Today's Cultural Warfare Update
Nov. 30th, 2005 06:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdPope Benedict XVI overhauls church policy in a strongly anti-gay direction; abstinence and behaviour entirely within church guidelines is now irrelevant for church positions if "homosexual tendencies" are "deeply rooted"; what's that mean? Specifically, in the original, if you still have same-sex attractions after adolescence, you're out no matter how "well" you behave; this is a major theological change in direction;
Vatican newspaper, via Reuters: Gayfolk risk "destabilizing people and society," are against "the family," have "no social or moral value"; line is hardened against GBLT Catholics in general;
Catholic World News unofficial translation of a letter discussing the policy (this is not the newspaper article above) indicates that this is specifically not a don't-ask-behave-well-don't-tell kind of policy - hiding that you're queer is just as bad as being queer, the "objectively disordered" line is repeated; only "unjust discrimination" is invalid, many forms of discrimination therefore implicitly valid (and indeed, this document describes some); some responses to the translation on CWN are upset the document doesn't go further, asking, for example, for excommunication;
Focus on the Family: "happy holidays" is a sign of "anti-Christian bias";
ACLU defends homeowner's nativity scene against neighbourhood covenant barring "outdoor sculpture"; please remember cases like these when the fundamentalists go on another ACLU-is-Satan rant;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM: Not using Merry Christmas "IS PART OF AN ANTI-CHRISTIAN AGENDA" (their caps, not mine) - they want complaints sent to Target;
FotF complains you can catch a glimpse of a breast on The OC; includes an ACTION ITEM to file a slew of indecency complaints with the FCC, whether you saw it or not;
FotF coverage of Supreme Court hearings over New Hampshire's parental-notification abortion law; Planned Parenthood sued on the basis that there was no health exemption; Focus on the Family is generically against exemptions based on the health of the woman, describing them as "a tactic which effectively guts laws designed to restrict abortion";
Focus on the Family Canada reports on Edmonton Archbishop Thomas Collins assertion: Communion should be withheld from Catholic political leaders who do not follow the Church's line in their public voting;
FotF Canada rails against the transgendered;
Conservative leader Stephen Harper plans revote on Canadian marriage rights if he becomes PM to overturn Canada's marriage law; he claims to support civil unions;
Focus on the Family Canada's five steps to "restore marriage" in Canada - they want to make it the nr. 1 issue of the campaign;
A special Cultural Warfare Update Feature Presentation. You have to watch it. Seriously.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
firni, do you know this woman?
----- 1 -----
Gland Inquisitor
Pope Benedict's antigay tendencies.
By William Saletan
Slate
Posted Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2005, at 12:46 AM ET
http://www.slate.com/id/2131019/nav/tap1/
The Vatican's new policy on gay priests has been leaked. Officially, it proposes the incorrigibility of deeply rooted gay tendencies. Unofficially, it exposes the deeply rooted, incorrigible antigay tendencies of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, aka Pope Benedict XVI.
For decades, while moderate clerics defended celibate gay priests, Ratzinger pressed for a purge of homosexuality not merely as an act or a lifestyle but as an orientation. Now he's in charge, and he's got ambitions beyond the church. He wants to cleanse us all, inside and out.
To its credit, the Vatican has sought to incorporate modern psychology and biology in its discussions of homosexuality. The first document to do so was the Declaration on Certain Questions Concerning Sexual Ethics, issued in 1975 by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Declaration tentatively accepted that some people were "definitively" gay due to "some kind of innate instinct" for which they weren't "personally responsible." Nevertheless, it maintained that according to scripture, "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered." The solution was to separate the involuntary from the voluntary—the inclination from the acts—by helping homosexuals to "overcome" their "condition." Eight years later, the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education, acknowledging the role of "physiological or psychological factors" in homosexuality, drew the same conclusion.
But in 1986, the CDF changed its tune. In its Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, the CDF said liberals had twisted the meaning of the Declaration, applying "an overly benign interpretation … to the homosexual condition itself," as opposed to homosexual acts. The condition was the problem, said the Letter: When people "engage in homosexual activity, they confirm within themselves a disordered sexual inclination which is essentially self-indulgent."
[...]
----- 2 -----
Homosexuality destabilizes society: Vatican paper
Reuters
Tue Nov 29, 2005 10:38 AM ET
Long URL elided
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican newspaper said on Tuesday that homosexuality risked "destabilizing people and society", had no social or moral value and could never match the importance of the relationship between a man and a woman.
[...]
The article by Monsignor Tony Anatrella, a French Jesuit and psychologist, said homosexuality could not be considered an acceptable moral alternative to heterosexuality.
[...]
"It (homosexuality) does not represent a social value and even less so a moral virtue that could add to the civilization of sexuality," Anatrella said. "It could even be seen as a destabilizing reality for people and for society."
The Catholic Church, the article said, had a duty to reaffirm its position that homosexuality is "against conjugal life, the life of the family, and priestly life".
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
Vatican document on homosexuals and seminaries-- full text
Catholic World News
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=40891
Nov. 27 (CWNews.com) - The following is an unofficial translation by CWN of the full Vatican document.
Congregation for Catholic Education
Instruction concerning the criteria of vocational discernment regarding persons with homosexual tendencies, considering their admission to seminary and to Holy Orders
[...]
Concerning profoundly deep-rooted homosexual tendencies, that one discovers in a certain number of men and women, these are also objectively disordered and often constitute a trial, even for these men and women. These people must be received with respect and delicacy; one will avoid every mark of unjust discrimination with respect to them. These are called to realize the will of God in their lives and to unite to the Sacrifice of the Lord the difficulties that they may encounter.
[...]
It remains understood that the candidate himself has the first responsibility for his own formation. He must offer himself with faith to the discernment of the Church, the bishop who calls to Orders, the rector of the seminary, the spiritual director, and the other teachers of the seminary to whom the bishop or the superior general has entrusted the duty of forming future priests. It would be gravely dishonest if a candidate were to hide his own homosexuality to enter, notwithstanding everything, to Ordination. An attitude so inauthentic does not correspond to the spirit of truth, allegiance, and availability that must characterize the personality of he who believes to be called to serve Christ and His Church in the priestly ministry.
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
Substituting “Holiday” for “Christmas” Sign of Anti-Christian Bias
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
by Bill Wilson
November 30, 2005
Businesses that remove Christmas are starting to hear from their customers.
http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0038732.cfm
Increasingly, national retail chains are taking Christ out of Christmas. The most obvious example is the replacement of the word "Christmas” with "holiday." Removing the reason for the season seems to blend what Tim Wildmon of the American Family Association believes is misguided public relations with an undercurrent of anti-Christian bias.
“Once you start promoting Christian morality, Christian values, the claims that Christ, he is the Son of God and the only way to heaven, then, the secular left and those who sympathize with them take you on.”
[More at URL]
----- 5 -----
Nativity owners granted reprieve
Web-posted Nov 30, 2005
By JERRY WOLFFE
Of The Oakland Press
http://theoaklandpress.com/stories/113005/loc_2005113002.shtml
NOVI - After a massive show of support for a Novi family that was threatened with fines unless it removed a nativity scene, the subdivision's homeowners group late Tuesday retracted the notice sent concerning a lawn ornament display.
Frank and Betty Samona were threatened with up to a $100-a-week fine if they didn't remove statues of the baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph and other Christmas items. The Samonas planned to hire an attorney to challenge the order from the homeowner's association in the posh Tollgate Woods Subdivision, where homes are priced from the mid-$400,000s and up.
[...]
"The Board of Directors of the Tollgate Woods Subdivision has retracted the notice that was sent concerning a lawn ornament display in the subdivision," the statement said. "There was no intent in the notice to denigrate the holiday spirit as displayed by the residents of our community. The homeowner that filed the original complaint has also rescinded the complaint. We have sent a letter of retraction and apology to the Samona family."
[...]
Kramer-Triad had claimed the Samona family signed a homeowner's association agreement that included a section forbidding "outdoor art." It ordered the "nativity scene removed from your front yard." If not, the Samonas could have been fined up to $100 a week.
"We believe that homeowners should be able to express their religious or political views on their own property," said Wendy Wagenheim, the director of communications for the ACLU of Michigan. "If the homeowner's association went to court, it's questionable whether these regulations could be enforced."
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
CHRISTMAS BANNING IS PART OF AN ANTI-CHRISTIAN AGENDA
Pro-family leaders urge Christians to speak up and fight back.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
November 30, 2005
from staff reports
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038742.cfm
Some conservative groups are claiming the banning of the
word "Christmas" by retailers amounts to blatant
discrimination against Christians.
Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association,
makes the case that taking Christ out of Christmas is part
of larger agenda that has been taking place over the past
30 years.
"Once you start promoting Christian morality, Christian
values, the claims that Christ, He is the Son of God and
the only way to Heaven, then, the secular left and those
who sympathize with them take you on," he said.
Robert Morrison, senior policy advisor at the Family
Research Council, said some on the left simply want to rid
society of any mention of Jesus.
"That agenda is never sleeping. They're pursuing their
goals without any pause for holidays," he told Family News
in Focus. "This is a part of that agenda to drive
underground any expression of religious faith."
Morrison is urging Christians to smile and say "Merry
Christmas" in response to those who say "happy holidays."
"When they try to take away Christmas trees, Christmas
parades, and all that, stand up," he said. "Don't be
quiet. Don't sheepishly go along with that. Stand up. Say
'NO.' "
TAKE ACTION: One retailer that has been singled out for
banning Christmas from its in-store displays and
advertising is Target. You can send a note to the
company's CEO through the CitizenLink Action Center:
http://www.family.org/cforum/action_center.cfm
----- 7 -----
Wardrobe Malfunction on Fox Drama
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 30, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
You'd think after Janet Jackson's infamous 2004 Super Bowl
"wardrobe malfunction" that producers would be more
careful. Not so on the set of Fox's "The OC."
According to People magazine, in a scene involving
19-year-old actress Mischa Barton, "she popped out of bed
and briefly popped out of her pajama top."
Now, since it wasn't live, you'd think the film editors
would ask for a re-do or simply edit out the bare breast.
But they decided to push the envelope and let the slip
stay.
So far, "we have not received any complaints," said a
network spokesman.
TAKE ACTION: The FCC has a new easy-to-use online form for
indecency complaints.
http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cib/fcc475B.cfm
----- 8 -----
Activism Over Alito Heats Up
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
November 30, 2005
from staff reports
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038743.cfm
SUMMARY: Grass roots efforts on both sides are making
their voices heard.
The battle between liberals and conservatives over Supreme
Court nominee Samuel Alito has taken to the grass roots.
Liberals are organizing telephone calls to Senate
Democrats considered to be undecided, while conservatives
are countering with ad campaigns.
The fact that Senate hearings were delayed into January
has provided extra time for opponents of Alito to attempt
to generate momentum. Tom Fitton, president of Judicial
Watch, said it's time for conservatives to respond.
"Liberal activists are calling these senators to let their
views be known on the Alito nomination," he said.
"Conservatives really need to step it up and make the
calls."
Fitton told Family News in Focus that liberal Sen. Diane
Feinstein, D-Calif., has used calls to her office to
bolster opposition to Alito.
"She's received over 4,000 calls opposing Alito's
nomination and very few in favor of him," he said. "Now
that doesn't reflect the majority of the American people,
but it shows you how a committed activist group, a
committed minority, can affect a policy and a nomination."
Sean Rushton, executive director of the Committee for
Justice said his group is fighting back, especially in
conservative states with liberal Senators.
"We've been running ads in those states," he said. "Some
of our allies have been doing phone banking in those
states and letter-writing campaigns to put pressure on
some of those red state Democrats and to make them aware
that their constituents do not approve of them siding with
the far-left liberal interest groups."
----- 9 -----
Supreme Court Hears Two Key Abortion Cases
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
November 30, 2005
by Pete Winn, associate editor
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038758.cfm
SUMMARY: Justices to decide if New Hampshire law giving
parents the right to be told of their daughter's abortion
is unconstitutional.
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two major
abortion cases today -- the first to be heard in five
years, and the first since Chief Justice John Roberts
joined the court.
Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England
involves the legal blockade of a New Hampshire law which
makes minor girls wait 48 hours to obtain an abortion, and
then only after notice is given to at least one parent.
The law was challenged by Planned Parenthood because it
does not include the so-called "health exception," which
is generally interpreted broadly to include such things as
depression, a tactic which effectively guts laws designed
to restrict abortion.
New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly Ayotte argued that
the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was wrong to strike
down the entire law just because it had problems with the
lack of a health exception.
Today, Supreme Court justices intensely questioned both
Ayotte and Planned Parenthood Attorney Jennifer Dalven.
To Ayotte, justices wondered aloud why New Hampshire
lawmakers did not simply include a health exception --
something most other state parental-notification laws have
included since the high court's decision in Casey v.
Planned Parenthood.
She told justices that no health provision was needed
because under New Hampshire law, doctors are free to treat
anyone in imminent health danger. If doctors were
challenged, they could invoke something called the
"competing harms defense" -- meaning, they could defend
their actions by saying the danger to the pregnant girl
justified violating the law.
[...]
"That is why we passed this law, because a parent is the
best one to help that child with their medical care," she
said. "Let me ask you a question: If your teenager is in
an automobile accident, when they're rolled into the
emergency room, does the doctor say, 'Is their life in
imminent danger? If not, roll them over and leave them
until their parents are contacted.' Emergency care is
given to stabilize that child. Whether they are a male or
female, the same treatment under existing law for
emergency care in New Hampshire would continue."
Pro-family attorneys were somewhat disappointed with the
arguments. Focus on the Family Action Judicial Analyst
Bruce Hausknecht pointed out there was little discussion
of parents' rights.
"This is really a parental-rights case rather than an
abortion case," he said. "Focus on the Family filed an
amicus brief that emphasized this. It's disappointing this
was glossed over without a mention."
[...]
Clarke Forsythe, senior counsel of Americans United for
Life and legal counsel for the New Hampshire lawmakers who
drafted the parental notification law, was more
optimistic.
"The court, I believe, will uphold this statute," he said.
[More at URL]
----- 10 -----
Can Religion and Politics Coexist?
Focus on the Family Canada
October 12, 2005
http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/religiousFreedom/stories/101205.html
Roman Catholic bishops should as "a sad necessity" withhold Communion from political leaders who profess to be faithful Catholics but whose decisions violate the basic tents of their faith, says Edmonton Archbishop Thomas Collins.
"Politics is a sacred vocation. It's a life where we need people with a conscience," he told the Toronto Star.
Collins is currently in Rome along with 256 Roman Catholic bishops, cardinals and heads of religious orders from 118 countries to attend a three-week Synod - the first to be called by Pope Benedict XVI since he was elected in April to succeed John Paul II.
One of the issues being raised at the Synod is the linkage between a person's faith and the Church's place in society.
In a homily on the opening day of the Synod, Benedict stated, according to Reuters: "The type of tolerance which permits God as a private opinion but refuses to allow him in the public arena, is, in the reality of the world and our life, not tolerance but hypocrisy.
"There can be no justice where man makes himself the only master of the world and of himself."
[More at URL]
----- 11 -----
Demands for more "gender" rights
Focus on the Family Canada
November 16, 2005
http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/sexuality/stories/111605.html
New Democrat MP Bill Siksay is attempting to garner support for new human rights legislation that would ban discrimination against “gender identity” and “gender expression,” Canadian Catholic News reported last week.
Siksay’s proposal is contained in a private member’s bill (C-392) which he introduced last May. It would make it a crime to act in a prejudicial manner toward “transsexuals, transgendered people, intersexed people, and all those who do not identify within the confines of traditional gender.”
[...]
“Trans people are subject to discrimination, harassment and violence on a daily basis,” Siksay reportedly wrote in a letter to fellow members of Parliament in early October. “They are regularly denied things we all take for granted, such as access to health care, housing, the ability to obtain identification documents, access to gendered spaces such as bathrooms, and the ability to acquire and maintain gainful employment.”
[...]
“It would appear that to some there are no longer any sexual aberrations or abnormalities,” said Roman Catholic Calgary Bishop Fred Henry, commenting on C-392. He also suggested that all parliamentarians be required to take introductory courses in philosophy and ethics as one way to address “a real poverty of moral and critical thought in some circles.”
Three years ago, the Northwest Territories became the first – and so far the only – jurisdiction in Canada to prohibit discrimination against on the basis of “gender identity” as part of the territory’s new Human Rights Act.
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
Harper reopens same-sex marriage debate
Last Updated Wed, 30 Nov 2005 07:05:36 EST
CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canadavotes2006/national/2005/11/29/harper-smaesex051129.html
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper reopened the hot-button issue of same-sex unions on his first day on the federal election trail Tuesday, saying he would hold a free vote on changing the definition of marriage if he becomes prime minister.
[...]
He said if the House votes against changing the law to allow same-sex marriages, the matter would be settled.
Harper, who believes same-sex couples should be recognized through civil unions, promised to preserve the gay marriages already performed across Canada.
Some observers say the Tory stance against gay weddings cost the party crucial support in urban Ontario and among younger voters.
[More at URL]
----- 13 -----
Looking Forward…Five Ways That You Can Help Restore Marriage in Canada
Focus on the Family Canada
November 30, 2005
http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/family/highlight/Five_ways.htm
2005 has been a tumultuous year for the institution of marriage in Canada. In July, Bill C-38 (the Civil Marriage Act) was passed by Parliament and received Royal Assent - redefining marriage in Canadian law to include same-sex couples.
Is there anything that can still be done to restore marriage in Canada?
Yes, we can still make a positive contribution to restoring marriage!
1) Protect religious freedom in your province or territory
In Canada, our federal government has the power to determine who can marry. However, the provincial governments are responsible for matters dealing with the solemnization of marriage. Consequently, provincial governments are partially responsible for ensuring that religious freedom is protected for those who affirm the traditional definition of marriage.
[...]
2) Keep the debate going as the federal election approaches
An election has been promised for the end of 2005 or the beginning of 2006. A number of MPs have already promised to do what they can to restore traditional marriage in Canada.
TAKE ACTION: Our responsibility is to keep the debate going so that marriage is a central theme of discussion in the next election campaign.
Keep talking about the importance of marriage with family, co-workers, and friends. Your local newspapers and radio talk shows are powerful and relatively easy means to speak to your community.
Most of the debate has been adult-centered, concentrating on rights and losing sight of how the redefinition of marriage will impact our society, including our children. To better equip you to discuss the importance of marriage, Focus on the Family Canada has prepared a number of helpful resources:
* Is Marriage in Jeopardy? This resource is packed full with responses to common questions about changing the definition of marriage. The English version is available by clicking here. A French version is available by clicking here.
* Marriage and Homosexuality: a Christian Response. This booklet provides a comprehensive discussion from a Christian perspective. It is free and available online by clicking here.
* Reality Check: Marriage and Same-Sex Unions in Canada. This paper provides insightful answers to debunk some of the common myths surrounding the debate. It is available online here.
[Editor's Note: Quick glances at several of these indicate they are repurposing anti-gay American material.]
3) Get involved with a political party
With the election drawing closer, candidates from all parties will need public support to ensure their election campaigns are successful.
[More at URL]
----- 14 -----
And now, our Cultural Warfare Update Feature Presentation:
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Seriously. Clickie. You know you wanna.
Vatican newspaper, via Reuters: Gayfolk risk "destabilizing people and society," are against "the family," have "no social or moral value"; line is hardened against GBLT Catholics in general;
Catholic World News unofficial translation of a letter discussing the policy (this is not the newspaper article above) indicates that this is specifically not a don't-ask-behave-well-don't-tell kind of policy - hiding that you're queer is just as bad as being queer, the "objectively disordered" line is repeated; only "unjust discrimination" is invalid, many forms of discrimination therefore implicitly valid (and indeed, this document describes some); some responses to the translation on CWN are upset the document doesn't go further, asking, for example, for excommunication;
Focus on the Family: "happy holidays" is a sign of "anti-Christian bias";
ACLU defends homeowner's nativity scene against neighbourhood covenant barring "outdoor sculpture"; please remember cases like these when the fundamentalists go on another ACLU-is-Satan rant;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM: Not using Merry Christmas "IS PART OF AN ANTI-CHRISTIAN AGENDA" (their caps, not mine) - they want complaints sent to Target;
FotF complains you can catch a glimpse of a breast on The OC; includes an ACTION ITEM to file a slew of indecency complaints with the FCC, whether you saw it or not;
FotF coverage of Supreme Court hearings over New Hampshire's parental-notification abortion law; Planned Parenthood sued on the basis that there was no health exemption; Focus on the Family is generically against exemptions based on the health of the woman, describing them as "a tactic which effectively guts laws designed to restrict abortion";
Focus on the Family Canada reports on Edmonton Archbishop Thomas Collins assertion: Communion should be withheld from Catholic political leaders who do not follow the Church's line in their public voting;
FotF Canada rails against the transgendered;
Conservative leader Stephen Harper plans revote on Canadian marriage rights if he becomes PM to overturn Canada's marriage law; he claims to support civil unions;
Focus on the Family Canada's five steps to "restore marriage" in Canada - they want to make it the nr. 1 issue of the campaign;
A special Cultural Warfare Update Feature Presentation. You have to watch it. Seriously.
firni, do you know this woman?----- 1 -----
Gland Inquisitor
Pope Benedict's antigay tendencies.
By William Saletan
Slate
Posted Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2005, at 12:46 AM ET
http://www.slate.com/id/2131019/nav/tap1/
The Vatican's new policy on gay priests has been leaked. Officially, it proposes the incorrigibility of deeply rooted gay tendencies. Unofficially, it exposes the deeply rooted, incorrigible antigay tendencies of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, aka Pope Benedict XVI.
For decades, while moderate clerics defended celibate gay priests, Ratzinger pressed for a purge of homosexuality not merely as an act or a lifestyle but as an orientation. Now he's in charge, and he's got ambitions beyond the church. He wants to cleanse us all, inside and out.
To its credit, the Vatican has sought to incorporate modern psychology and biology in its discussions of homosexuality. The first document to do so was the Declaration on Certain Questions Concerning Sexual Ethics, issued in 1975 by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Declaration tentatively accepted that some people were "definitively" gay due to "some kind of innate instinct" for which they weren't "personally responsible." Nevertheless, it maintained that according to scripture, "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered." The solution was to separate the involuntary from the voluntary—the inclination from the acts—by helping homosexuals to "overcome" their "condition." Eight years later, the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education, acknowledging the role of "physiological or psychological factors" in homosexuality, drew the same conclusion.
But in 1986, the CDF changed its tune. In its Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, the CDF said liberals had twisted the meaning of the Declaration, applying "an overly benign interpretation … to the homosexual condition itself," as opposed to homosexual acts. The condition was the problem, said the Letter: When people "engage in homosexual activity, they confirm within themselves a disordered sexual inclination which is essentially self-indulgent."
[...]
----- 2 -----
Homosexuality destabilizes society: Vatican paper
Reuters
Tue Nov 29, 2005 10:38 AM ET
Long URL elided
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican newspaper said on Tuesday that homosexuality risked "destabilizing people and society", had no social or moral value and could never match the importance of the relationship between a man and a woman.
[...]
The article by Monsignor Tony Anatrella, a French Jesuit and psychologist, said homosexuality could not be considered an acceptable moral alternative to heterosexuality.
[...]
"It (homosexuality) does not represent a social value and even less so a moral virtue that could add to the civilization of sexuality," Anatrella said. "It could even be seen as a destabilizing reality for people and for society."
The Catholic Church, the article said, had a duty to reaffirm its position that homosexuality is "against conjugal life, the life of the family, and priestly life".
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
Vatican document on homosexuals and seminaries-- full text
Catholic World News
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=40891
Nov. 27 (CWNews.com) - The following is an unofficial translation by CWN of the full Vatican document.
Congregation for Catholic Education
Instruction concerning the criteria of vocational discernment regarding persons with homosexual tendencies, considering their admission to seminary and to Holy Orders
[...]
Concerning profoundly deep-rooted homosexual tendencies, that one discovers in a certain number of men and women, these are also objectively disordered and often constitute a trial, even for these men and women. These people must be received with respect and delicacy; one will avoid every mark of unjust discrimination with respect to them. These are called to realize the will of God in their lives and to unite to the Sacrifice of the Lord the difficulties that they may encounter.
[...]
It remains understood that the candidate himself has the first responsibility for his own formation. He must offer himself with faith to the discernment of the Church, the bishop who calls to Orders, the rector of the seminary, the spiritual director, and the other teachers of the seminary to whom the bishop or the superior general has entrusted the duty of forming future priests. It would be gravely dishonest if a candidate were to hide his own homosexuality to enter, notwithstanding everything, to Ordination. An attitude so inauthentic does not correspond to the spirit of truth, allegiance, and availability that must characterize the personality of he who believes to be called to serve Christ and His Church in the priestly ministry.
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
Substituting “Holiday” for “Christmas” Sign of Anti-Christian Bias
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
by Bill Wilson
November 30, 2005
Businesses that remove Christmas are starting to hear from their customers.
http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0038732.cfm
Increasingly, national retail chains are taking Christ out of Christmas. The most obvious example is the replacement of the word "Christmas” with "holiday." Removing the reason for the season seems to blend what Tim Wildmon of the American Family Association believes is misguided public relations with an undercurrent of anti-Christian bias.
“Once you start promoting Christian morality, Christian values, the claims that Christ, he is the Son of God and the only way to heaven, then, the secular left and those who sympathize with them take you on.”
[More at URL]
----- 5 -----
Nativity owners granted reprieve
Web-posted Nov 30, 2005
By JERRY WOLFFE
Of The Oakland Press
http://theoaklandpress.com/stories/113005/loc_2005113002.shtml
NOVI - After a massive show of support for a Novi family that was threatened with fines unless it removed a nativity scene, the subdivision's homeowners group late Tuesday retracted the notice sent concerning a lawn ornament display.
Frank and Betty Samona were threatened with up to a $100-a-week fine if they didn't remove statues of the baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph and other Christmas items. The Samonas planned to hire an attorney to challenge the order from the homeowner's association in the posh Tollgate Woods Subdivision, where homes are priced from the mid-$400,000s and up.
[...]
"The Board of Directors of the Tollgate Woods Subdivision has retracted the notice that was sent concerning a lawn ornament display in the subdivision," the statement said. "There was no intent in the notice to denigrate the holiday spirit as displayed by the residents of our community. The homeowner that filed the original complaint has also rescinded the complaint. We have sent a letter of retraction and apology to the Samona family."
[...]
Kramer-Triad had claimed the Samona family signed a homeowner's association agreement that included a section forbidding "outdoor art." It ordered the "nativity scene removed from your front yard." If not, the Samonas could have been fined up to $100 a week.
"We believe that homeowners should be able to express their religious or political views on their own property," said Wendy Wagenheim, the director of communications for the ACLU of Michigan. "If the homeowner's association went to court, it's questionable whether these regulations could be enforced."
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
CHRISTMAS BANNING IS PART OF AN ANTI-CHRISTIAN AGENDA
Pro-family leaders urge Christians to speak up and fight back.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
November 30, 2005
from staff reports
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038742.cfm
Some conservative groups are claiming the banning of the
word "Christmas" by retailers amounts to blatant
discrimination against Christians.
Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association,
makes the case that taking Christ out of Christmas is part
of larger agenda that has been taking place over the past
30 years.
"Once you start promoting Christian morality, Christian
values, the claims that Christ, He is the Son of God and
the only way to Heaven, then, the secular left and those
who sympathize with them take you on," he said.
Robert Morrison, senior policy advisor at the Family
Research Council, said some on the left simply want to rid
society of any mention of Jesus.
"That agenda is never sleeping. They're pursuing their
goals without any pause for holidays," he told Family News
in Focus. "This is a part of that agenda to drive
underground any expression of religious faith."
Morrison is urging Christians to smile and say "Merry
Christmas" in response to those who say "happy holidays."
"When they try to take away Christmas trees, Christmas
parades, and all that, stand up," he said. "Don't be
quiet. Don't sheepishly go along with that. Stand up. Say
'NO.' "
TAKE ACTION: One retailer that has been singled out for
banning Christmas from its in-store displays and
advertising is Target. You can send a note to the
company's CEO through the CitizenLink Action Center:
http://www.family.org/cforum/action_center.cfm
----- 7 -----
Wardrobe Malfunction on Fox Drama
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
November 30, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
You'd think after Janet Jackson's infamous 2004 Super Bowl
"wardrobe malfunction" that producers would be more
careful. Not so on the set of Fox's "The OC."
According to People magazine, in a scene involving
19-year-old actress Mischa Barton, "she popped out of bed
and briefly popped out of her pajama top."
Now, since it wasn't live, you'd think the film editors
would ask for a re-do or simply edit out the bare breast.
But they decided to push the envelope and let the slip
stay.
So far, "we have not received any complaints," said a
network spokesman.
TAKE ACTION: The FCC has a new easy-to-use online form for
indecency complaints.
http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cib/fcc475B.cfm
----- 8 -----
Activism Over Alito Heats Up
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
November 30, 2005
from staff reports
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038743.cfm
SUMMARY: Grass roots efforts on both sides are making
their voices heard.
The battle between liberals and conservatives over Supreme
Court nominee Samuel Alito has taken to the grass roots.
Liberals are organizing telephone calls to Senate
Democrats considered to be undecided, while conservatives
are countering with ad campaigns.
The fact that Senate hearings were delayed into January
has provided extra time for opponents of Alito to attempt
to generate momentum. Tom Fitton, president of Judicial
Watch, said it's time for conservatives to respond.
"Liberal activists are calling these senators to let their
views be known on the Alito nomination," he said.
"Conservatives really need to step it up and make the
calls."
Fitton told Family News in Focus that liberal Sen. Diane
Feinstein, D-Calif., has used calls to her office to
bolster opposition to Alito.
"She's received over 4,000 calls opposing Alito's
nomination and very few in favor of him," he said. "Now
that doesn't reflect the majority of the American people,
but it shows you how a committed activist group, a
committed minority, can affect a policy and a nomination."
Sean Rushton, executive director of the Committee for
Justice said his group is fighting back, especially in
conservative states with liberal Senators.
"We've been running ads in those states," he said. "Some
of our allies have been doing phone banking in those
states and letter-writing campaigns to put pressure on
some of those red state Democrats and to make them aware
that their constituents do not approve of them siding with
the far-left liberal interest groups."
----- 9 -----
Supreme Court Hears Two Key Abortion Cases
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
November 30, 2005
by Pete Winn, associate editor
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038758.cfm
SUMMARY: Justices to decide if New Hampshire law giving
parents the right to be told of their daughter's abortion
is unconstitutional.
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two major
abortion cases today -- the first to be heard in five
years, and the first since Chief Justice John Roberts
joined the court.
Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England
involves the legal blockade of a New Hampshire law which
makes minor girls wait 48 hours to obtain an abortion, and
then only after notice is given to at least one parent.
The law was challenged by Planned Parenthood because it
does not include the so-called "health exception," which
is generally interpreted broadly to include such things as
depression, a tactic which effectively guts laws designed
to restrict abortion.
New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly Ayotte argued that
the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was wrong to strike
down the entire law just because it had problems with the
lack of a health exception.
Today, Supreme Court justices intensely questioned both
Ayotte and Planned Parenthood Attorney Jennifer Dalven.
To Ayotte, justices wondered aloud why New Hampshire
lawmakers did not simply include a health exception --
something most other state parental-notification laws have
included since the high court's decision in Casey v.
Planned Parenthood.
She told justices that no health provision was needed
because under New Hampshire law, doctors are free to treat
anyone in imminent health danger. If doctors were
challenged, they could invoke something called the
"competing harms defense" -- meaning, they could defend
their actions by saying the danger to the pregnant girl
justified violating the law.
[...]
"That is why we passed this law, because a parent is the
best one to help that child with their medical care," she
said. "Let me ask you a question: If your teenager is in
an automobile accident, when they're rolled into the
emergency room, does the doctor say, 'Is their life in
imminent danger? If not, roll them over and leave them
until their parents are contacted.' Emergency care is
given to stabilize that child. Whether they are a male or
female, the same treatment under existing law for
emergency care in New Hampshire would continue."
Pro-family attorneys were somewhat disappointed with the
arguments. Focus on the Family Action Judicial Analyst
Bruce Hausknecht pointed out there was little discussion
of parents' rights.
"This is really a parental-rights case rather than an
abortion case," he said. "Focus on the Family filed an
amicus brief that emphasized this. It's disappointing this
was glossed over without a mention."
[...]
Clarke Forsythe, senior counsel of Americans United for
Life and legal counsel for the New Hampshire lawmakers who
drafted the parental notification law, was more
optimistic.
"The court, I believe, will uphold this statute," he said.
[More at URL]
----- 10 -----
Can Religion and Politics Coexist?
Focus on the Family Canada
October 12, 2005
http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/religiousFreedom/stories/101205.html
Roman Catholic bishops should as "a sad necessity" withhold Communion from political leaders who profess to be faithful Catholics but whose decisions violate the basic tents of their faith, says Edmonton Archbishop Thomas Collins.
"Politics is a sacred vocation. It's a life where we need people with a conscience," he told the Toronto Star.
Collins is currently in Rome along with 256 Roman Catholic bishops, cardinals and heads of religious orders from 118 countries to attend a three-week Synod - the first to be called by Pope Benedict XVI since he was elected in April to succeed John Paul II.
One of the issues being raised at the Synod is the linkage between a person's faith and the Church's place in society.
In a homily on the opening day of the Synod, Benedict stated, according to Reuters: "The type of tolerance which permits God as a private opinion but refuses to allow him in the public arena, is, in the reality of the world and our life, not tolerance but hypocrisy.
"There can be no justice where man makes himself the only master of the world and of himself."
[More at URL]
----- 11 -----
Demands for more "gender" rights
Focus on the Family Canada
November 16, 2005
http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/sexuality/stories/111605.html
New Democrat MP Bill Siksay is attempting to garner support for new human rights legislation that would ban discrimination against “gender identity” and “gender expression,” Canadian Catholic News reported last week.
Siksay’s proposal is contained in a private member’s bill (C-392) which he introduced last May. It would make it a crime to act in a prejudicial manner toward “transsexuals, transgendered people, intersexed people, and all those who do not identify within the confines of traditional gender.”
[...]
“Trans people are subject to discrimination, harassment and violence on a daily basis,” Siksay reportedly wrote in a letter to fellow members of Parliament in early October. “They are regularly denied things we all take for granted, such as access to health care, housing, the ability to obtain identification documents, access to gendered spaces such as bathrooms, and the ability to acquire and maintain gainful employment.”
[...]
“It would appear that to some there are no longer any sexual aberrations or abnormalities,” said Roman Catholic Calgary Bishop Fred Henry, commenting on C-392. He also suggested that all parliamentarians be required to take introductory courses in philosophy and ethics as one way to address “a real poverty of moral and critical thought in some circles.”
Three years ago, the Northwest Territories became the first – and so far the only – jurisdiction in Canada to prohibit discrimination against on the basis of “gender identity” as part of the territory’s new Human Rights Act.
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
Harper reopens same-sex marriage debate
Last Updated Wed, 30 Nov 2005 07:05:36 EST
CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canadavotes2006/national/2005/11/29/harper-smaesex051129.html
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper reopened the hot-button issue of same-sex unions on his first day on the federal election trail Tuesday, saying he would hold a free vote on changing the definition of marriage if he becomes prime minister.
[...]
He said if the House votes against changing the law to allow same-sex marriages, the matter would be settled.
Harper, who believes same-sex couples should be recognized through civil unions, promised to preserve the gay marriages already performed across Canada.
Some observers say the Tory stance against gay weddings cost the party crucial support in urban Ontario and among younger voters.
[More at URL]
----- 13 -----
Looking Forward…Five Ways That You Can Help Restore Marriage in Canada
Focus on the Family Canada
November 30, 2005
http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/family/highlight/Five_ways.htm
2005 has been a tumultuous year for the institution of marriage in Canada. In July, Bill C-38 (the Civil Marriage Act) was passed by Parliament and received Royal Assent - redefining marriage in Canadian law to include same-sex couples.
Is there anything that can still be done to restore marriage in Canada?
Yes, we can still make a positive contribution to restoring marriage!
1) Protect religious freedom in your province or territory
In Canada, our federal government has the power to determine who can marry. However, the provincial governments are responsible for matters dealing with the solemnization of marriage. Consequently, provincial governments are partially responsible for ensuring that religious freedom is protected for those who affirm the traditional definition of marriage.
[...]
2) Keep the debate going as the federal election approaches
An election has been promised for the end of 2005 or the beginning of 2006. A number of MPs have already promised to do what they can to restore traditional marriage in Canada.
TAKE ACTION: Our responsibility is to keep the debate going so that marriage is a central theme of discussion in the next election campaign.
Keep talking about the importance of marriage with family, co-workers, and friends. Your local newspapers and radio talk shows are powerful and relatively easy means to speak to your community.
Most of the debate has been adult-centered, concentrating on rights and losing sight of how the redefinition of marriage will impact our society, including our children. To better equip you to discuss the importance of marriage, Focus on the Family Canada has prepared a number of helpful resources:
* Is Marriage in Jeopardy? This resource is packed full with responses to common questions about changing the definition of marriage. The English version is available by clicking here. A French version is available by clicking here.
* Marriage and Homosexuality: a Christian Response. This booklet provides a comprehensive discussion from a Christian perspective. It is free and available online by clicking here.
* Reality Check: Marriage and Same-Sex Unions in Canada. This paper provides insightful answers to debunk some of the common myths surrounding the debate. It is available online here.
[Editor's Note: Quick glances at several of these indicate they are repurposing anti-gay American material.]
3) Get involved with a political party
With the election drawing closer, candidates from all parties will need public support to ensure their election campaigns are successful.
[More at URL]
----- 14 -----
And now, our Cultural Warfare Update Feature Presentation:
(Windows Media required)
Click Here.
Seriously. Clickie. You know you wanna.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-12-01 04:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-01 04:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-01 04:24 am (UTC)Slightly better version: http://65.36.225.227/images/trading-spouses-hi.wmv
She has her own bobblehead: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6225867209&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1
no subject
Date: 2005-12-01 04:56 am (UTC)a little later
Spazzkat: I wonder if she IS firni's mother-in-law
no subject
Date: 2005-12-01 07:27 am (UTC)Oh, and P's mom only uses the word "god" when she says "goddammit", so...
no subject
Date: 2005-12-23 05:40 pm (UTC)And, you know, her histrionic, self-centered display of violent emotion is pretty much exactly what the "Dark Side" is all about.
I just had a thought...
Date: 2005-12-01 02:51 pm (UTC)I did. It felt good.
no subject
Date: 2005-12-02 12:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-02 06:03 pm (UTC)