronised." They really ought to just be more open to debating the issues, but, Mike summarised it this way, he says, "there is no reasoning with these people; they came to hate me, and hate me they did." And of course these are the folks who say that the Christian conservatives out there are full of hate, but I gotta tell you, Martha, after doing this issue for 15 years, I've seen more hatred coming from homosexual activists, not all of them, some of them, then any other group in society. They just are furious that anyone would oppose them , and they let you know it, in many ways. You can tell from our emails, faxes, letters, and phone calls, and even demonstrations right on our doorstep like happened last week."
CWA: "What can we take from this... there are going to be battles with the homosexual agenda in states across America this coming year and years to come... how do we fight battles like this when nobody's playing fair?"
Knight: "One of the problems, Martha, is the mainstream media don't report things like this. We were virtually blacked out of the media after this big protest at our offices. This mob broke into the Family Research Council as well, our fellow Christian organisation across town, chained themselves to a statue and did various things, but you'd never know it from the mainstream media, you have to go to our website or Family Research Council's. And that's part of the problem, the public is only getting one side of it. In Maine that happened overwhelmingly, the media were hostile, and I know it, I'm from Maine originally myself, I still have family there, and every time I go home I read the papers and I get furious, 'cause they're so one-sided and so unfair, and they just don't seem to care. I know an activist in nearby Maryland here who was asked to write an op-ed piece for the Baltimore Sun to counter an op-ed piece by a prominent homosexual activist in Maryland, and the pro-family activist did a very good job in this column, it's first rate, it's well-documented, it counters the points made by the homosexual activists - and the Sun turned it down, said, you gotta do this to it. So the writer came back, did that to it, turned it down again, said, well, maybe we need a little more of this. So he provided a little more of that - this has been going on for weeks now, and finally, they said, 'well, we don't see a news hook for this, so we're not gonna run it.' That's the kind of runaround the so-called mainstream press gives to conservatives who take up these tough issues."
CWA: "You mentioned the protests here at CWA and against the Family Research Council; we also have on our website the protests against the Love Won Out conference in Boston; are these becoming more common?"
Knight: "Yes, you know, there was sort of a respite as the gay rights movement matured into a major political force. They started out with really nasty protests, they would invade peoples' offices, they invaded the Exodus International offices in San Rafael, California, when they were located there, and they released crickets by the thousands, and, you know, they do things to make peoples' lives miserable. And the message is, 'don't cross us, or that'll be what you'll get.' Then they kinda matured, they were winning battles, putting gay rights laws on the books, so they didn't resort to those tactics, but now that people are increasingly on to them, they seem to be going back to the old scare tactics. And the message is simple, 'You don't want a problem, you don't want people like us on your doorstep, then don't oppose us.'"
CWA: "Well, Bob, thank you for bringing this to our attention, and letting us know what we're up against."
Knight: "Yeah, and the good news, Martha, is more people are on to them. And I think they sense it, that the window is closing. These marriage initiatives are passing with huge margins, there's movement afoot to pass a Federal marriage amendment, their hate crimes bill probably won't go anywhere, because people are aware of how dangerous it would be, and I think they are getting angry again. And that's a good sign, actually.
CWA: "Thank you, Bob."
Robert Knight: "Thank you, Martha."]
----- 14 -----
Marriage Amendment Passes Subcommittee, Moves to Judiciary Committee
Amelia Wigton
Concerned Women for America
November 15, 2005
http://www.cwalac.org/article_282.shtml
A proposed constitutional amendment to ban “gay” marriage passed a subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee on November 9 in a 5 to 4 vote.
Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) chaired the subcommittee hearing, which included debate by ranking Democrats and Republicans, including Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma), Ted Kennedy (D-Massachusetts), Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin) and Dianne Feinstein (D-California).
The amendment will now move to the full Judiciary Committee for a debate and vote.
Before the hearing, Concerned Women for America (CWA) submitted a letter to the Judiciary Committee on the best language for the amendment. The language came from the federal Defense of Marriage Act of 1996:
In the United States “marriage” means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word “spouse” refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.
“We would hope that the full Judiciary Committee takes a serious look at the suggested new amendment language, which has already passed muster with Congress as the heart of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA),” said Robert Knight, Director of CWA’s Culture & Family Institute. He helped draft DOMA in 1996.
“This version, crafted by CWA Chief Counsel Jan LaRue with input from pro-family allies like Home School Legal Defense Association founder Michael Farris, eliminates ambiguity and would put tremendous pressure on liberal lawmakers who say they believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman,” Knight said.
Sen. Feingold mentioned Bob Knight and CWA during the hearing as key members of the debate for traditional marriage.
[More at URL]
----- 15 -----
Federal Marriage Amendment
Library of Congress
As of 16 November 2005
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:s.j.res.00001:
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage. (Introduced in Senate)
SJ 1 IS
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. J. RES. 1
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 24, 2005
Mr. ALLARD (for himself, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. LOTT, Mr. ENZI, Mr. DEMINT, Mr. SANTORUM, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. VITTER, Mr. THUNE, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. FRIST, Mr. TALENT, Mr. BURR, Mrs. HUTCHISON, Mr. KYL, Mrs. DOLE, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mr. HATCH, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. STEVENS, and Mr. COBURN) introduced the following joint resolution; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
JOINT RESOLUTION
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States:
`Article--
`SECTION 1. This article may be cited as the `Marriage Protection Amendment'.
`SECTION 2. 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.'.
----- 16 -----
Catholic Bishops Urged To Uphold Canon against Abortion
by Bill Wilson
Focus on the Family
November 15, 2005
http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0038591.cfm
Catholic politicians who ignore church teaching are rarely held to account when it comes to taking communion.
Fewer than one-in-twenty U-S Catholic Bishops have enforced the church’s canon that says those who publicly support abortion cannot receive Holy Communion.
Judy Brown of the American Life League, a Catholic organization, believes Catholic Bishops must stand against abortion and especially against Catholic politicians who ignore the canons of their faith.
“If a Catholic persists in the manifest grave evil, such as supporting abortion, that Catholic should be denied Holy Communion. And the Bishop has the responsibility, because of canon law, to instruct the politician that he will be denied Holy Communion and why.”
Among Catholic Senators supporting abortion are Kennedy, Durbin, Leahy, and Kerry. Brown says no Bishop should offer communion to a pro-abort, no matter their station in life.
[More at URL]
----- 17 -----
Talking Points in Support of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr.
Concerned Women for America
11/1/2005
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/9360/CWA/misc/index.htm
Judge Alito is highly respected by the right and the left for his intellect, integrity, academic and legal experience, judicial temperament and fairness.
He has more judicial experience than any Supreme Court nominee in the last 70 years.
He has decided more than 1,500 cases dealing with complex constitutional, criminal and civil disputes.
As Deputy Solicitor General in the Reagan administration, he argued 12 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The American Bar Association gave him its highest "well-qualified" rating for the 3rd Circuit.
The U.S. Senate has confirmed him twice by unanimous consent when he was confirmed in 1987 as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey and in 1990 and when President George H.W. Bush nominated him to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Half of the current Democratic caucus in the Senate voted for him.
He is committed to the rule of law and understands that the proper role of a judge is to strictly interpret the law and not legislate from the bench. He rules impartially based on the facts and the law in each case, and does not substitute his personal political views for the legislature.
Judge Alito has consistently protected the free exercise rights of all religious people, including minority religions. He has ruled against government actions that discriminate or unfairly burden religion, and he has rejected government attempts to use the Establishment Clause to remove all things religious from the public square.
Judge Alito has protected the civil rights of all Americans from illegal discrimination based on religion, race, national origin, sex or disability.
Judge Alito respects federalism and states rights, and has deferred to Supreme Court precedents.
No one can seriously argue that Judge Alito's nomination constitutes "extraordinary circumstances" that could possibly "justify" a filibuster.
Filibustering nominees is wrong. That is very different in principle from suggesting that a nominee should withdraw or be withdrawn to avoid humiliating defeat.
[More at URL]
----- 18 -----
Christian Teacher Denied Right To Defend Self In Canada
Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2496
November 17, 2005 – Dr. Chris Kempling, a Christian school counselor in Canada has been under threat of civil fines for his public criticism of homosexuality and his support of reparative therapy for individuals with unwanted same-sex attractions.
He issued a press release (Nov 15) on the latest turn of events in his case. It is reprinted in full below:
In a decision released November 15, Christian teacher Chris Kempling was denied the right to present his religious discrimination case against the Quesnel School Board to the BC Human Rights Tribunal. Kempling brought the case after he was disciplined by the board for granting an interview to CBC Radio in December, 2003. In the interview, which was conducted by phone on his Christmas vacation, Kempling explained the orientation change therapy services which he offers as part of his private counselling practice.
Kempling, who holds two masters degrees and a doctorate in psychology, is a Registered Clinical Counsellor, and a clinical member of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality.
[More at URL]
----- 19 -----
Bush Administration Supports Splitting Ninth Circuit Court Of Appeals
Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2497
November 17, 2005 – The Bush Justice Department (DOJ) has gone on record backing efforts of the Republican majority in Congress to split up the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
DOJ Assistant Attorney General William E. Moschella sent a letter to Senator John Ensign (R-NV) on Nov. 15 expressing support for splitting the Ninth. He said, “The sheer size of the 9 th Circuit has led to serious administrative difficulties” that have adversely affected the ability of the court “to render justice efficiently.”
The Ninth Circuit is one of the most liberal in the nation and is the most overturned federal court when its cases reach the Supreme Court.
Eighty-percent of the judges on the Ninth are liberals and consistently issue rulings that have no relationship to the law or the Constitution. One of the most activist judges on the court is Stephen Reinhardt, a Jimmy Carter appointee, who is married to the ACLU leader of Southern California, Ramona Ripston. Reinhardt is her fifth husband.
TVC’s two reports on the Ninth Circuit explain why this court must be split and its power diminished: “The Ninth Circuit Must Be Split,” and “Ninth Circuit Court Rules Against Parental Rights.”
TVC urges passage of the Ninth Circuit Judgeship And Reorganization Act Of 2005!
TAKE ACTION: Urge your two U.S. Senators and Representative to pass this legislation this session of Congress!
----- 20 -----
Oklahoma Senator Fights Global Warming Legislation
Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2500
November 17, 2005 – Senator James Inhofe, (R-OK) is urging concerned citizens to fight against any federal legislation that will mandate controls for carbon emissions in the U.S.
Sen. Inhofe, who heads the Environmental and Public Works Committee in the Senate, has studied the issue of global warming doesn’t believe this is a settled issue among scientists.
In fact, he has published two lengthy speeches on global warming. One, published in 2003, goes into great detail about the conflicting scientific opinions about global warming. He notes that in the 70s, radical environmentalists were claiming that global cooling was going to lead the world into an ice age!
He is concerned that Congress may rush to pass unneeded legislation to deal with a problem that may not exist.
His two speeches are available here: Senate speech (July 28, 2003); Senate Speech (January 4, 2005).
The Interfaith Stewardship Alliance and JunkScience.com both provide credible information on the pros and cons of global warming—and the impact that carbon emissions legislation may have on our economy and the poor.
Fox News's John Gibson: liberals want to destroy Christmas as part of a war to eliminate Christianity; Focus on the Family uses the word "secularists," but he uses the word "liberals";
Californian Michael Newdow starts lawsuit to remove "In God We Trust" from money;
17-year-old in Florida granted abortion without parental consent despite new law against it, granted legal exemption for cause by court;
Focus on the Family argues against "Winter break" and "Holiday parties" in schools, demanding Christmas be used instead - Alliance Defense Fund on standby for interventions; a group called "Gateways to Better Education" is also involved;
FotF blasts crankiness over new condom labels;
FotF attacks Planned Parenthood over their protest of Target's policy allowing pharmacists to refuse to dispense Plan B emergency contraception, which the fundamentalist movement condemns as an abortifacient;
Focus on the Family upset about a lack of massive indecency fines from FCC so far this year, want to see a lot of fines levied;
Ohio considers ban on any state monies going to embryonic stem-cell research - in other versions of this sort of thing, it's often included things like faculty salaries, but I don't know that this is the case here;
Bill in Wisconsin house to mandate "schools to teach abstinence until marriage as the ideal choice for teens";
Lawsuit over Las Cruces city seal, which contains a set of three crosses;
Some context over what's going on in Las Cruces recently - including condemnation of abortion as murder in public school sex ed classes, and fundamentalist videos and religious newspaper advertising receiving Federal funding, and also being shown as part of class - the cross thing is apparently part of an ongoing battle between the New Mexico chapter of the ACLU and local fundamentalists over tax dollars going directly to religious activities;
Concerned Women for America presents parody protest as terrorism;
CWA's article about the Federal Marriage Amendment, currently entitled the Marriage Protection Amendment, going to the full Judiciary committee, courtesy Senator Brownback (R-Kansas); CWA's Robert Knight is there, also talks about how Robert Knight helped draft DOMA;
Current version of the active Federal Marriage Amendment, currently entitled the "Marriage Protection Amendment," which is Senate Joint Resolution 1 (S.J.RES 1);
Conservative Catholics demand all pro-choice politicians be denied communion;
CWA's bullet-point-listed talking-points for Supreme Court nominee Alito;
Counsellor at Canadian (BC) public school disciplined for anti-gay public statements - Traditional Values Coalition tries to imply it was a Christian (private) school and a government fine, but his supporters (supporters) in Canada call it a suspension without pay from his counseling and teaching job at a public school;
Bush endorses splitting 9th Circuit Court into multiple circuits; Traditional Values Coalition sends out an action item in support. The general idea is to create a bunch of new judgeships and appoint people they like to the open positions. When Roosevelt tried this with the Supreme Court to push it to the left in the early 1930s, it was called "packing the court";
TVC urges support for Oklahoma Senator Inhofe's determination to fight any attempt to reduce carbon emissions in the US.
----- 1 -----
Report Faults Ex-CPB Chair Tomlinson on Ethics
National Public Radio
November 15, 2005
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5013575
NPR.org, November 15, 2005 · Former Corporation for Public Broadcasting chairman Kenneth Tomlinson violated his office's code of ethics as he sought to bring political change to the organization, according to the agency's internal investigation.
Inspector General Kenneth Konz's report confirms that Tomlinson applied a political test in pushing for the hiring of a new president and chief executive to lead the CPB. Tomlinson vigorously promoted Patricia Harrison, a former co-chair of the Republican National Committee, for the dual posts earlier this year. The full, Republican-dominated CPB board successfully demanded a formal search -- but ended up picking Harrison anyway
Tomlinson, a Republican, ended his controversial tenure when he resigned from the CPB board on Nov. 3.
The report also faulted Tomlinson for acting without the CPB board's knowledge or approval when he commissioned intensive monitoring of public radio and television shows such as The Diane Rehm Show and Now with Bill Moyers. Outside consultants were hired to perform the reviews, in which the political views of guests -- independent, liberal or conservative -- were tabulated.
Tomlinson's role in creating a new public affairs show, The Journal Editorial Report, violated the director's code of ethics, according to the review. Tomlinson "violated his fiduciary responsibilities and statutory prohibitions against Board member involvement in programming decisions" in his handling of the show, according to Konz's report.
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
HE WISHES YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
by Gary Schneeberger, editor
November 15, 2005
The Fox News Channel's John Gibson documents the liberal attack on the holiday in his new book, concluding that what secularists really hope to eradicate is Christianity.
http://www.family.org/cforum/feature/a0038610.cfm
Be careful if you're reading this story in a public school, state university, government building or municipal library. You just might find yourself charged with 42 counts of Christmas.
That's how many times the word "Christmas" appears in the headline and paragraphs that make up this piece. And that many mentions of the holiday — well, it's just not fit for public consumption.
If you don't believe it, check out "The War on Christmas," the new book from Fox News Channel anchor John Gibson, host of the "We Report, You Decide" network's midday show "The Big Story." He documents seven particularly egregious examples of anti-Christmas apoplexy — including a Georgia school's refusal even to print the word "Christmas" on its semester calendar — concluding that enough is more than enough.
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
'In God We Trust' to be Challenged
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 15, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
Michael Newdow, who filed the lawsuit over the words
"under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, said Sunday he
will sue to remove the nation's motto from money.
According to KXTV in Sacramento, Calif., Newdow, an
atheist, said having the words "In God We Trust" on U.S.
currency violates the separation of church and state.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a case
brought by two lawyers who wanted the same words removed
from the side of a government building. The action left
the words in place.
----- 4 -----
Court Grants Abortion Without Parental Consent
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 15, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
A Florida appeals court ruled last week that a 17-year-old
girl may have an abortion without telling her parents,
despite a law that says she must, The Kaiser Network
reported.
Florida passed a law -- effective June 30 -- that requires
parental notification if a minor seeks abortion services.
The law does allow for exceptions in the case of a
medical emergency, if the minor is married or has other
children, or if the girl is a victim of abuse. An
exception can also be made if the judge determines the
girl is mature enough to make her own decision.
Last month, Circuit Judge Ellen Masters refused the girl's
request for a waiver.
The girl told an appeals court judge she was unable to
support a child and was afraid her Catholic parents would
make her move out. She was granted the waiver and allowed
to obtain an abortion without her parent's knowledge.
The three-judge panel noted it was the first time such a
case had come up, so they had to "sort out and apply a new
and uninterpreted" parental notification law.
----- 5 -----
CHRISTMAS IS OK -- EVEN IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Focus on the Family
Family News in focus
by Wendy Cloyd, senior editorial coordinator
November 16, 2005
Pro-family groups are once again spreading the word that there's no need to talk about "winter break" or "holiday parties."
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038627.cfm
Pro-family groups are making a list and checking it twice, hoping to ensure that public school students and their parents are armed with all the facts — and support — they need to properly celebrate Christmas in the classroom.
The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) recently announced its third annual Christmas Project, designed to educate people coast to coast about what the law says concerning religious holiday displays and just what is allowed in schools and on public property.
Gateways to Better Education, meanwhile, continues to promote its Holiday Restoration Campaign, designed to help correct misinformation and restore accurate teaching of the religious nature of not only Christmas, but also Thanksgiving and Easter.
[...]
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
ADF has more than 800 attorneys available nationwide to combat any attempts to censor the celebration of Christmas. They have also prepared a free informational pamphlet titled, "The Truth about Religious Expression at Christmastime." To learn more and to ask ADF to send a legal memorandum to school officials in your area, visit this Web site.
To learn more about Gateways to Better Education's Holiday Restoration Campaign, visit the group's Web site.
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
COMMENTARY: CONDOM LABELS AND LEFT-WING LIES
Politics gets in the way of medical accuracy.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
November 16, 2005
http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/commentary/a0038631.cfm
As I opened my e-mail this morning, I found an alert from
the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, the research arm of
Planned Parenthood. I shouldn't have been surprised as I
read the loaded headline, "FDA Proposes New Condom
Labeling Guidelines: New Rules Could Decrease Condom Use,
Put Lives at Risk," but the first line of the article
jolted me to read on.
"In response to political pressure from social
conservatives, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has
proposed changes to the existing labels for male condoms
to include irrelevant and extraneous information that will
only confuse condom users and may even discourage them
from using condoms altogether," it read.
Lately, Guttmacher, Planned Parenthood and the Sexuality
Information and Education Council of the U.S. (SIECUS)
have been on a medical-accuracy witch hunt. So who was the
"conservative" who initially called for this change in
condom labeling? What is "medically accurate" when it
comes to the proposed revision? And how many folks are
using condoms, anyway? Liberal groups that want to keep
the truth from the American public should pay special
attention.
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
PLANNED PARENTHOOD TAKES AIM AT TARGET
Pro-abortion group objects to pharmacists having a right of conscience.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
from staff reports
November 16, 2005
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038629.cfm
The Planned Parenthood Federation of American (PPFA) is
encouraging its constituents to complain to Target about a
policy that allows pharmacists to conscientiously opt out
of dispensing controversial emergency contraception and to
refer customers elsewhere.
Some drugs such as "Plan B" have the potential to cause an
early abortion, and many pharmacists object to dispensing
it.
Karen Pearl, interim president at PPFA, said Target gets a
"thumbs down" from her group for allowing pharmacists to
have a choice.
"Women should never be denied legal medications by
pharmacists who decide to impose their own personal bias
on others," she said. "Target's refuse-and-refer policy is
unacceptable. Our patients should be able to get
prescriptions filled in any store, without discrimination
or delay."
Lena Michaud, a spokeswoman for Target, said her company
is working to fulfill the needs of customers as well as
its employees.
"We're absolutely committed to making sure our guest gets
what she needs and at the same time, trying to have a
balanced policy that respects our team members who may
have some dearly held religious beliefs," she told Family
News in Focus.
[More at URL]
----- 8 -----
So Far This Year, No Fines Levied By the FCC
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 16, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued $7.9
million in indecency-related fines in 2004, but despite
receiving 189,000 complaints so far this year, has yet to
issue a single fine in 2005, The Wall Street Journal
reported.
Brent Bozell, president of the Parents Television Council,
said he supports FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, but expects to
see some action his part soon.
"It's high time they started doing something," Bozell
said.
The FCC has promised to release a bundle of fines on some
of the stalled complaints.
"We are working very hard to address the backlog of
complaints before us, which is fairly substantial," Martin
said. "In clearing out this backlog, we are trying to act
in a consistent and comprehensive manner."
The number of complaints received by the FCC has declined
from the same time last year, though it only takes one
complaint to potentially launch an investigation.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: The FCC has made it easier to file
a complaint about indecency and obscenity on the airwaves.
Please see this CitizenLink story for more information.
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038520.cfm
----- 9 -----
Ohio Considers Ban on Funding Embryonic Stem-Cell Research
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 16, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
The Ohio Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would prohibit
the state from funding embryonic stem-cell research,
Crain's Cleveland Business reported.
The 21-11 vote highlighted the divided Senate -- most
Republicans support the ban on state-funded research while
Democrats voted to oppose the bill.
Republican Sen. Jim Jordan introduced the legislation
that, if passed by the House, would put Ohio's policy in
line with federal restrictions put in place by President
Bush in August 2001.
The president's policy limits federal funding of embryonic
stem-cell research to certain existing lines.
Sen. Eric Fingerhut voted for Ohio's ban.
The measure, he said, "will send a message to top
researchers to go somewhere else."
----- 10 -----
Abstinence Legislation Before Badger State House
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 16, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
A bill under consideration by the Wisconsin Legislature
would require schools to teach abstinence until marriage
as the ideal choice for teens, The Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel reported.
Sen. Mary Lazich, a Republican from New Berlin, is the
sponsor of the bill. Her hope is that curriculum would
reflect that abstinence is the only "100 percent effective
method" of avoiding pregnancy and sexually transmitted
disease.
"Abstinence should be taught to students
unapologetically," she said.
Right now, she said, it isn't emphasized in the classroom.
Opponents, such as Democratic Rep. Tamara Grigsby, want
schools to offer more detailed information about sexually
transmitted diseases and condom use.
"The reality is, (abstinence) is not the choice that's
being made right now," she said, pointing to Milwaukee's
teen pregnancy and dropout rates, which are among the
nation's highest.
Julaine Appling, executive director of the Family Research
Institute of Wisconsin, said it's up to legislators to
keep raising the bar of what's expected of teens.
"We need to keep before our young people a very strong,
very clear, abstinence message," she said.
The bill has already passed the state Senate.
----- 11 -----
ACLU Wants No Crosses in Las Cruces
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 16, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) continues to
seek to remove three crosses from the seal of Las Cruces,
N.M., -- no matter that the name of the town means "the
crosses."
Fox News reported that Paul Wienbaum and Martin Boyd, who
brought the suit to the ACLU, said the presence of the
crosses amounts to religious persecution of
non-Christians.
"The last time we saw crosses on a police uniform is the
examples from Nazi Germany," Wienbaum said. "And we got
police in Las Cruces with crosses on their uniforms."
Bill Mattiace, the mayor of Las Cruces, is fighting to
keep the logo.
"Anyone can perceive what they want out of that logo," he
said. "They have no right to change it for the others that
are depicting and seeing something else in that symbol."
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
Faith–based funding and the rise of fundamentalism
Crosswinds Weekly
On the Front Lines
by Peter Simonson
http://www.crosswindsweekly.com/archives/cover/64.htm
[...]
The ACLU’s first clue that the winds of religious freedom were shifting in New Mexico came in February of 2003. At a middle school in Las Cruces, the son of an ACLU member attended a sexual health education class provided by an outside speaker from the innocently–named Mesilla Valley Pregnancy Resource Center. The speaker boldly characterized abortion as ‘murder’ and showed students a video called Sex Has a Price Tag, produced by the Youth for Christ Organization. The ACLU member’s antennae went up when her son told her after school one day that he’d watched a video “about God” in his sex–ed class. Through discussions with Department of Health officials, it soon became known that the center was funded by a federal grant to promote abstinence– only programming. More than a dozen other, similar entities were supported across the state.
After the Las Cruces incident, new problems began to surface. A Socorro newspaper printed a half–page ad that displayed quotes from scripture and from local clergy to promote teenage abstinence. At the bottom a caption read, “paid for with a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.”
Last November and December, the ACLU fielded more complaints of religious establishment in the tax–supported schools than in any holiday season past. An Albuquerque middle school erected a display for selling books that featured CD–ROM and hard–copy versions of the Bible. State Sen. Joseph Carraro (R–Dist. 23) sent memos, embossed with the official New Mexico state seal, to school districts across the state encouraging them to “teach about Jesus Christ.” And in an unprecedented move, Gov. Richardson declared a holiday for state employees to recognize the passing of the pope, an honor not accorded on behalf of other religious or political leaders.
The sudden rise in these problems can be traced to the influx of federal dollars to New Mexico religious organizations through President Bush’s “faith–based funding” initiatives. Much of this funding currently goes to the promotion of “abstinence only” sexual health education in the public high schools. However, New Mexico recently joined 13 other states and one tribal organization in receiving special federal grants to fund faith–based alcohol and substance abuse treatment. Congress is also considering a bill to promote job skills training through faith–based venues. So active is this new sector of government funding that Gov. Richardson recently created a new Office of Faith–based and Community Initiatives, declaring that faith–based organizations “should have access to every available public dollar.”
[More at URL]
----- 13 -----
Homosexual Activists Introduce the ‘GayKK’ in Maine
Concerned Women for America
11/15/2005
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/9474/CFI/misc/index.htm
They show up dressed in tall, pointed hats, face masks and bed sheets to disrupt any attempt to proclaim the truth about homosexuality. Bob Knight, Director of CWA’s Culture & Family Institute, has more on this homosexual intimidation group that mimics the KKK. This group made its appearance in Maine during the battle to overturn the state’s ‘gay rights’ law. He says similar groups and actions are popping up again. Click here to listen.
[Robert Knight: "Well, I think people really ought to be aware of what the pro-family folks faced during that losing campaign to repeal the gay-rights law. This was incident at the University of Maine in Matrius(?), Maine, and Mike Heath, of the Christian Civic League of Maine, had gone to speak, and he sent us an account of it, and he sent this picture along, these people dressed up in Klu Klux Klan-like outfits, and one of them, who turned out to have been a lesbian professor at the University of Maine, held up a sign saying "Fairies against Gay Sinners." And, of course, the sign implies a couple of things, that people who oppose the gay rights agenda are haters, or that they're closet homosexuals themselves. See, that's the real message here, then they will smear you as a closet gay, and then Mike Heath said that they also had a wall of posters, one with a quote by a Nazi, and a picture of him and a quote by him, juxtaposed, which implies you're a Nazi if you take Mike Heath's stance, which is a traditionally Biblical stance on this issue, that homosexuals deserve the same rights as anybody else but no more, certainly none based on their practice of abnormal sexual behaviour.
CWA: "Did they have any outrageous things that they did that were, I guess, unique to the Maine issue?"
Robert Knight: "Well, it's not unique. They interrupted Mike repeatedly. They had one girl in the audience so confused she thought that turning down the gay-rights law would be tantamount to allowing beatings and violence against homosexuals, and as Mike tried to correct the record, they shouted him down. Later, they thanked him for his courage for even showing up. He said, "I felt patronised." They really ought to just be more open to debating the issues, but, Mike summarised it this way, he says, "there is no reasoning with these people; they came to hate me, and hate me they did." And of course these are the folks who say that the Christian conservatives out there are full of hate, but I gotta tell you, Martha, after doing this issue for 15 years, I've seen more hatred coming from homosexual activists, not all of them, some of them, then any other group in society. They just are furious that anyone would oppose them , and they let you know it, in many ways. You can tell from our emails, faxes, letters, and phone calls, and even demonstrations right on our doorstep like happened last week."
CWA: "What can we take from this... there are going to be battles with the homosexual agenda in states across America this coming year and years to come... how do we fight battles like this when nobody's playing fair?"
Knight: "One of the problems, Martha, is the mainstream media don't report things like this. We were virtually blacked out of the media after this big protest at our offices. This mob broke into the Family Research Council as well, our fellow Christian organisation across town, chained themselves to a statue and did various things, but you'd never know it from the mainstream media, you have to go to our website or Family Research Council's. And that's part of the problem, the public is only getting one side of it. In Maine that happened overwhelmingly, the media were hostile, and I know it, I'm from Maine originally myself, I still have family there, and every time I go home I read the papers and I get furious, 'cause they're so one-sided and so unfair, and they just don't seem to care. I know an activist in nearby Maryland here who was asked to write an op-ed piece for the Baltimore Sun to counter an op-ed piece by a prominent homosexual activist in Maryland, and the pro-family activist did a very good job in this column, it's first rate, it's well-documented, it counters the points made by the homosexual activists - and the Sun turned it down, said, you gotta do this to it. So the writer came back, did that to it, turned it down again, said, well, maybe we need a little more of this. So he provided a little more of that - this has been going on for weeks now, and finally, they said, 'well, we don't see a news hook for this, so we're not gonna run it.' That's the kind of runaround the so-called mainstream press gives to conservatives who take up these tough issues."
CWA: "You mentioned the protests here at CWA and against the Family Research Council; we also have on our website the protests against the Love Won Out conference in Boston; are these becoming more common?"
Knight: "Yes, you know, there was sort of a respite as the gay rights movement matured into a major political force. They started out with really nasty protests, they would invade peoples' offices, they invaded the Exodus International offices in San Rafael, California, when they were located there, and they released crickets by the thousands, and, you know, they do things to make peoples' lives miserable. And the message is, 'don't cross us, or that'll be what you'll get.' Then they kinda matured, they were winning battles, putting gay rights laws on the books, so they didn't resort to those tactics, but now that people are increasingly on to them, they seem to be going back to the old scare tactics. And the message is simple, 'You don't want a problem, you don't want people like us on your doorstep, then don't oppose us.'"
CWA: "Well, Bob, thank you for bringing this to our attention, and letting us know what we're up against."
Knight: "Yeah, and the good news, Martha, is more people are on to them. And I think they sense it, that the window is closing. These marriage initiatives are passing with huge margins, there's movement afoot to pass a Federal marriage amendment, their hate crimes bill probably won't go anywhere, because people are aware of how dangerous it would be, and I think they are getting angry again. And that's a good sign, actually.
CWA: "Thank you, Bob."
Robert Knight: "Thank you, Martha."]
----- 14 -----
Marriage Amendment Passes Subcommittee, Moves to Judiciary Committee
Amelia Wigton
Concerned Women for America
November 15, 2005
http://www.cwalac.org/article_282.shtml
A proposed constitutional amendment to ban “gay” marriage passed a subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee on November 9 in a 5 to 4 vote.
Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) chaired the subcommittee hearing, which included debate by ranking Democrats and Republicans, including Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma), Ted Kennedy (D-Massachusetts), Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin) and Dianne Feinstein (D-California).
The amendment will now move to the full Judiciary Committee for a debate and vote.
Before the hearing, Concerned Women for America (CWA) submitted a letter to the Judiciary Committee on the best language for the amendment. The language came from the federal Defense of Marriage Act of 1996:
In the United States “marriage” means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word “spouse” refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.
“We would hope that the full Judiciary Committee takes a serious look at the suggested new amendment language, which has already passed muster with Congress as the heart of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA),” said Robert Knight, Director of CWA’s Culture & Family Institute. He helped draft DOMA in 1996.
“This version, crafted by CWA Chief Counsel Jan LaRue with input from pro-family allies like Home School Legal Defense Association founder Michael Farris, eliminates ambiguity and would put tremendous pressure on liberal lawmakers who say they believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman,” Knight said.
Sen. Feingold mentioned Bob Knight and CWA during the hearing as key members of the debate for traditional marriage.
[More at URL]
----- 15 -----
Federal Marriage Amendment
Library of Congress
As of 16 November 2005
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:s.j.res.00001:
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage. (Introduced in Senate)
SJ 1 IS
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. J. RES. 1
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 24, 2005
Mr. ALLARD (for himself, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. LOTT, Mr. ENZI, Mr. DEMINT, Mr. SANTORUM, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. VITTER, Mr. THUNE, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. FRIST, Mr. TALENT, Mr. BURR, Mrs. HUTCHISON, Mr. KYL, Mrs. DOLE, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mr. HATCH, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. STEVENS, and Mr. COBURN) introduced the following joint resolution; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
JOINT RESOLUTION
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States:
`Article--
`SECTION 1. This article may be cited as the `Marriage Protection Amendment'.
`SECTION 2. 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.'.
----- 16 -----
Catholic Bishops Urged To Uphold Canon against Abortion
by Bill Wilson
Focus on the Family
November 15, 2005
http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0038591.cfm
Catholic politicians who ignore church teaching are rarely held to account when it comes to taking communion.
Fewer than one-in-twenty U-S Catholic Bishops have enforced the church’s canon that says those who publicly support abortion cannot receive Holy Communion.
Judy Brown of the American Life League, a Catholic organization, believes Catholic Bishops must stand against abortion and especially against Catholic politicians who ignore the canons of their faith.
“If a Catholic persists in the manifest grave evil, such as supporting abortion, that Catholic should be denied Holy Communion. And the Bishop has the responsibility, because of canon law, to instruct the politician that he will be denied Holy Communion and why.”
Among Catholic Senators supporting abortion are Kennedy, Durbin, Leahy, and Kerry. Brown says no Bishop should offer communion to a pro-abort, no matter their station in life.
[More at URL]
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Talking Points in Support of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr.
Concerned Women for America
11/1/2005
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/9360/CWA/misc/index.htm
Judge Alito is highly respected by the right and the left for his intellect, integrity, academic and legal experience, judicial temperament and fairness.
He has more judicial experience than any Supreme Court nominee in the last 70 years.
He has decided more than 1,500 cases dealing with complex constitutional, criminal and civil disputes.
As Deputy Solicitor General in the Reagan administration, he argued 12 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The American Bar Association gave him its highest "well-qualified" rating for the 3rd Circuit.
The U.S. Senate has confirmed him twice by unanimous consent when he was confirmed in 1987 as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey and in 1990 and when President George H.W. Bush nominated him to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Half of the current Democratic caucus in the Senate voted for him.
He is committed to the rule of law and understands that the proper role of a judge is to strictly interpret the law and not legislate from the bench. He rules impartially based on the facts and the law in each case, and does not substitute his personal political views for the legislature.
Judge Alito has consistently protected the free exercise rights of all religious people, including minority religions. He has ruled against government actions that discriminate or unfairly burden religion, and he has rejected government attempts to use the Establishment Clause to remove all things religious from the public square.
Judge Alito has protected the civil rights of all Americans from illegal discrimination based on religion, race, national origin, sex or disability.
Judge Alito respects federalism and states rights, and has deferred to Supreme Court precedents.
No one can seriously argue that Judge Alito's nomination constitutes "extraordinary circumstances" that could possibly "justify" a filibuster.
Filibustering nominees is wrong. That is very different in principle from suggesting that a nominee should withdraw or be withdrawn to avoid humiliating defeat.
[More at URL]
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Christian Teacher Denied Right To Defend Self In Canada
Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2496
November 17, 2005 – Dr. Chris Kempling, a Christian school counselor in Canada has been under threat of civil fines for his public criticism of homosexuality and his support of reparative therapy for individuals with unwanted same-sex attractions.
He issued a press release (Nov 15) on the latest turn of events in his case. It is reprinted in full below:
In a decision released November 15, Christian teacher Chris Kempling was denied the right to present his religious discrimination case against the Quesnel School Board to the BC Human Rights Tribunal. Kempling brought the case after he was disciplined by the board for granting an interview to CBC Radio in December, 2003. In the interview, which was conducted by phone on his Christmas vacation, Kempling explained the orientation change therapy services which he offers as part of his private counselling practice.
Kempling, who holds two masters degrees and a doctorate in psychology, is a Registered Clinical Counsellor, and a clinical member of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality.
[More at URL]
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Bush Administration Supports Splitting Ninth Circuit Court Of Appeals
Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2497
November 17, 2005 – The Bush Justice Department (DOJ) has gone on record backing efforts of the Republican majority in Congress to split up the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
DOJ Assistant Attorney General William E. Moschella sent a letter to Senator John Ensign (R-NV) on Nov. 15 expressing support for splitting the Ninth. He said, “The sheer size of the 9 th Circuit has led to serious administrative difficulties” that have adversely affected the ability of the court “to render justice efficiently.”
The Ninth Circuit is one of the most liberal in the nation and is the most overturned federal court when its cases reach the Supreme Court.
Eighty-percent of the judges on the Ninth are liberals and consistently issue rulings that have no relationship to the law or the Constitution. One of the most activist judges on the court is Stephen Reinhardt, a Jimmy Carter appointee, who is married to the ACLU leader of Southern California, Ramona Ripston. Reinhardt is her fifth husband.
TVC’s two reports on the Ninth Circuit explain why this court must be split and its power diminished: “The Ninth Circuit Must Be Split,” and “Ninth Circuit Court Rules Against Parental Rights.”
TVC urges passage of the Ninth Circuit Judgeship And Reorganization Act Of 2005!
TAKE ACTION: Urge your two U.S. Senators and Representative to pass this legislation this session of Congress!
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Oklahoma Senator Fights Global Warming Legislation
Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2500
November 17, 2005 – Senator James Inhofe, (R-OK) is urging concerned citizens to fight against any federal legislation that will mandate controls for carbon emissions in the U.S.
Sen. Inhofe, who heads the Environmental and Public Works Committee in the Senate, has studied the issue of global warming doesn’t believe this is a settled issue among scientists.
In fact, he has published two lengthy speeches on global warming. One, published in 2003, goes into great detail about the conflicting scientific opinions about global warming. He notes that in the 70s, radical environmentalists were claiming that global cooling was going to lead the world into an ice age!
He is concerned that Congress may rush to pass unneeded legislation to deal with a problem that may not exist.
His two speeches are available here: Senate speech (July 28, 2003); Senate Speech (January 4, 2005).
The Interfaith Stewardship Alliance and JunkScience.com both provide credible information on the pros and cons of global warming—and the impact that carbon emissions legislation may have on our economy and the poor.
