Today's Cultural Warfare Update
Nov. 24th, 2005 01:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdBeen up late making pie for tomorrow. Mmmmmm, pie. Here's today's update. There won't be one until probably next Monday. At least, for the love of god, I hope not. Even these fundamentalist asshats can let it go for four days, can't they?
Can't they?
Probably not. I'll keep an eye open. Asshats. Here's today's news:
Falwell jumps on "Christmas is Endangered" bandwagon - the big effort to hype the idea that Christmas is on the verge of being eliminated by "secularists," including boycott threats against companies which use terms like "happy holidays";
Family Research Council to host Justice Sunday III - this one's oddly lower-key;
University of Kansas to offer course in Creationism and it's newer form, Intelligent Design - as religious myth, in the religion department. Course title: "Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design, Creationism and other Religious Mythologies";
Fundamentalists intimidate corporate sponsours away from Darwin exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in New York;
Focus on the Family agrees that Alito will allow greater mixing of church and state, and see that as a good thing, describing it as "increased religious liberty"; ACLJ thinks a court with Alito on it will take their side much more often;
More attacks on RU-486, including another attempt to get it taken off the market;
Indiana Supreme Court upholds counseling and waiting-period requirement before a woman can get an abortion;
Miami University of Ohio sued by state legislator with help of Alliance Defense Fund over DP benefits - state legislator and ADF both say that DP benefits for queers violates their shiny new anti-marriage/anti-civil-unions amendment; legislature specifically argues for separate and unequal, saying, "Under state law, individuals may receive benefits equally, but not all relationships may be given an honored place in the law."
New Jersey coach sues to lead team prayers - state regs allow student-led organised prayer, but teachers can't participate; he wants in and is suing;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM: demand Target specifically advertise/promote/etc Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays (or any other more general phrase) face boycott;
FotF ACTION to demand scrapping the entire 9th Circuit and rebuild it from scratch with all-new appointees; they're shopping around a case as a particular focus of outrage that does indeed sound very bad, but, well, they're really very good at lying, so honestly, it could be anything;
Fundamentalists, Catholic church get enough signatures to put an anti-marriage amendment before the state legislature again - no word in Focus on the Family's story about the documented signature fraud, of course;
FotF labels anti-Alito ad as "bogus," congratulates Fox for refusing to run it;
FotF is pissed off at the University of Kansas's new Creationism and Intelligent Design course;
"Wife Swap" contestant has the nerve to claim "public humiliation" when ABC set up a gay man as his exchange "wife" - personally, I think by signing up for that show, he humiliated himself; also claims he became "physically ill" and "mentally distressed";
Chuck Coulson blames rioting in France on France's "secular worldview";
FotF sounds the alarm about GBLT people running for office, calls queers "the principal threat to religious freedom today"; also pushes a book they've published saying the same thing;
American Family Association launches boycott of Target;
Traditional Values Coalition open letter to pastors: America is a Christian Nation; things went wrong in 1962 when mandatory school prayer was overturned which has lead to things like tolerance of queers (who are all NAMBLA supporters) and which caused the Columbine murders and in general has lead to "moral chaos" illustrated by a string of violent crime examples... all of which ignores the plummeting violent-crime rate.
----- 1 -----
Falwell fighting for holy holiday
He threatens to sue, boycott groups that subvert Christmas
Joe Garofoli, Chronicle Staff Writer
The San Francisco Chronicle
Sunday, November 20, 2005
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/11/20/MERRY.TMP
Evangelical Christian pastor Jerry Falwell has a message for Americans when it comes to celebrating Christmas this year: You're either with us, or you're against us.
Falwell has put the power of his 24,000-member congregation behind the "Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign," an effort led by the conservative legal organization Liberty Counsel. The group promises to file suit against anyone who spreads what it sees as misinformation about how Christmas can be celebrated in schools and public spaces.
The 8,000 members of the Christian Educators Association International will be the campaign's "eyes and ears" in the nation's public schools. They'll be reporting to 750 Liberty Counsel lawyers who are ready to pounce if, for example, a teacher is muzzled from leading the third-graders in "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing."
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
FRC 'Very Encouraged' by Supreme Court Nomination, To Host 'Justice Sunday III'
Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2005 Posted: 8:33:24AM EST
Long URL elided
WASHINGTON - The Family Research Council is “very encouraged” by the nomination of Supreme Court Nominee Judge Samuel Alito and plans to host its third "Justice Sunday" television program to draw attention to the court, the head of the conservative Christian organization announced Tuesday.
Tony Perkins, the president of FRC, said millions of families will have the chance to participate in the national debate over the proper role of judges in the nation through Justice Sunday III. He also said the FRC will launch an ad campaign to draw attention to "activist judges" that have ruled to remove God from the public square.
[More at URL]
[Editor's Note: this event has reportedly been moved since this article was posted, into January]
----- 3 -----
College course seeks to debunk intelligent design
Proposed religion class labels creationism as 'mythology'
Associated Press
Tuesday, November 22, 2005; Posted: 10:14 a.m. EST (15:14 GMT)
Long URL elided
LAWRENCE, Kansas (AP) -- Creationism and intelligent design are going to be studied at the University of Kansas, but not in the way advocated by opponents of the theory of evolution.
A course being offered next semester by the university religious studies department is titled "Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design, Creationism and other Religious Mythologies."
"The KU faculty has had enough," said Paul Mirecki, department chairman.
"Creationism is mythology," Mirecki said. "Intelligent design is mythology. It's not science. They try to make it sound like science. It clearly is not."
Earlier this month, the state Board of Education adopted new science teaching standards that treat evolution as a flawed theory, defying the view of science groups.
Although local school boards still decide how science is taught in the classrooms, the vote was seen as a major victory for proponents of intelligent design, which says that the universe is so complex that it must have been created by a higher power.
Critics say intelligent design is merely creationism -- a literal reading of the Bible's story of creation as the handiwork of God -- camouflaged in scientific language as a way to get around court rulings that creationism injects religion into public schools.
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
The Darwin exhibition frightening off corporate sponsors
By Nicholas Wapshott in New York
(Filed: 20/11/2005)
Long URL elided
An exhibition celebrating the life of Charles Darwin has failed to find a corporate sponsor because American companies are anxious not to take sides in the heated debate between scientists and fundamentalist Christians over the theory of evolution.
The entire $3 million (£1.7 million) cost of Darwin, which opened at the American Museum of Natural History in New York yesterday, is instead being borne by wealthy individuals and private charitable donations.
The failure of American companies to back what until recently would have been considered a mainstream educational exhibition reflects the growing influence of fundamentalist Christians, who are among President George W Bush's most vocal supporters, over all walks of life in the United States.
While the Darwin exhibition has been unable to find a business backer - unlike previous exhibitions at the museum - the Creationist Museum near Cincinnati, Ohio, which takes literally the Bible's account of creation, has recently raised $7 million in donations.
[More at URL]
----- 5 -----
Alito Seen as Favoring Religious Liberty
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
November 23, 2005
from staff reports
SUMMARY: Both sides agree he would have an impact.
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038690.cfm
People on both sides of the debate over public religious
expression are expressing how they think Supreme Court
nominee Judge Samuel Alito might rule on such cases.
[...]
It's no surprise that liberal groups have largely painted
Alito as an ideologue. Barry Lynn, executive director of
Americans United for Separation of Church and State,
called the nomination "deeply troubling."
"In several decisions, Judge Alito seems to be arguing for
a closer relationship between church and state," he said.
Conservatives see the same trend, but from a different
perspective. Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American
Center for Law and Justice, sees a bright future for
religious liberty with Alito on the high court.
"There's a number of cases on the way up, and I think when
they're there we will be in much better shape with Justice
Alito serving on that bench," he said.
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
RU-486 Under Scrutiny Again
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 23, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
Four California women who died after taking RU-486, the
abortion pill, suffered from a rare, but lethal, bacterial
infection -- a discovery that has prompted officials to
further examine the drug's safety, The New York Times
reported.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention will meet early next year
to discuss the medical risks of the abortion pill,
including whether it makes patients more vulnerable to
such infection.
Monty Patterson, whose daughter Holly died of an infection
after taking RU-486, is leading a campaign against the
drug. It was because of his public fight against the
abortion pill that the family of at least one other woman
who died had tissue samples tested for the presence of the
rare bacteria.
"I believe this drug should be taken off the market,"
Patterson said.
Beginning in July, labels on the drug began warning a
possible link with the bacteria -- Clostridium sordellii.
"I think everyone would like to know what exactly is going
on regarding these rare and really serious Clostridium
sordellii infections that we have seen happen in
California," said Dr. Cynthia Summers, a spokeswoman for
Danco Laboratories, the sole U.S. manufacturer of the
abortion pill. "I don't have an answer for you, and
because of that, I don't have any running theories."
Wendy Wright, executive vice president of Concerned Women
for America, said RU-486 is clearly unsafe and speculated
that there may be more unreported deaths.
"I'm pleased that the FDA is taking a serious look at
this," Wright said, "and hope that they will no longer
allow this drug to be available to cause the deaths of
more women."
----- 7 -----
Abortion Law Stands in Hoosier State
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 23, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
The Indiana Supreme Court upheld a law today that requires
women considering an abortion to get counseling and
fulfill a waiting period before going through with the
procedure, The Associated Press reported.
Opponents of the law argued that it infringes on the right
to privacy they say is guaranteed by the state
constitution.
But in the 4-1 ruling, the court said the law "does not
impose a material burden on any right to privacy or
abortion that may be provided or protected." The court did
clarify that it was not ruling on whether the state
constitution included a right to privacy or a right to an
abortion -- simply that the case did not have merit.
----- 8 -----
College Challenged for Giving Gay Benefits
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 23, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
An Ohio legislator said a state university that offers
domestic partner benefits is doing so illegally -- and,
with the aid of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), has filed
a lawsuit.
According to Rep. Tom Brinkman, Miami University, located
in Oxford, Ohio, is violating state law by giving benefits
to same-sex partners. Ohio voters amended the state
constitution at the November 2004 ballot box to protect
traditional marriage. The state and its political
subdivisions are forbidden to create or recognize any
other unions.
Jeff Shafer, senior counsel at ADF, said the state-run
university is bound to comply with the law.
"Under state law, individuals may receive benefits
equally, but not all relationships may be given an honored
place in the law," Shafer said. "Miami University's
creation of 'domestic partnerships' is quite clearly in
violation of the state constitution."
The marital union is the best foundation for a stable
society, Shafer said.
"The constitution requires that marriage be unique in its
legal recognition."
----- 9 -----
Coach Fights for Permission to Pray With Team
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 23, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
A high school football coach is suing over the right to
pray with his team. He said it isn't just about religion
and constitutional rights; it's also about a culture of
respect.
Marcus Borden, a coach at East Brunswick High School in
New Jersey, was ordered to stop praying alongside his
players in October.
Initially he quit, but agreed to return a week later.
Though he agreed to stop praying with the players, he
hired a constitutional lawyer to fight for his right to do
so over pregame meals and to kneel in the locker room with
the team before games.
Martin Pachman, the lawyer representing the school
district, said federal courts have ruled that staff
members may not participate in, encourage or lead student
prayer. Only student-led and initiated prayer is
permitted.
Ronald Riccio, attorney for Borden, said those limits are
too restrictive.
"The event of a high school football team saying a prayer
is such a part of the culture of our country that it is
not a religious event," he said. "Even if it is a
religious event, the coach is allowed to show respect for
the event by bowing his head or bending his knee."
----- 10 -----
Let Target Know How You Feel About Its Christmas Ban
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
November 22, 2005
[Received in email; no separate URL]
Target has banned the mention of Christmas from its
in-store displays and seasonal advertising campaigns --
and now is the time for you to let company officials know
you don't appreciate that decision.
There are two things you can do in the next couple of
days. First, commit to join a boycott called by the
American Family Association for this weekend --
traditionally the most active shopping period of the year
-- to show Target that there are financial ramifications
for its political correctness.
Then, contact Target CEO Robert Ulrich by phone and/or
e-mail and respectfully let him know that unless he
reconsiders his company's ban on Christmas, you'll be
forced to reconsider spending money in his stores again.
You can formally join the boycott by visiting the American
Family Association Web site.
http://www.afa.net/petitions/signpetition.asp?id=1470
To call Target CEO Robert Ulrich, dial 612-696-6163. To
send an e-mail via an easy-to-use Web form, visit the
CitizenLink Action Center.
Long URL elided
----- 11 -----
Court Says Schools Can Make Students Imitate Muslim
Practices
by Pete Winn, associate editor
SUMMARY: Pro-family attorneys say ruling would have been
different if it was about Christianity.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is at it again. A
three-judge panel has rejected a lawsuit brought by two
California students and their parents, who challenged the
way a northern California school district taught about
Islam.
The decision was not "published," meaning it will not
serve as precedent, although it certainly gives insight
into how the judges on the 9th Circuit are thinking.
The parents accused the Byron Union School District, in
Byron, Calif., of unconstitutionally endorsing a religious
practice, according to Edward White, a Thomas More Law
Center attorney who represented the parents.
White said his clients did not object to their seventh
graders learning about Islam -- they objected to what
amounted to indoctrination.
"The students were put in the position of being more like
trainees of Islam, rather than students learning about a
particular religion," he said.
The materials handed to the children informed them that
during the simulation they would "become Muslims."
[...]
As part of the two-week instruction, the students took
Islamic names, wrote those names on ID tags that carried a
star and crescent and wore them around their necks.
"They memorized prayers and recited them in front of the
teacher," White said. "They made these banners which said,
'In the name of God, the most gracious, most
compassionate. Praise be to God,' and put them on the
walls of the classroom."
[...]
Eric Buehrer, president of Gateways to Better Education,
said "Across the Centuries" is both confusing and
misleading.
"Frankly it miseducates students," he said. "For instance,
the textbook flat-out says that the God of Muhammed --
Allah -- is the same God worshipped by Christians and
Jews. Now I don't think any of the three religions --
Christianity, Islam and Judaism -- would agree with that
statement, and yet that's what's being taught."
White, meanwhile, said he plans to appeal the case to the
judges of the entire 9th Circuit -- and may go to the U.S.
Supreme Court, if needed.
Peter Brandt, senior director of Government and Public
Policy for Focus on the Family Action, said this decision
is just another reason why the 9th Circuit -- the most
overturned judicial district in the country -- needs to be
scrapped and rebuilt.
"We're aware of what the House did in voting to split
apart the 9th Circuit, but it really doesn't go far
enough," he said. "That would simply leave the same bad
judges in place. Congress has the power to tear it down
and start over. The time has come to explore that
possibility."
TAKE ACTION: Please contact your senators and ask them to
support efforts to scrap the 9th Circuit and completely
reorganize it. For help in contacting your lawmakers,
please see the CitizenLink Action Center.
Long URL elided
----- 12 -----
Massachusetts Wants the People to Vote on Marriage
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 22, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
A signature-collecting campaign to allow voters to decide
the definition of marriage in Massachusetts has well
exceeded the 65,825 signatures required, according to
VoteOnMarriage.org.
Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family
Institute, said the group set out to get 120,000
signatures and is on target to reach that number. The
excess would help ensure that the secretary of state will
certify enough signatures to qualify the petitions. A
stray pen mark, a coffee stain or a minor misspelling can
eliminate an entire sheet of signatures from
consideration.
"I credit this phenomenal effort," Mineau said, "to
thousands of citizen volunteers and over 1,200 communities
of faith -- including Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and
Muslim -- who have worked tirelessly to give every citizen
in the commonwealth a voice in how marriage is defined."
Mona Passignano, state issues analyst for Focus on the
Family Action, said in every state where people have had
the opportunity to constitutionally define marriage, they
have done so overwhelmingly.
"The remarkable success of this petition drive will send a
strong message to the Legislature that the people of
Massachusetts want the opportunity to vote on a state
marriage amendment," she said.
The hurdle in Massachusetts is set high: The marriage
amendment must pass both houses in two consecutive
sessions by a 25 percent margin before it can be placed on
the ballot for voters to decide.
"Whether the Massachusetts Legislature listens to the
voice of the people will be determined in the next two
sessions," Passignano said.
House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi has said lawmakers must
make sure the issue of same-sex marriage "never, ever
appears as a question on the ballot."
Mineau said that kind of representation is unacceptable.
"Citizens must insist that their elected representatives
act honestly and ethically and allow this vote to occur,"
he said. "Then, and only then, will the matter of marriage
be settled in Massachusetts."
----- 13 -----
Fox Won't Run Bogus Alito Ads
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 22, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
Fox News viewers won't see a political smear campaign
aimed at Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito; the network
is refusing to run the spot because Fox lawyers said it is
"factually incorrect," Breitbart.com reported.
Paul Shur, a spokesman for Fox, said the groups sponsoring
the ad -- including the Alliance for Justice, the
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and People for the
American Way -- have been given "an opportunity to fix
it."
But Jim Jordan, spokesman for the campaign, said no way.
"Roger Ailes (chairman of Fox News) doesn't get to edit
our ads," Jordan said. "The entire right-wing
establishment, from Pat Robertson to Jerry Falwell to Fox
News, has circled wagons around Sam Alito."
The ad claims that Alito, as an appellate court judge,
"even voted to approve the strip search of a 10-year-old
girl."
In reality, the case involved a 2004 ruling about how a
search warrant and the accompanying affidavit should be
read together. In the limited ruling Alito said that
officers did not do anything wrong during a raid in which
a 10-year-old girl, the daughter of a drug dealer, was
present. The affidavit explained the necessity of
searching everyone at the location of a raid. Dealers
often hide drugs on other people -- including children.
The girl, by the way, was taken to a bathroom with her
mother by a female officer and was asked to disrobe for a
visual, not a manual, search.
"Judge Alito did not approve the strip-searching of a
young girl," said Jan LaRue, chief counsel for Concerned
Women for America. "But that doesn't matter to groups like
Alliance for Justice, which brag, 'You name it, we'll do
it' in order to defeat Judge Alito's confirmation. Well,
here's naming it -- it's called lying and it's
despicable."
----- 14 -----
College Course Equates Creationism with Mythology
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 22, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
The University of Kansas will offer a course in
creationism next semester, but before you encourage your
student to sign up, check out the title: "Special Topics
in Religion: Intelligent Design, Creationism and other
Religious Mythologies."
Paul Mirecki, chairman of the religious studies
department, said one motivating factor was the recent
Kansas Board of Education decision to teach the flaws in
the theory of evolution.
"The KU faculty has had enough," he said. "Creationism is
mythology, intelligent design is mythology. It's not
science. They try to make it sound like science. It's
clearly not."
Though the Board of Education teaching standards do not
even mention intelligent design, opponents have attempted
to characterize the battle as one of religion versus
science, and news outlets around the country have
obediently echoed that loaded theme.
John Calvert, an attorney and managing director of the
Intelligent Design Network, said Mirecki is making a fool
of himself.
"To equate intelligent design to mythology is really an
absurdity," Calvert said. "It's just another example of
labeling anybody who proposed it to be simply a religious
nut. That's the reason for this little charade."
----- 15 -----
TV 'Wife' is a Man
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 22, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
Producers of ABC's "Wife Swap" -- where wives switch
households for a week so families can learn how others
live -- had a big surprise for an Oklahoma man who signed
up for the show: They sent a gay man to be his temporary
"wife."
According to the the Muskogee Phoenix, Jeffrey Bedford of
Haileyville, Okla., has filed suit against all the
companies involved with the show, claiming gross
misrepresentation.
He leads a home Bible study, and the swapped "wife"
invited members of a gay coalition to attend.
He was not allowed to be in contact with his wife during
the extent of his participation with the show and claims
that when he complained to the show's producers about what
they'd done, he was told if he didn't complete the
filming, they would neither tell him his wife's location
nor pay for her return trip.
Bedford says he became physically ill, mentally distressed
and was publicly humiliated. He is seeking $5 million for
his distress and $5 million for punitive damages. In
addition he's asking for $75,000 for breach of contract,
$75,000 for fraud and $75,000 for punitive damages.
----- 16 -----
Focus on the Family
QUOTEWORTHY
November 22, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
"The real problem with France, like the rest of
post-Christian Europe, is a flawed, rigidly secular
worldview. France has renounced its Christian heritage,
refuses to reform its welfare state, and has no compelling
moral vision -- as we see in its sanctimonious rejection
of British and American morally driven foreign policy.
Without a vision, the people perish -- which is why France
may be doomed to "eat its young" and, in turn, watch as
they bite back."
-- Chuck Colson explains why France is burning, Nov. 14,
2005
----- 17 -----
Conference Trains Gay Leaders
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
November 21, 2005
from staff reports
SUMMARY: Seattle event a how-to session on running for office.
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038669.cfm
A weekend conference in Seattle highlighted gays and
lesbians serving in public office; topics included
diversity, human rights and campaigning. Scheduled
speakers included Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire, and
openly gay U.S. Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Tammy
Baldwin, D-Wis.
Sponsors of the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Conference
declined to comment, but have been quoted as saying that
"gays in public office put a human face on homosexuality."
[...]
Joe Glover, president of the Family Policy Network, called
it the same old dog-and-pony show.
[...]
Glover told Family News in Focus that shining a light on
homosexuals in public office is all part of a grander
plan.
"This is just another example of homosexual activists
wanting to push their private, immoral behavior into the
public realm and make a statement with it," he said. "What
we're seeing now is a willingness to codify those cultural
norms that are emerging into law."
That may be one reason for a conference on how to "come
out" and still get elected to office. Caleb H. Price, a
social research analyst for Focus on the Family Action,
said getting more homosexuals elected translates into more
gay-friendly legislation.
"With these conferences and workshops that the gay
political activists are putting on, what we're seeing is
an attempt to deemphasize sexuality and train them how to
not be a one issue candidate," he said.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: America is not only widely
tolerating homosexuality in our schools, in the media and
in the corporate world, but is more openly punishing those
who disagree. With well-documented and disturbing proof,
Alan Sears and Craig Osten expose the great strides
homosexuals are making as a result of their concerted
strategic activities in "The Homosexual Agenda: Exposing
the Principal Threat to Religious Freedom Today."
Long URL elided
----- 17 -----
AFA 'Targets' Retailer That Won't Say 'Merry Christmas'
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 21, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
Target stores have continued to ban Salvation Army kettles
from storefronts and the phrase "Merry Christmas" from
advertising, which has prompted the American Family
Association (AFA) to launch a boycott of the retail giant.
In just three days, more than 300,000 people pledged to
steer clear of Target during the biggest shopping weekend
of the year -- the days following Thanksgiving.
Randy Sharp, director of special projects for AFA, said,
on average, more than 4,000 people are signing on to the
boycott every hour.
"Shoppers are growing disgruntled by companies that are
choosing to do away with a simple greeting like 'Merry
Christmas,'" he said, "and they are showing it with their
pocketbooks."
The AFA hopes that other retailers will get the message
that choosing to avoid the word "Christmas" will hurt the
bottom line. Target's stock is already suffering after
shareholders were warned of a bleak Christmas season.
"Target's decision to do away with 'Merry Christmas' and
The Salvation Army bell ringers has made them an easy
bull's-eye for people who are fed up with politically
correct retailers," Sharp said.
The AFA plans to send a copy of the Target boycott
petition to other major retailers "to remind them that
Christmas comes once a year -- just in case they forget,"
said Sharp.
TAKE ACTION: If you'd like to join the AFA's boycott of
Target, click here:
http://www.afa.net/petitions/signpetition.asp?id=1470
(NOTE: Referral to Web sites not produced by Focus on the
Family is for informational purposes only and does not
necessarily constitute an endorsement of the sites'
content.)
----- 18 -----
An Open Letter To Pastors From Rev. Sheldon On Thanksgiving
November 23, 2005
Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2505
The TVC staff wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving this season and pray that God will prosper and bless you this coming year!
November 23, 2005 – Last week, TVC Chairman Rev. Louis P. Sheldon sent a letter to California pastors asking them to set aside Nov. 20 as America’s Christian Heritage Sunday. We are reprinting his letter below:
“America’s Christian Heritage Sunday”
Thanksgiving Sunday
November 2005
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”
Proverbs 14:34
November 2005
Dear Pastor:
We have just come off the heels of a crucial election. Although the outcome was not what we were hoping for I want to say “thank you!” Your commitment to defending the unborn and our daughters from abortion and your support for Prop 73 is appreciated.
Of all the ballot propositions from the November 8th election, Prop 73 received the most votes; over 3.1 million “yes” votes to be exact. Because you helped distribute our California Voter’s Guides and encouraged your church to vote we can still count this as an accomplishment despite Prop 74 still falling short. This shows that the church still does have an impact!
With the election now behind us time continues to fly. In less than 2 months we will be on the verge of starting yet another year. And what better way to draw toward the end of the year than with a very important Christian holiday—Thanksgiving!
Unfortunately, America’s Christian heritage is under attack and it is well established that America is in a moral decline. In an attempt to assist you in “rebuilding the wall,” I have enclosed some materials hoping you can designate Thanksgiving Sunday, November 20th as “American Heritage Sunday.” We must remind ourselves of our Christian history, lest we be guided by the secular doctrine of the day. And we must also celebrate our Christian heritage to serve as salt and light to those around us.
Since 1992, the week of Thanksgiving has been declared “America’s Christian Heritage Week,” by Congress, several Governors, hundreds of mayors and city councils and clergy. This year is no different. However, I am asking of you to set aside Thanksgiving Sunday to celebrate our nation’s Christian heritage.
Society today (and unfortunately many of our fellow clergymen) is fooled by the myth that Christianity had no part in the founding of America and therefore the role of religion should be restricted to merely the four walls of the church. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Those early English settlers, the Pilgrims, left the land of a tyrant King George to escape the religious persecution of his monarchy. The power of Christianity was a threat to the King, but never too weak for a people to escape persecution and bless a land later to become America.
In their deliberations in forming this great country of ours, our founding fathers never forsook Christ or the role of Christianity in their duties, and in fact, they used it as their basis for America’s founding.
During the Constitutional Convention’s deliberations those founding fathers used 3,154 quotes, 34% of which were directly from the Bible. For instance:
• Isaiah 33:22 was used to justify our three branches of government
• Jeremiah 17:9 was used to support the separation of powers
• Ezra 7:24 was used to exempt churches from taxes—such exemption exists to today.
It was Benjamin Franklin who got the Convention to open its meeting with prayer. At the Convention in 1787 he said:
“I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in the Assembly every morning.”
In 1781, it was Thomas Jefferson, the one many falsely claim urged the separation of the Church from the state, who proclaimed:
“God who gave us life, gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God?”
All of the state constitutions written by our founding fathers called for godly men to occupy the offices of the land. The Pennsylvania State Constitution, written by Benjamin Rush, declares:
“Each member of the legislature . . . shall make and subscribe the following declaration:
‘I do believe in one God, the creator and governor of the Universe, the rewarder of good and punisher of the wicked, and I do acknowledge the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by Divine Inspiration.”
Similarly, the Delaware State Constitution reads:
“Every person appointed to public office shall say, ‘I do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His Holy Son and in the Holy Ghost. One God blessed for evermore . . .’”
By their words and their actions, our founders intended for America to be a nation reflective of Christianity. They understood the proclamation in the book of Acts that, “In Him we live and move and have our being.” For it is not merely our actions on Sundays in the walls of our churches that define our faith, but the manner in which we live our lives, and with it the manner in which we choose to regulate ourselves and the standards we set through government.
Make no mistake about it—America does have a deep Christian heritage! But America is facing a crisis—a moral crisis. And we can see evidence of moral decay all around us.
It was in 1878 that the Supreme Court ruled in Reynolds v. United States that it was permissible to maintain Christian values, principles and practices in official policy. But secular humanists in 1962 got control of the Court, distorted the words of Thomas Jefferson, and began to strip this country of its Christian bedrock by ruling school prayer unconstitutional through their perverted doctrine of “separation of church and state.” And there has been a moral decline ever since.
We used to be able to count on our culture to protect our children from sexual exploitation. But today we see forced teachings in schools promoting the homosexual lifestyle as normal. And we see groups like the North American Man/Boy Love Association prey upon our children as young as 8 for sexual encounters.
We saw in Littleton, Colorado, 12 high school students and a teacher gunned down in cold blood by teenagers in trench coats who laughed as they committed their mayhem.
Over the past few years, the news has been filled with accounts of unspeakable crimes by children against other children. Here are just a few:
Two young boys, ages 11 and 13, in April 1998 unleashed a hail of gunfire on schoolmates in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Four girls and a teacher were murdered.
Four teens in Dallas, Texas, claiming to be vampires, in March 1998, burned down a church and went on a drug-crazed rampage, vandalizing dozens of cars and homes, burning down an office and spray-painting racial slurs.
A 16-year-old boy in Pearl, Mississippi in October 1997 murdered his mother and shot nine of his schoolmates, killing two of them.
A teenage girl in November 1996, delivered a child in a motel in Delaware. She and her boyfriend put the baby in a plastic bag, suffocated it and then tossed it in a dumpster.
Another teenage girl in New Jersey, in June 1997, gave birth to a baby at her prom in a bathroom stall. She threw the baby in the trash and went back to the dance floor.
More unborn children have fallen victim to abortion than all the deaths of our nation’s wars combined. Each day 4,000 are slaughtered all in the name of “a woman’s right to choose.”
This is a picture of a culture in moral chaos. Where did we go wrong? American went wrong when it began to stray away from the very thing that founded it—God, and the powerful effects of Christianity.
Liberal judges have not only banned prayer from our schools, they have made it illegal to post the Ten Commandments. Judges strike down laws protecting children from the most hard-core pornography on the Internet. Children are being suspended from school for saying grace over their lunch. Today, it is harder to escape from a car lease agreement than to get a divorce. The federal government spends billions of dollars promoting “safe sex” ideology in our schools and handing our birth control devices to children without any parental knowledge. Meanwhile, Christian speech is just about the only form of speech banned in America today.
We have even witnessed just two years ago the United State Supreme Court rule that consensual sodomy is a protected right of privacy. Earlier this year a federal judge ruled that the Pledge of Allegiance was unconstitutional because it contains the phrase “Under God” in it. There was even an attempt to have all schools in those states that are under the Federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to stop saying the pledge after this ruling was handed down.
Further, a California judge ruled that marriages solely between one man and one woman were unconstitutional. The judge stated, “It appears that no rational purpose exists for limiting marriage in this state to opposite-sex partners.”
How ironic that our nation would ban the very principles of its foundation! George Washington said it best:
“Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that National morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principles.”
Despite all the efforts of those on the left to chip away at our Christian heritage, we have very effective tools they can’t take away, and they are prayer and proclamation.
On November 20th, I urge you to join me, and countless others nationwide, in celebrating our nation’s Christian founding.
On November 20th, include in your church bulletin an insert or message about declaring Thanksgiving Sunday “America’s Christian Heritage Sunday.” We have provided some for you. Please encourage your congregation to read them at their family Thanksgiving dinner.
You may also want to plan a special event that would accent the purpose of the day. I also urge that pastors, on that Sunday, deliver a message or sermon on America's Christian founding to reinforce the commemoration of the day. This would also be powerful as many other of our fellow pastors would be speaking with one voice, one message, on the same day.
You may want to conduct a prayer meeting one day during the week to pray for our nation’s current moral condition, that it may be restored to Godliness, just as the Pilgrims did on the day they touched ground here in this great country.
I strongly encourage you to contact your local mayor asking him and the city council to pass a resolution in honor of the week for your town. If you need assistance with ideas for this great week of celebration, my office would be happy to assist you.
By the simple actions of proclaiming the week of Thanksgiving for Christ in celebration of God’s blessings to this country and by prayer we can send a powerful spiritual wave across this great land of ours. Remember, our war is not with flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities of darkness. But thank God with Him no one can be against us!
I pray that you, your family, and congregation have a blessed Thanksgiving week and holiday. God, indeed, has blessed this land and all of us who call Him Father.
For God and Country,
Rev. Louis P. Sheldon
Chairman & Founder
Can't they?
Probably not. I'll keep an eye open. Asshats. Here's today's news:
Falwell jumps on "Christmas is Endangered" bandwagon - the big effort to hype the idea that Christmas is on the verge of being eliminated by "secularists," including boycott threats against companies which use terms like "happy holidays";
Family Research Council to host Justice Sunday III - this one's oddly lower-key;
University of Kansas to offer course in Creationism and it's newer form, Intelligent Design - as religious myth, in the religion department. Course title: "Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design, Creationism and other Religious Mythologies";
Fundamentalists intimidate corporate sponsours away from Darwin exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in New York;
Focus on the Family agrees that Alito will allow greater mixing of church and state, and see that as a good thing, describing it as "increased religious liberty"; ACLJ thinks a court with Alito on it will take their side much more often;
More attacks on RU-486, including another attempt to get it taken off the market;
Indiana Supreme Court upholds counseling and waiting-period requirement before a woman can get an abortion;
Miami University of Ohio sued by state legislator with help of Alliance Defense Fund over DP benefits - state legislator and ADF both say that DP benefits for queers violates their shiny new anti-marriage/anti-civil-unions amendment; legislature specifically argues for separate and unequal, saying, "Under state law, individuals may receive benefits equally, but not all relationships may be given an honored place in the law."
New Jersey coach sues to lead team prayers - state regs allow student-led organised prayer, but teachers can't participate; he wants in and is suing;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM: demand Target specifically advertise/promote/etc Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays (or any other more general phrase) face boycott;
FotF ACTION to demand scrapping the entire 9th Circuit and rebuild it from scratch with all-new appointees; they're shopping around a case as a particular focus of outrage that does indeed sound very bad, but, well, they're really very good at lying, so honestly, it could be anything;
Fundamentalists, Catholic church get enough signatures to put an anti-marriage amendment before the state legislature again - no word in Focus on the Family's story about the documented signature fraud, of course;
FotF labels anti-Alito ad as "bogus," congratulates Fox for refusing to run it;
FotF is pissed off at the University of Kansas's new Creationism and Intelligent Design course;
"Wife Swap" contestant has the nerve to claim "public humiliation" when ABC set up a gay man as his exchange "wife" - personally, I think by signing up for that show, he humiliated himself; also claims he became "physically ill" and "mentally distressed";
Chuck Coulson blames rioting in France on France's "secular worldview";
FotF sounds the alarm about GBLT people running for office, calls queers "the principal threat to religious freedom today"; also pushes a book they've published saying the same thing;
American Family Association launches boycott of Target;
Traditional Values Coalition open letter to pastors: America is a Christian Nation; things went wrong in 1962 when mandatory school prayer was overturned which has lead to things like tolerance of queers (who are all NAMBLA supporters) and which caused the Columbine murders and in general has lead to "moral chaos" illustrated by a string of violent crime examples... all of which ignores the plummeting violent-crime rate.
----- 1 -----
Falwell fighting for holy holiday
He threatens to sue, boycott groups that subvert Christmas
Joe Garofoli, Chronicle Staff Writer
The San Francisco Chronicle
Sunday, November 20, 2005
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/11/20/MERRY.TMP
Evangelical Christian pastor Jerry Falwell has a message for Americans when it comes to celebrating Christmas this year: You're either with us, or you're against us.
Falwell has put the power of his 24,000-member congregation behind the "Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign," an effort led by the conservative legal organization Liberty Counsel. The group promises to file suit against anyone who spreads what it sees as misinformation about how Christmas can be celebrated in schools and public spaces.
The 8,000 members of the Christian Educators Association International will be the campaign's "eyes and ears" in the nation's public schools. They'll be reporting to 750 Liberty Counsel lawyers who are ready to pounce if, for example, a teacher is muzzled from leading the third-graders in "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing."
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
FRC 'Very Encouraged' by Supreme Court Nomination, To Host 'Justice Sunday III'
Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2005 Posted: 8:33:24AM EST
Long URL elided
WASHINGTON - The Family Research Council is “very encouraged” by the nomination of Supreme Court Nominee Judge Samuel Alito and plans to host its third "Justice Sunday" television program to draw attention to the court, the head of the conservative Christian organization announced Tuesday.
Tony Perkins, the president of FRC, said millions of families will have the chance to participate in the national debate over the proper role of judges in the nation through Justice Sunday III. He also said the FRC will launch an ad campaign to draw attention to "activist judges" that have ruled to remove God from the public square.
[More at URL]
[Editor's Note: this event has reportedly been moved since this article was posted, into January]
----- 3 -----
College course seeks to debunk intelligent design
Proposed religion class labels creationism as 'mythology'
Associated Press
Tuesday, November 22, 2005; Posted: 10:14 a.m. EST (15:14 GMT)
Long URL elided
LAWRENCE, Kansas (AP) -- Creationism and intelligent design are going to be studied at the University of Kansas, but not in the way advocated by opponents of the theory of evolution.
A course being offered next semester by the university religious studies department is titled "Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design, Creationism and other Religious Mythologies."
"The KU faculty has had enough," said Paul Mirecki, department chairman.
"Creationism is mythology," Mirecki said. "Intelligent design is mythology. It's not science. They try to make it sound like science. It clearly is not."
Earlier this month, the state Board of Education adopted new science teaching standards that treat evolution as a flawed theory, defying the view of science groups.
Although local school boards still decide how science is taught in the classrooms, the vote was seen as a major victory for proponents of intelligent design, which says that the universe is so complex that it must have been created by a higher power.
Critics say intelligent design is merely creationism -- a literal reading of the Bible's story of creation as the handiwork of God -- camouflaged in scientific language as a way to get around court rulings that creationism injects religion into public schools.
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
The Darwin exhibition frightening off corporate sponsors
By Nicholas Wapshott in New York
(Filed: 20/11/2005)
Long URL elided
An exhibition celebrating the life of Charles Darwin has failed to find a corporate sponsor because American companies are anxious not to take sides in the heated debate between scientists and fundamentalist Christians over the theory of evolution.
The entire $3 million (£1.7 million) cost of Darwin, which opened at the American Museum of Natural History in New York yesterday, is instead being borne by wealthy individuals and private charitable donations.
The failure of American companies to back what until recently would have been considered a mainstream educational exhibition reflects the growing influence of fundamentalist Christians, who are among President George W Bush's most vocal supporters, over all walks of life in the United States.
While the Darwin exhibition has been unable to find a business backer - unlike previous exhibitions at the museum - the Creationist Museum near Cincinnati, Ohio, which takes literally the Bible's account of creation, has recently raised $7 million in donations.
[More at URL]
----- 5 -----
Alito Seen as Favoring Religious Liberty
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
November 23, 2005
from staff reports
SUMMARY: Both sides agree he would have an impact.
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038690.cfm
People on both sides of the debate over public religious
expression are expressing how they think Supreme Court
nominee Judge Samuel Alito might rule on such cases.
[...]
It's no surprise that liberal groups have largely painted
Alito as an ideologue. Barry Lynn, executive director of
Americans United for Separation of Church and State,
called the nomination "deeply troubling."
"In several decisions, Judge Alito seems to be arguing for
a closer relationship between church and state," he said.
Conservatives see the same trend, but from a different
perspective. Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American
Center for Law and Justice, sees a bright future for
religious liberty with Alito on the high court.
"There's a number of cases on the way up, and I think when
they're there we will be in much better shape with Justice
Alito serving on that bench," he said.
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
RU-486 Under Scrutiny Again
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 23, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
Four California women who died after taking RU-486, the
abortion pill, suffered from a rare, but lethal, bacterial
infection -- a discovery that has prompted officials to
further examine the drug's safety, The New York Times
reported.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention will meet early next year
to discuss the medical risks of the abortion pill,
including whether it makes patients more vulnerable to
such infection.
Monty Patterson, whose daughter Holly died of an infection
after taking RU-486, is leading a campaign against the
drug. It was because of his public fight against the
abortion pill that the family of at least one other woman
who died had tissue samples tested for the presence of the
rare bacteria.
"I believe this drug should be taken off the market,"
Patterson said.
Beginning in July, labels on the drug began warning a
possible link with the bacteria -- Clostridium sordellii.
"I think everyone would like to know what exactly is going
on regarding these rare and really serious Clostridium
sordellii infections that we have seen happen in
California," said Dr. Cynthia Summers, a spokeswoman for
Danco Laboratories, the sole U.S. manufacturer of the
abortion pill. "I don't have an answer for you, and
because of that, I don't have any running theories."
Wendy Wright, executive vice president of Concerned Women
for America, said RU-486 is clearly unsafe and speculated
that there may be more unreported deaths.
"I'm pleased that the FDA is taking a serious look at
this," Wright said, "and hope that they will no longer
allow this drug to be available to cause the deaths of
more women."
----- 7 -----
Abortion Law Stands in Hoosier State
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 23, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
The Indiana Supreme Court upheld a law today that requires
women considering an abortion to get counseling and
fulfill a waiting period before going through with the
procedure, The Associated Press reported.
Opponents of the law argued that it infringes on the right
to privacy they say is guaranteed by the state
constitution.
But in the 4-1 ruling, the court said the law "does not
impose a material burden on any right to privacy or
abortion that may be provided or protected." The court did
clarify that it was not ruling on whether the state
constitution included a right to privacy or a right to an
abortion -- simply that the case did not have merit.
----- 8 -----
College Challenged for Giving Gay Benefits
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 23, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
An Ohio legislator said a state university that offers
domestic partner benefits is doing so illegally -- and,
with the aid of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), has filed
a lawsuit.
According to Rep. Tom Brinkman, Miami University, located
in Oxford, Ohio, is violating state law by giving benefits
to same-sex partners. Ohio voters amended the state
constitution at the November 2004 ballot box to protect
traditional marriage. The state and its political
subdivisions are forbidden to create or recognize any
other unions.
Jeff Shafer, senior counsel at ADF, said the state-run
university is bound to comply with the law.
"Under state law, individuals may receive benefits
equally, but not all relationships may be given an honored
place in the law," Shafer said. "Miami University's
creation of 'domestic partnerships' is quite clearly in
violation of the state constitution."
The marital union is the best foundation for a stable
society, Shafer said.
"The constitution requires that marriage be unique in its
legal recognition."
----- 9 -----
Coach Fights for Permission to Pray With Team
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 23, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
A high school football coach is suing over the right to
pray with his team. He said it isn't just about religion
and constitutional rights; it's also about a culture of
respect.
Marcus Borden, a coach at East Brunswick High School in
New Jersey, was ordered to stop praying alongside his
players in October.
Initially he quit, but agreed to return a week later.
Though he agreed to stop praying with the players, he
hired a constitutional lawyer to fight for his right to do
so over pregame meals and to kneel in the locker room with
the team before games.
Martin Pachman, the lawyer representing the school
district, said federal courts have ruled that staff
members may not participate in, encourage or lead student
prayer. Only student-led and initiated prayer is
permitted.
Ronald Riccio, attorney for Borden, said those limits are
too restrictive.
"The event of a high school football team saying a prayer
is such a part of the culture of our country that it is
not a religious event," he said. "Even if it is a
religious event, the coach is allowed to show respect for
the event by bowing his head or bending his knee."
----- 10 -----
Let Target Know How You Feel About Its Christmas Ban
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
November 22, 2005
[Received in email; no separate URL]
Target has banned the mention of Christmas from its
in-store displays and seasonal advertising campaigns --
and now is the time for you to let company officials know
you don't appreciate that decision.
There are two things you can do in the next couple of
days. First, commit to join a boycott called by the
American Family Association for this weekend --
traditionally the most active shopping period of the year
-- to show Target that there are financial ramifications
for its political correctness.
Then, contact Target CEO Robert Ulrich by phone and/or
e-mail and respectfully let him know that unless he
reconsiders his company's ban on Christmas, you'll be
forced to reconsider spending money in his stores again.
You can formally join the boycott by visiting the American
Family Association Web site.
http://www.afa.net/petitions/signpetition.asp?id=1470
To call Target CEO Robert Ulrich, dial 612-696-6163. To
send an e-mail via an easy-to-use Web form, visit the
CitizenLink Action Center.
Long URL elided
----- 11 -----
Court Says Schools Can Make Students Imitate Muslim
Practices
by Pete Winn, associate editor
SUMMARY: Pro-family attorneys say ruling would have been
different if it was about Christianity.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is at it again. A
three-judge panel has rejected a lawsuit brought by two
California students and their parents, who challenged the
way a northern California school district taught about
Islam.
The decision was not "published," meaning it will not
serve as precedent, although it certainly gives insight
into how the judges on the 9th Circuit are thinking.
The parents accused the Byron Union School District, in
Byron, Calif., of unconstitutionally endorsing a religious
practice, according to Edward White, a Thomas More Law
Center attorney who represented the parents.
White said his clients did not object to their seventh
graders learning about Islam -- they objected to what
amounted to indoctrination.
"The students were put in the position of being more like
trainees of Islam, rather than students learning about a
particular religion," he said.
The materials handed to the children informed them that
during the simulation they would "become Muslims."
[...]
As part of the two-week instruction, the students took
Islamic names, wrote those names on ID tags that carried a
star and crescent and wore them around their necks.
"They memorized prayers and recited them in front of the
teacher," White said. "They made these banners which said,
'In the name of God, the most gracious, most
compassionate. Praise be to God,' and put them on the
walls of the classroom."
[...]
Eric Buehrer, president of Gateways to Better Education,
said "Across the Centuries" is both confusing and
misleading.
"Frankly it miseducates students," he said. "For instance,
the textbook flat-out says that the God of Muhammed --
Allah -- is the same God worshipped by Christians and
Jews. Now I don't think any of the three religions --
Christianity, Islam and Judaism -- would agree with that
statement, and yet that's what's being taught."
White, meanwhile, said he plans to appeal the case to the
judges of the entire 9th Circuit -- and may go to the U.S.
Supreme Court, if needed.
Peter Brandt, senior director of Government and Public
Policy for Focus on the Family Action, said this decision
is just another reason why the 9th Circuit -- the most
overturned judicial district in the country -- needs to be
scrapped and rebuilt.
"We're aware of what the House did in voting to split
apart the 9th Circuit, but it really doesn't go far
enough," he said. "That would simply leave the same bad
judges in place. Congress has the power to tear it down
and start over. The time has come to explore that
possibility."
TAKE ACTION: Please contact your senators and ask them to
support efforts to scrap the 9th Circuit and completely
reorganize it. For help in contacting your lawmakers,
please see the CitizenLink Action Center.
Long URL elided
----- 12 -----
Massachusetts Wants the People to Vote on Marriage
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 22, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
A signature-collecting campaign to allow voters to decide
the definition of marriage in Massachusetts has well
exceeded the 65,825 signatures required, according to
VoteOnMarriage.org.
Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family
Institute, said the group set out to get 120,000
signatures and is on target to reach that number. The
excess would help ensure that the secretary of state will
certify enough signatures to qualify the petitions. A
stray pen mark, a coffee stain or a minor misspelling can
eliminate an entire sheet of signatures from
consideration.
"I credit this phenomenal effort," Mineau said, "to
thousands of citizen volunteers and over 1,200 communities
of faith -- including Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and
Muslim -- who have worked tirelessly to give every citizen
in the commonwealth a voice in how marriage is defined."
Mona Passignano, state issues analyst for Focus on the
Family Action, said in every state where people have had
the opportunity to constitutionally define marriage, they
have done so overwhelmingly.
"The remarkable success of this petition drive will send a
strong message to the Legislature that the people of
Massachusetts want the opportunity to vote on a state
marriage amendment," she said.
The hurdle in Massachusetts is set high: The marriage
amendment must pass both houses in two consecutive
sessions by a 25 percent margin before it can be placed on
the ballot for voters to decide.
"Whether the Massachusetts Legislature listens to the
voice of the people will be determined in the next two
sessions," Passignano said.
House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi has said lawmakers must
make sure the issue of same-sex marriage "never, ever
appears as a question on the ballot."
Mineau said that kind of representation is unacceptable.
"Citizens must insist that their elected representatives
act honestly and ethically and allow this vote to occur,"
he said. "Then, and only then, will the matter of marriage
be settled in Massachusetts."
----- 13 -----
Fox Won't Run Bogus Alito Ads
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 22, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
Fox News viewers won't see a political smear campaign
aimed at Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito; the network
is refusing to run the spot because Fox lawyers said it is
"factually incorrect," Breitbart.com reported.
Paul Shur, a spokesman for Fox, said the groups sponsoring
the ad -- including the Alliance for Justice, the
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and People for the
American Way -- have been given "an opportunity to fix
it."
But Jim Jordan, spokesman for the campaign, said no way.
"Roger Ailes (chairman of Fox News) doesn't get to edit
our ads," Jordan said. "The entire right-wing
establishment, from Pat Robertson to Jerry Falwell to Fox
News, has circled wagons around Sam Alito."
The ad claims that Alito, as an appellate court judge,
"even voted to approve the strip search of a 10-year-old
girl."
In reality, the case involved a 2004 ruling about how a
search warrant and the accompanying affidavit should be
read together. In the limited ruling Alito said that
officers did not do anything wrong during a raid in which
a 10-year-old girl, the daughter of a drug dealer, was
present. The affidavit explained the necessity of
searching everyone at the location of a raid. Dealers
often hide drugs on other people -- including children.
The girl, by the way, was taken to a bathroom with her
mother by a female officer and was asked to disrobe for a
visual, not a manual, search.
"Judge Alito did not approve the strip-searching of a
young girl," said Jan LaRue, chief counsel for Concerned
Women for America. "But that doesn't matter to groups like
Alliance for Justice, which brag, 'You name it, we'll do
it' in order to defeat Judge Alito's confirmation. Well,
here's naming it -- it's called lying and it's
despicable."
----- 14 -----
College Course Equates Creationism with Mythology
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 22, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
The University of Kansas will offer a course in
creationism next semester, but before you encourage your
student to sign up, check out the title: "Special Topics
in Religion: Intelligent Design, Creationism and other
Religious Mythologies."
Paul Mirecki, chairman of the religious studies
department, said one motivating factor was the recent
Kansas Board of Education decision to teach the flaws in
the theory of evolution.
"The KU faculty has had enough," he said. "Creationism is
mythology, intelligent design is mythology. It's not
science. They try to make it sound like science. It's
clearly not."
Though the Board of Education teaching standards do not
even mention intelligent design, opponents have attempted
to characterize the battle as one of religion versus
science, and news outlets around the country have
obediently echoed that loaded theme.
John Calvert, an attorney and managing director of the
Intelligent Design Network, said Mirecki is making a fool
of himself.
"To equate intelligent design to mythology is really an
absurdity," Calvert said. "It's just another example of
labeling anybody who proposed it to be simply a religious
nut. That's the reason for this little charade."
----- 15 -----
TV 'Wife' is a Man
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 22, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
Producers of ABC's "Wife Swap" -- where wives switch
households for a week so families can learn how others
live -- had a big surprise for an Oklahoma man who signed
up for the show: They sent a gay man to be his temporary
"wife."
According to the the Muskogee Phoenix, Jeffrey Bedford of
Haileyville, Okla., has filed suit against all the
companies involved with the show, claiming gross
misrepresentation.
He leads a home Bible study, and the swapped "wife"
invited members of a gay coalition to attend.
He was not allowed to be in contact with his wife during
the extent of his participation with the show and claims
that when he complained to the show's producers about what
they'd done, he was told if he didn't complete the
filming, they would neither tell him his wife's location
nor pay for her return trip.
Bedford says he became physically ill, mentally distressed
and was publicly humiliated. He is seeking $5 million for
his distress and $5 million for punitive damages. In
addition he's asking for $75,000 for breach of contract,
$75,000 for fraud and $75,000 for punitive damages.
----- 16 -----
Focus on the Family
QUOTEWORTHY
November 22, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
"The real problem with France, like the rest of
post-Christian Europe, is a flawed, rigidly secular
worldview. France has renounced its Christian heritage,
refuses to reform its welfare state, and has no compelling
moral vision -- as we see in its sanctimonious rejection
of British and American morally driven foreign policy.
Without a vision, the people perish -- which is why France
may be doomed to "eat its young" and, in turn, watch as
they bite back."
-- Chuck Colson explains why France is burning, Nov. 14,
2005
----- 17 -----
Conference Trains Gay Leaders
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
November 21, 2005
from staff reports
SUMMARY: Seattle event a how-to session on running for office.
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038669.cfm
A weekend conference in Seattle highlighted gays and
lesbians serving in public office; topics included
diversity, human rights and campaigning. Scheduled
speakers included Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire, and
openly gay U.S. Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Tammy
Baldwin, D-Wis.
Sponsors of the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Conference
declined to comment, but have been quoted as saying that
"gays in public office put a human face on homosexuality."
[...]
Joe Glover, president of the Family Policy Network, called
it the same old dog-and-pony show.
[...]
Glover told Family News in Focus that shining a light on
homosexuals in public office is all part of a grander
plan.
"This is just another example of homosexual activists
wanting to push their private, immoral behavior into the
public realm and make a statement with it," he said. "What
we're seeing now is a willingness to codify those cultural
norms that are emerging into law."
That may be one reason for a conference on how to "come
out" and still get elected to office. Caleb H. Price, a
social research analyst for Focus on the Family Action,
said getting more homosexuals elected translates into more
gay-friendly legislation.
"With these conferences and workshops that the gay
political activists are putting on, what we're seeing is
an attempt to deemphasize sexuality and train them how to
not be a one issue candidate," he said.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: America is not only widely
tolerating homosexuality in our schools, in the media and
in the corporate world, but is more openly punishing those
who disagree. With well-documented and disturbing proof,
Alan Sears and Craig Osten expose the great strides
homosexuals are making as a result of their concerted
strategic activities in "The Homosexual Agenda: Exposing
the Principal Threat to Religious Freedom Today."
Long URL elided
----- 17 -----
AFA 'Targets' Retailer That Won't Say 'Merry Christmas'
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 21, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
Target stores have continued to ban Salvation Army kettles
from storefronts and the phrase "Merry Christmas" from
advertising, which has prompted the American Family
Association (AFA) to launch a boycott of the retail giant.
In just three days, more than 300,000 people pledged to
steer clear of Target during the biggest shopping weekend
of the year -- the days following Thanksgiving.
Randy Sharp, director of special projects for AFA, said,
on average, more than 4,000 people are signing on to the
boycott every hour.
"Shoppers are growing disgruntled by companies that are
choosing to do away with a simple greeting like 'Merry
Christmas,'" he said, "and they are showing it with their
pocketbooks."
The AFA hopes that other retailers will get the message
that choosing to avoid the word "Christmas" will hurt the
bottom line. Target's stock is already suffering after
shareholders were warned of a bleak Christmas season.
"Target's decision to do away with 'Merry Christmas' and
The Salvation Army bell ringers has made them an easy
bull's-eye for people who are fed up with politically
correct retailers," Sharp said.
The AFA plans to send a copy of the Target boycott
petition to other major retailers "to remind them that
Christmas comes once a year -- just in case they forget,"
said Sharp.
TAKE ACTION: If you'd like to join the AFA's boycott of
Target, click here:
http://www.afa.net/petitions/signpetition.asp?id=1470
(NOTE: Referral to Web sites not produced by Focus on the
Family is for informational purposes only and does not
necessarily constitute an endorsement of the sites'
content.)
----- 18 -----
An Open Letter To Pastors From Rev. Sheldon On Thanksgiving
November 23, 2005
Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2505
The TVC staff wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving this season and pray that God will prosper and bless you this coming year!
November 23, 2005 – Last week, TVC Chairman Rev. Louis P. Sheldon sent a letter to California pastors asking them to set aside Nov. 20 as America’s Christian Heritage Sunday. We are reprinting his letter below:
“America’s Christian Heritage Sunday”
Thanksgiving Sunday
November 2005
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”
Proverbs 14:34
November 2005
Dear Pastor:
We have just come off the heels of a crucial election. Although the outcome was not what we were hoping for I want to say “thank you!” Your commitment to defending the unborn and our daughters from abortion and your support for Prop 73 is appreciated.
Of all the ballot propositions from the November 8th election, Prop 73 received the most votes; over 3.1 million “yes” votes to be exact. Because you helped distribute our California Voter’s Guides and encouraged your church to vote we can still count this as an accomplishment despite Prop 74 still falling short. This shows that the church still does have an impact!
With the election now behind us time continues to fly. In less than 2 months we will be on the verge of starting yet another year. And what better way to draw toward the end of the year than with a very important Christian holiday—Thanksgiving!
Unfortunately, America’s Christian heritage is under attack and it is well established that America is in a moral decline. In an attempt to assist you in “rebuilding the wall,” I have enclosed some materials hoping you can designate Thanksgiving Sunday, November 20th as “American Heritage Sunday.” We must remind ourselves of our Christian history, lest we be guided by the secular doctrine of the day. And we must also celebrate our Christian heritage to serve as salt and light to those around us.
Since 1992, the week of Thanksgiving has been declared “America’s Christian Heritage Week,” by Congress, several Governors, hundreds of mayors and city councils and clergy. This year is no different. However, I am asking of you to set aside Thanksgiving Sunday to celebrate our nation’s Christian heritage.
Society today (and unfortunately many of our fellow clergymen) is fooled by the myth that Christianity had no part in the founding of America and therefore the role of religion should be restricted to merely the four walls of the church. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Those early English settlers, the Pilgrims, left the land of a tyrant King George to escape the religious persecution of his monarchy. The power of Christianity was a threat to the King, but never too weak for a people to escape persecution and bless a land later to become America.
In their deliberations in forming this great country of ours, our founding fathers never forsook Christ or the role of Christianity in their duties, and in fact, they used it as their basis for America’s founding.
During the Constitutional Convention’s deliberations those founding fathers used 3,154 quotes, 34% of which were directly from the Bible. For instance:
• Isaiah 33:22 was used to justify our three branches of government
• Jeremiah 17:9 was used to support the separation of powers
• Ezra 7:24 was used to exempt churches from taxes—such exemption exists to today.
It was Benjamin Franklin who got the Convention to open its meeting with prayer. At the Convention in 1787 he said:
“I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in the Assembly every morning.”
In 1781, it was Thomas Jefferson, the one many falsely claim urged the separation of the Church from the state, who proclaimed:
“God who gave us life, gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God?”
All of the state constitutions written by our founding fathers called for godly men to occupy the offices of the land. The Pennsylvania State Constitution, written by Benjamin Rush, declares:
“Each member of the legislature . . . shall make and subscribe the following declaration:
‘I do believe in one God, the creator and governor of the Universe, the rewarder of good and punisher of the wicked, and I do acknowledge the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by Divine Inspiration.”
Similarly, the Delaware State Constitution reads:
“Every person appointed to public office shall say, ‘I do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His Holy Son and in the Holy Ghost. One God blessed for evermore . . .’”
By their words and their actions, our founders intended for America to be a nation reflective of Christianity. They understood the proclamation in the book of Acts that, “In Him we live and move and have our being.” For it is not merely our actions on Sundays in the walls of our churches that define our faith, but the manner in which we live our lives, and with it the manner in which we choose to regulate ourselves and the standards we set through government.
Make no mistake about it—America does have a deep Christian heritage! But America is facing a crisis—a moral crisis. And we can see evidence of moral decay all around us.
It was in 1878 that the Supreme Court ruled in Reynolds v. United States that it was permissible to maintain Christian values, principles and practices in official policy. But secular humanists in 1962 got control of the Court, distorted the words of Thomas Jefferson, and began to strip this country of its Christian bedrock by ruling school prayer unconstitutional through their perverted doctrine of “separation of church and state.” And there has been a moral decline ever since.
We used to be able to count on our culture to protect our children from sexual exploitation. But today we see forced teachings in schools promoting the homosexual lifestyle as normal. And we see groups like the North American Man/Boy Love Association prey upon our children as young as 8 for sexual encounters.
We saw in Littleton, Colorado, 12 high school students and a teacher gunned down in cold blood by teenagers in trench coats who laughed as they committed their mayhem.
Over the past few years, the news has been filled with accounts of unspeakable crimes by children against other children. Here are just a few:
Two young boys, ages 11 and 13, in April 1998 unleashed a hail of gunfire on schoolmates in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Four girls and a teacher were murdered.
Four teens in Dallas, Texas, claiming to be vampires, in March 1998, burned down a church and went on a drug-crazed rampage, vandalizing dozens of cars and homes, burning down an office and spray-painting racial slurs.
A 16-year-old boy in Pearl, Mississippi in October 1997 murdered his mother and shot nine of his schoolmates, killing two of them.
A teenage girl in November 1996, delivered a child in a motel in Delaware. She and her boyfriend put the baby in a plastic bag, suffocated it and then tossed it in a dumpster.
Another teenage girl in New Jersey, in June 1997, gave birth to a baby at her prom in a bathroom stall. She threw the baby in the trash and went back to the dance floor.
More unborn children have fallen victim to abortion than all the deaths of our nation’s wars combined. Each day 4,000 are slaughtered all in the name of “a woman’s right to choose.”
This is a picture of a culture in moral chaos. Where did we go wrong? American went wrong when it began to stray away from the very thing that founded it—God, and the powerful effects of Christianity.
Liberal judges have not only banned prayer from our schools, they have made it illegal to post the Ten Commandments. Judges strike down laws protecting children from the most hard-core pornography on the Internet. Children are being suspended from school for saying grace over their lunch. Today, it is harder to escape from a car lease agreement than to get a divorce. The federal government spends billions of dollars promoting “safe sex” ideology in our schools and handing our birth control devices to children without any parental knowledge. Meanwhile, Christian speech is just about the only form of speech banned in America today.
We have even witnessed just two years ago the United State Supreme Court rule that consensual sodomy is a protected right of privacy. Earlier this year a federal judge ruled that the Pledge of Allegiance was unconstitutional because it contains the phrase “Under God” in it. There was even an attempt to have all schools in those states that are under the Federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to stop saying the pledge after this ruling was handed down.
Further, a California judge ruled that marriages solely between one man and one woman were unconstitutional. The judge stated, “It appears that no rational purpose exists for limiting marriage in this state to opposite-sex partners.”
How ironic that our nation would ban the very principles of its foundation! George Washington said it best:
“Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that National morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principles.”
Despite all the efforts of those on the left to chip away at our Christian heritage, we have very effective tools they can’t take away, and they are prayer and proclamation.
On November 20th, I urge you to join me, and countless others nationwide, in celebrating our nation’s Christian founding.
On November 20th, include in your church bulletin an insert or message about declaring Thanksgiving Sunday “America’s Christian Heritage Sunday.” We have provided some for you. Please encourage your congregation to read them at their family Thanksgiving dinner.
You may also want to plan a special event that would accent the purpose of the day. I also urge that pastors, on that Sunday, deliver a message or sermon on America's Christian founding to reinforce the commemoration of the day. This would also be powerful as many other of our fellow pastors would be speaking with one voice, one message, on the same day.
You may want to conduct a prayer meeting one day during the week to pray for our nation’s current moral condition, that it may be restored to Godliness, just as the Pilgrims did on the day they touched ground here in this great country.
I strongly encourage you to contact your local mayor asking him and the city council to pass a resolution in honor of the week for your town. If you need assistance with ideas for this great week of celebration, my office would be happy to assist you.
By the simple actions of proclaiming the week of Thanksgiving for Christ in celebration of God’s blessings to this country and by prayer we can send a powerful spiritual wave across this great land of ours. Remember, our war is not with flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities of darkness. But thank God with Him no one can be against us!
I pray that you, your family, and congregation have a blessed Thanksgiving week and holiday. God, indeed, has blessed this land and all of us who call Him Father.
For God and Country,
Rev. Louis P. Sheldon
Chairman & Founder
