Today's Cultural Warfare Update
Dec. 15th, 2005 09:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdEntire "Silent Night" lyric-rewriting "secularisation" story promoted by Focus on the Family, Bill O'Reilly, and other "War on Christmas" flacks is a complete fraud;
"Texas school bans green and red clothing" "War on Christmas" story also a fraud;
New argument, coming out of Eagle Forum, on why creationism is necessary: Evolutionary theory destroys the Constitution. Yes, really;
Focus on the Family confirms the above Silent Night story, but celebrates the school changing the play;
Ford rebukes the American Family Association; AFA pissed off;
"Same-Sex Marriage Now -- Polygamy Next";
Krispie Kreme extends free doughnuts to Bible study - a more pointless national protest I cannot imagine;
Concerned Women for America wants Federal money for "Strengthening Marriage" programmes;
FotF sends out a second ad against Senator Salazar;
Iowa fight over marriage rights;
Concerned Women for America on recent obscenity, marriage rulings, and the Alito's nomination, all of which they're for;
Catholic Action League: Massachusetts Catholic hospitals should defy emergency contraception law;
Lifesite also proclaims polygamy is next, promotes South Dakota anti-marriage-rights amendment;
American Family Association ACTION ITEM against Wal-Mart for marketing to GBLT customers;
AFA relaunches boycott of Ford Motor over "violation of good faith agreement" to stop marketing to GBLT customers.
----- 1 -----
More "War on Christmas" fraud
ThinkProgess
December 14, 2005
http://thinkprogress.org/2005/12/14/silent-night-fraud/
On Friday, Bill O’Reilly took to the airwaves to share the latest “War on Christmas” outrage:
Ridgeway Elementary didn’t change the lyrics to “Silent Night.” What they did was perform a 1988 copyrighted play called “The Little Tree’s Christmas Gift.”
That play actually contains numerous songs about Christmas, including the grand finale, an audience-led group singing of “We Wish You A Merry Christmas.” The play’s creator, Dwight Elrich, happens to lead the New Covenant Singers of Bel Air Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles.
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
O'Reilly falsely claimed a Texas school district banned red and green clothing, called move "fascism"
MediaMatters
Tue, Dec 13, 2005 3:04pm EST
Summary: On both The Radio Factor and The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly falsely claimed a Texas school district "told students they couldn't wear red and green because they were Christmas colors." The school district has since released an official statement refuting O'Reilly's false contention.
On December 9, Bill O'Reilly falsely claimed on both Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor and the nationally syndicated The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly that the Plano Independent School District (Texas) "told students they couldn't wear red and green because they were Christmas colors." He labeled the alleged ban "fascism." On December 12, the school district released an official statement by Superintendent of Schools Dr. Doug Otto refuting O'Reilly's contention:
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
"On Men and Monkeys: The Oldest Fight in the Culture War, II."
VOL. 7, NO. 14
Dec. 13, 2005
Eagle Forum
Court Watch
http://www.eagleforum.org/court_watch/alerts/2005/dec05/12-13-05.html
Today we continue discussing the oldest fight in the Culture War — evolutionism's attack on creationism. After the Scopes Trial, there was a long period of judicial inactivity on the creation-evolution battlefront, but the war continued to rage elsewhere as the Culture War spread across our land.
The judicial battle broke out again in 1968 in the case of Epperson v. Arkansas. This case involved an Arkansas law prohibiting the state's public schools and universities from teaching that man evolved from non-human species.
[...]
Evolutionists claim that their battle against creation-science is primarily a "scientific" issue, not a constitutional question. But our treasured U. S. Constitution is written by persons and for persons. If man is an animal, the Constitution was written by animals and for animals. This preposterous conclusion destroys the Constitution. The... Humanists leave us with no Constitution and no constitutional rights of any kind if they allow us to teach only that man is an animal.
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
School Won't Leave Out Christmas
SUMMARY: Wisconsin students will sing the original "Silent Night."
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
December 15, 2005
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038949.cfm
Ridgeway Elementary in Ridgeway, Wis., was harshly
criticized for planning to use a rewrite of "Silent Night"
titled "Cold in the Night" in a musical drama, but
administrators have agreed to eliminate the song in
question and sing the original lyrics.
The brouhaha began when some concerned parents contacted
Liberty Counsel, a religious liberty law firm, which
called attention to the school. The group sent a letter to
the administration demanding a change. After receiving an
avalanche of phone calls and e-mail, district
administrators changed that section of the drama.
According to Diane Messer, the district administrator, the
18-year-old play, "The Little Tree's Christmas Gift," had
been performed several times in the past.
"It was selected because it has been one that our parents
and students have enjoyed over the years -- always without
incident," Messer said.
Messer said that while the school still plans to present
the play, it will reflect the change.
[...]
Mathew Staver, president and general counsel of Liberty
Counsel, countered that while the school may not have
expressly done a rewrite, it did select the program with
the altered lyrics.
[More at URL]
----- 5 -----
Ford Flip-Flops on Gay Advertising
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
December 15, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
Just one week after Ford Motor Co. said it wouldn't run
ads in gay publications, leading the American Family
Association (AFA) to call off a proposed boycott, the
carmaker announced Wednesday it will run ads in homosexual
publications after all, MSNBC.com reported.
"It is my hope that this will remove any ambiguity about
Ford's desire to advertise to all important audiences and
put this particular issue to rest," said Joe Laymon,
Ford's group vice president for corporate human resources.
"Content will be appropriate and effective in connecting
with the intended audience."
Gay leaders met with officials at Ford Monday and asked
them to distance the company from AFA.
Joe Solmonese, president of the homosexual activist group
the Human Rights Campaign, was pleased with Ford's
decision to aim ads at gays.
"Fairness and equality wins out in corporate America," he
said.
The reversal led the AFA to put the idea of a boycott back
in play.
"All we wanted was for Ford to refrain from choosing sides
in the cultural war, and supporting groups which promote
same-sex marriage is not remaining neutral," Chairman
Donald Wildmon said.
----- 6 -----
SAME-SEX MARRIAGE NOW – POLYGAMY NEXT
Judges and lawmakers point at what's down the road.
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
December 14, 2005
from staff reports
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038926.cfm
There are increasing signs that court decisions legalizing
same-sex marriage could pave the way for polygamy –
something pro-family groups have long warned about.
Earlier this year, judges on a New Jersey appellate court
expressed concerns about same-sex marriage leading to the
legalization of polygamy.
In a 2-1 decision rejecting same-sex marriage in Lewis v.
Harris, Judges Stephen Skillman and Anthony J. Parrillo
wrote: "The same form of constitutional attack that
plaintiffs mount against statutes limiting the institution
of marriage to members of the opposite sex also could be
made against statutes prohibiting polygamy."
The concern is real enough that South Dakota lawmakers
this year proposed a constitutional marriage amendment
that specifically outlaws the union of "two or more"
persons.
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
Krispy Kreme Promises Doughnut for an 'A' in Bible
Focus on the Family
Editor's Note
December 13th, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
Krispy Kreme will be notifying all of its stores that a
top grade in a Bible class should be awarded a free
doughnut like any other subject.
On Monday, the story of an Indiana family whose children
were denied free doughnuts for an "A" in Bible was shared
on Dr. James Dobson's Focus on the Family broadcast and in
the CitizenLink Daily Update. Our readers sent more than
1,150 e-mails to the company in response.
Our calls to the doughnut-makers' headquarters were not
returned Monday, but today, Missy Herman, a spokeswoman
for Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc., said the company "did
want to respond to the unfortunate incident in Indiana."
"Our company policy is to offer a free original glazed
doughnut regardless of in which class the student receives
this grade," she said. "We regret that a student was
denied a doughnut in Indiana and apologize for any
inconveniences that it may have caused. All of our stores
will certainly be made aware of this incident and be
reminded of the company's policy with the Good Grades
Program."
Thank you, Krispy Kreme. Kids, time for doughnuts!
----- 8 -----
PRO-FAMILY GROUPS BACK MARRIAGE-STRENGTHENING INITIATIVE
Plan calls for welfare savings to go toward marriage programs.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
December 13th, 2005
from staff reports
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038911.cfm
SUMMARY: Plan calls for welfare savings to go toward
marriage programs.
The president's healthy marriage initiative gained support
this week from Concerned Women for America (CWA) and the
Fatherhood and Marriage Leadership Institute. The groups
are calling for welfare funds to be moved into
marriage-strengthening programs.
Janice Crouse, a senior fellow with CWA, said welfare
reform worked and she has an idea of what to do with the
savings.
"Welfare roles are down 60 percent so we have all this
money left over that has been designated for welfare
payments," she said. "One of the things that we would like
to do with that money is bring it over and strengthen
marriage."
[More at URL]
----- 9 -----
Focus Action Launches Second Salazar Ad
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
December 13, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
The political action arm of Focus on the Family has
stepped up its campaign to alert Colorado voters to the
inconsistencies in the record of U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar.
In an ad appearing today in Denver and Colorado Springs
newspapers, Focus on the Family Action labels the freshman
Democrat the "King of the Flip-Flop" for switching
positions on hiring quotas and failing to keep a campaign
promise to oppose his party's filibusters of qualified
judicial nominees.
The new ad comes one week after one that spotlighted
Salazar's politically motivated attacks on Supreme Court
nominee Samuel Alito.
"As Coloradans ourselves, we have a vested interested in
making sure the truth is known about Sen. Salazar's
positions on the issues," said Gary Schneeberger, Focus
Action's director of media and constituent communications.
"He has dismissed Judge Alito as unfit for the Supreme
Court -- before he's had a fair hearing and even though
he's the most experienced nominee since FDR was in the
White House."
Salazar's attacks, Schneeberger added, aren't based on the
judge's record -- but on the talking points generated by
the most liberal voices the Senate.
"Sen. Salazar is doing the dirty work of those on the far
left with these criticisms," he said. "That's not what he
was elected to do. He was elected to represent the
interests of Coloradans -- and those interests are best
served by Judge Alito getting the fair hearing and
up-or-down vote he is entitled to under the Constitution."
FOR MORE INFORMATION/TAKE ACTION: To see the ads
referenced in this story, visit the Focus on the Family
Action Web site.
http://www.focusaction.org/activities/a0000123.cfm
Also, if you live in Colorado, please take a moment to
contact U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar and urge him to give Judge
Samuel Alito the fair hearing he is entitled to under the
Constitution. For contact information, including an
easy-to-use e-mail form, visit the CitizenLink Action
Center.
http://www3.capwiz.com/fof/bio/?id=31624
----- 10 -----
Iowa Becomes the Latest Marriage Battleground
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
December 13, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
Six homosexual couples filed suit in Iowa today demanding
that marriage be redefined to include them.
According to The Associated Press, Lambda Legal, which is
representing the 12, called for full recognition of the
civil rights of gay couples.
Camilla Taylor, a staff attorney for the group, said
homosexuals in the state shouldn't have to wait any
longer.
"There are thousands of couples in Iowa who are eager for
the protections and security that come with marriage," she
said.
The group will argue that the state constitution’s equal
protection and due process clauses make it unlawful for
the state to bar same-sex couples from marrying.
Chuck Hurley, president of the Iowa Family Policy Center,
called the suit an attempt to circumvent the will of the
people.
"Rather than trusting Iowans to decide this critical
social issue, Lambda Legal hopes to force Iowans to accept
same-sex marriage through the courts," he said. "The
people of Iowa should decide this issue, not a handful of
unelected judges."
It is the fifth such suit Lambda Legal has filed around
the country, but the first in the heartland. The others
are in New York, New Jersey, California and Washington
State.
----- 11 -----
Good News on the Legal Front
Concerned Women for America
12/14/2005
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/9709/LEGAL/misc/index.htm
There has been a huge victory against obscenity, a strong ruling in favor of traditional marriage, and a pro-Alito confirmation effort in the news. Jan LaRue, CWA’s Chief Counsel, has more on these victories.
Click to listen:
3rd U.S. Circuit of Appeals on Obscenity
New York State Appeals Court on Traditional Marriage
Alito Supporters Rally Together to Counter Anti-Alito Forces
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
Massachusetts Pro-Life Group: Catholic Hospitals Should Defy MAP Law
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
December 14, 2005
Boston, MA (LifeNews.com) -- A Catholic pro-life group in Massachusetts is urging Catholic hospitals in the state to resist complying with a new law that forces all medical facilities to provide the morning after pill to victims of rape who ask for it. The drug sometimes causes an abortion and Catholic hospitals are trying to figure out what to do.
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts says the state's Catholic hospitals should defy the law, which takes effect today.
The hospitals could consider taking the law to court, but Catholic Action League executive director C.J. Doyle tells the Associated Press compliance would violate the pro-life teachings of the church.
"The appropriate response for Catholic hospitals is noncompliance," Doyle said. "Otherwise, they would be compromising their religious integrity and Catholic identity."
A representative of Caritas Christi, a group of six Catholic hospitals that are the second largest health care provider in the state, confirmed to AP that it intends to go ahead with a new policy it announced earlier in the week.
That policy would have the hospitals first perform a pregnancy test and to only give the Plan B drugs to women who test negative for a pregnancy.
[More at URL]
----- 13 -----
Polygamy Next "Right" on Judicial Chopping Block Warn Pro-Family Advocates
By Terry Vanderheyden
Lifesite
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/dec/05121305.html
WASHINGTON, December 13, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Pro-family analysts are warning that, since the legalization of same-sex "marriage" in Canada and Massachusetts, polygamy is likely the next frontier in the advancing disintegration of the Judeo-Christian edifice.
South Dakota State Rep. Elizabeth Kraus, who proposed a constitutional amendment that would explicitly ban not only same-sex "marriage" but also polygamy, warned: "Once you open the marriage door to anyone other than one man or one woman, you haven't begun to slide down the slippery slope. You've already hit rock bottom."
Kraus's proposed amendment reads, "Only marriage between a man and a woman shall be valid or recognized in South Dakota. The uniting of two or more persons in a civil union, domestic partnership, or other quasi-marital relationship shall not be valid or recognized in South Dakota." The proposed amendment will appear on a ballot in South Dakota's general election in November of 2006, as the proposition was already confirmed by both the House and Senate there earlier this year.
[More at URL]
----- 14 -----
Wal-Mart Preparing to Offer Another Carrot to GLBT Community
By Fred Jackson and Jody Brown
December 15, 2005
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/12/afa/152005b.asp
(AgapePress) - The American Family Association (AFA) is expressing disappointment and concern over a pro-homosexual seminar being held on Friday at Wal-Mart's headquarters in Arkansas.
AFA spokesman Randy Sharp says his organization has obtained a copy of a Wal-Mart staff memo inviting home office associates to a seminar on December 16 entitled "Why Market to Gay America?" The memo, dated December 8, notes that America's homosexual community has $610 billion in purchasing power, and that the seminar -- sponsored by Wal-Mart's Office of Diversity -- will "provide insight into the purchasing decisions of GLBT [gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender] customers."
Sharp says Wal-Mart has long been seen as a shopping place that supports family values. But now, he says, that image is in question.
"Basically what they're doing is they're giving their stamp of approval on homosexuality, recognizing it as a facet in America that deserves their support and their encouragement," he says. "And they want their business."
Sharp is calling on family advocates to contact Wal-Mart headquarters at 1-800-WALMART and make their concerns known about Friday's pro-homosexual seminar.
[More at URL]
----- 15 -----
AFA considering boycott of Ford Motor Company
American Family Association Press Release
For Immediate Release: 12/15/2005
http://media.afa.net/newdesign/ReleaseDetail.asp?id=3336
(Tupelo, MS) - The American Family Association says that Ford Motor Company reneged on some agreements reached in discussions with the automobile giant, and the organization is considering its next move.
“We had an agreement with Ford, worked out in good faith. Unfortunately, some Ford Motor Company officials made the decision to violate the good faith agreement. We are now considering our response to the violation and expect to reach a decision very soon,” said Donald E. Wildmon, chairman of AFA.
AFA had called for a boycott of Ford last spring because of Ford’s support for the homosexual agenda and homosexual marriage but suspended the boycott for six months at the request of a group of Ford dealers. Wildmon said AFA and Ford officials hammered out an agreement in the interim that was accepted by both parties.
“All we wanted was for Ford to refrain from choosing sides in the cultural war, and supporting groups which promote same-sex marriage is not remaining neutral,” Wildmon stated.
He stated that because Ford broke the agreement, the option of a boycott is now very much alive.
No additional comments regarding Ford will be made at this time.
"Texas school bans green and red clothing" "War on Christmas" story also a fraud;
New argument, coming out of Eagle Forum, on why creationism is necessary: Evolutionary theory destroys the Constitution. Yes, really;
Focus on the Family confirms the above Silent Night story, but celebrates the school changing the play;
Ford rebukes the American Family Association; AFA pissed off;
"Same-Sex Marriage Now -- Polygamy Next";
Krispie Kreme extends free doughnuts to Bible study - a more pointless national protest I cannot imagine;
Concerned Women for America wants Federal money for "Strengthening Marriage" programmes;
FotF sends out a second ad against Senator Salazar;
Iowa fight over marriage rights;
Concerned Women for America on recent obscenity, marriage rulings, and the Alito's nomination, all of which they're for;
Catholic Action League: Massachusetts Catholic hospitals should defy emergency contraception law;
Lifesite also proclaims polygamy is next, promotes South Dakota anti-marriage-rights amendment;
American Family Association ACTION ITEM against Wal-Mart for marketing to GBLT customers;
AFA relaunches boycott of Ford Motor over "violation of good faith agreement" to stop marketing to GBLT customers.
----- 1 -----
More "War on Christmas" fraud
ThinkProgess
December 14, 2005
http://thinkprogress.org/2005/12/14/silent-night-fraud/
On Friday, Bill O’Reilly took to the airwaves to share the latest “War on Christmas” outrage:
In Dodgeville, Wisconsin, the Ridgewood Elementary School has changed the song Silent Night to Cold in the Night and forced the kids to sing the lyrics, “Cold in the night, No one in sight, Winter winds whirl and bite,” to the tune of the original Silent Night.O’Reilly was by no means the only conservative to repeat this story. During a Dec. 10 appearance on Fox News, Mathew Staver of the Liberty Counsel said the presentation at Ridgewood Elementary had “no balance here. They have no Christian Christmas carols.” He even threatened to sue the school:
People are outraged. We sent a demand letter asking them to immediately change the song and allow the actual lyrics of “Silent Night,” and if they do not, if they insist on this ridiculous course of action, we’ll file a federal lawsuit.As it turns out, the entire story is a fraud.
Ridgeway Elementary didn’t change the lyrics to “Silent Night.” What they did was perform a 1988 copyrighted play called “The Little Tree’s Christmas Gift.”
That play actually contains numerous songs about Christmas, including the grand finale, an audience-led group singing of “We Wish You A Merry Christmas.” The play’s creator, Dwight Elrich, happens to lead the New Covenant Singers of Bel Air Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles.
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
O'Reilly falsely claimed a Texas school district banned red and green clothing, called move "fascism"
MediaMatters
Tue, Dec 13, 2005 3:04pm EST
Summary: On both The Radio Factor and The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly falsely claimed a Texas school district "told students they couldn't wear red and green because they were Christmas colors." The school district has since released an official statement refuting O'Reilly's false contention.
On December 9, Bill O'Reilly falsely claimed on both Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor and the nationally syndicated The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly that the Plano Independent School District (Texas) "told students they couldn't wear red and green because they were Christmas colors." He labeled the alleged ban "fascism." On December 12, the school district released an official statement by Superintendent of Schools Dr. Doug Otto refuting O'Reilly's contention:
"The school district does not restrict students or staff from wearing certain color clothes during holiday times or any other school days," noted Dr. Otto, who said that the school district's attorney has requested that Mr. O'Reilly retract the statement.[Ed. Note: the school was involved in a lawsuit last year over student distribution of religious materials. The school had rescinded the policy by the time the lawsuit was filed, though apparently, the Liberty Legal Institute lawsuit is still ongoing - they rejected a settlement offer back in April.]
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
"On Men and Monkeys: The Oldest Fight in the Culture War, II."
VOL. 7, NO. 14
Dec. 13, 2005
Eagle Forum
Court Watch
http://www.eagleforum.org/court_watch/alerts/2005/dec05/12-13-05.html
Today we continue discussing the oldest fight in the Culture War — evolutionism's attack on creationism. After the Scopes Trial, there was a long period of judicial inactivity on the creation-evolution battlefront, but the war continued to rage elsewhere as the Culture War spread across our land.
The judicial battle broke out again in 1968 in the case of Epperson v. Arkansas. This case involved an Arkansas law prohibiting the state's public schools and universities from teaching that man evolved from non-human species.
[...]
Evolutionists claim that their battle against creation-science is primarily a "scientific" issue, not a constitutional question. But our treasured U. S. Constitution is written by persons and for persons. If man is an animal, the Constitution was written by animals and for animals. This preposterous conclusion destroys the Constitution. The... Humanists leave us with no Constitution and no constitutional rights of any kind if they allow us to teach only that man is an animal.
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
School Won't Leave Out Christmas
SUMMARY: Wisconsin students will sing the original "Silent Night."
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
December 15, 2005
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038949.cfm
Ridgeway Elementary in Ridgeway, Wis., was harshly
criticized for planning to use a rewrite of "Silent Night"
titled "Cold in the Night" in a musical drama, but
administrators have agreed to eliminate the song in
question and sing the original lyrics.
The brouhaha began when some concerned parents contacted
Liberty Counsel, a religious liberty law firm, which
called attention to the school. The group sent a letter to
the administration demanding a change. After receiving an
avalanche of phone calls and e-mail, district
administrators changed that section of the drama.
According to Diane Messer, the district administrator, the
18-year-old play, "The Little Tree's Christmas Gift," had
been performed several times in the past.
"It was selected because it has been one that our parents
and students have enjoyed over the years -- always without
incident," Messer said.
Messer said that while the school still plans to present
the play, it will reflect the change.
[...]
Mathew Staver, president and general counsel of Liberty
Counsel, countered that while the school may not have
expressly done a rewrite, it did select the program with
the altered lyrics.
[More at URL]
----- 5 -----
Ford Flip-Flops on Gay Advertising
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
December 15, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
Just one week after Ford Motor Co. said it wouldn't run
ads in gay publications, leading the American Family
Association (AFA) to call off a proposed boycott, the
carmaker announced Wednesday it will run ads in homosexual
publications after all, MSNBC.com reported.
"It is my hope that this will remove any ambiguity about
Ford's desire to advertise to all important audiences and
put this particular issue to rest," said Joe Laymon,
Ford's group vice president for corporate human resources.
"Content will be appropriate and effective in connecting
with the intended audience."
Gay leaders met with officials at Ford Monday and asked
them to distance the company from AFA.
Joe Solmonese, president of the homosexual activist group
the Human Rights Campaign, was pleased with Ford's
decision to aim ads at gays.
"Fairness and equality wins out in corporate America," he
said.
The reversal led the AFA to put the idea of a boycott back
in play.
"All we wanted was for Ford to refrain from choosing sides
in the cultural war, and supporting groups which promote
same-sex marriage is not remaining neutral," Chairman
Donald Wildmon said.
----- 6 -----
SAME-SEX MARRIAGE NOW – POLYGAMY NEXT
Judges and lawmakers point at what's down the road.
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
December 14, 2005
from staff reports
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038926.cfm
There are increasing signs that court decisions legalizing
same-sex marriage could pave the way for polygamy –
something pro-family groups have long warned about.
Earlier this year, judges on a New Jersey appellate court
expressed concerns about same-sex marriage leading to the
legalization of polygamy.
In a 2-1 decision rejecting same-sex marriage in Lewis v.
Harris, Judges Stephen Skillman and Anthony J. Parrillo
wrote: "The same form of constitutional attack that
plaintiffs mount against statutes limiting the institution
of marriage to members of the opposite sex also could be
made against statutes prohibiting polygamy."
The concern is real enough that South Dakota lawmakers
this year proposed a constitutional marriage amendment
that specifically outlaws the union of "two or more"
persons.
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
Krispy Kreme Promises Doughnut for an 'A' in Bible
Focus on the Family
Editor's Note
December 13th, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
Krispy Kreme will be notifying all of its stores that a
top grade in a Bible class should be awarded a free
doughnut like any other subject.
On Monday, the story of an Indiana family whose children
were denied free doughnuts for an "A" in Bible was shared
on Dr. James Dobson's Focus on the Family broadcast and in
the CitizenLink Daily Update. Our readers sent more than
1,150 e-mails to the company in response.
Our calls to the doughnut-makers' headquarters were not
returned Monday, but today, Missy Herman, a spokeswoman
for Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc., said the company "did
want to respond to the unfortunate incident in Indiana."
"Our company policy is to offer a free original glazed
doughnut regardless of in which class the student receives
this grade," she said. "We regret that a student was
denied a doughnut in Indiana and apologize for any
inconveniences that it may have caused. All of our stores
will certainly be made aware of this incident and be
reminded of the company's policy with the Good Grades
Program."
Thank you, Krispy Kreme. Kids, time for doughnuts!
----- 8 -----
PRO-FAMILY GROUPS BACK MARRIAGE-STRENGTHENING INITIATIVE
Plan calls for welfare savings to go toward marriage programs.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
December 13th, 2005
from staff reports
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038911.cfm
SUMMARY: Plan calls for welfare savings to go toward
marriage programs.
The president's healthy marriage initiative gained support
this week from Concerned Women for America (CWA) and the
Fatherhood and Marriage Leadership Institute. The groups
are calling for welfare funds to be moved into
marriage-strengthening programs.
Janice Crouse, a senior fellow with CWA, said welfare
reform worked and she has an idea of what to do with the
savings.
"Welfare roles are down 60 percent so we have all this
money left over that has been designated for welfare
payments," she said. "One of the things that we would like
to do with that money is bring it over and strengthen
marriage."
[More at URL]
----- 9 -----
Focus Action Launches Second Salazar Ad
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
December 13, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
The political action arm of Focus on the Family has
stepped up its campaign to alert Colorado voters to the
inconsistencies in the record of U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar.
In an ad appearing today in Denver and Colorado Springs
newspapers, Focus on the Family Action labels the freshman
Democrat the "King of the Flip-Flop" for switching
positions on hiring quotas and failing to keep a campaign
promise to oppose his party's filibusters of qualified
judicial nominees.
The new ad comes one week after one that spotlighted
Salazar's politically motivated attacks on Supreme Court
nominee Samuel Alito.
"As Coloradans ourselves, we have a vested interested in
making sure the truth is known about Sen. Salazar's
positions on the issues," said Gary Schneeberger, Focus
Action's director of media and constituent communications.
"He has dismissed Judge Alito as unfit for the Supreme
Court -- before he's had a fair hearing and even though
he's the most experienced nominee since FDR was in the
White House."
Salazar's attacks, Schneeberger added, aren't based on the
judge's record -- but on the talking points generated by
the most liberal voices the Senate.
"Sen. Salazar is doing the dirty work of those on the far
left with these criticisms," he said. "That's not what he
was elected to do. He was elected to represent the
interests of Coloradans -- and those interests are best
served by Judge Alito getting the fair hearing and
up-or-down vote he is entitled to under the Constitution."
FOR MORE INFORMATION/TAKE ACTION: To see the ads
referenced in this story, visit the Focus on the Family
Action Web site.
http://www.focusaction.org/activities/a0000123.cfm
Also, if you live in Colorado, please take a moment to
contact U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar and urge him to give Judge
Samuel Alito the fair hearing he is entitled to under the
Constitution. For contact information, including an
easy-to-use e-mail form, visit the CitizenLink Action
Center.
http://www3.capwiz.com/fof/bio/?id=31624
----- 10 -----
Iowa Becomes the Latest Marriage Battleground
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
December 13, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
Six homosexual couples filed suit in Iowa today demanding
that marriage be redefined to include them.
According to The Associated Press, Lambda Legal, which is
representing the 12, called for full recognition of the
civil rights of gay couples.
Camilla Taylor, a staff attorney for the group, said
homosexuals in the state shouldn't have to wait any
longer.
"There are thousands of couples in Iowa who are eager for
the protections and security that come with marriage," she
said.
The group will argue that the state constitution’s equal
protection and due process clauses make it unlawful for
the state to bar same-sex couples from marrying.
Chuck Hurley, president of the Iowa Family Policy Center,
called the suit an attempt to circumvent the will of the
people.
"Rather than trusting Iowans to decide this critical
social issue, Lambda Legal hopes to force Iowans to accept
same-sex marriage through the courts," he said. "The
people of Iowa should decide this issue, not a handful of
unelected judges."
It is the fifth such suit Lambda Legal has filed around
the country, but the first in the heartland. The others
are in New York, New Jersey, California and Washington
State.
----- 11 -----
Good News on the Legal Front
Concerned Women for America
12/14/2005
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/9709/LEGAL/misc/index.htm
There has been a huge victory against obscenity, a strong ruling in favor of traditional marriage, and a pro-Alito confirmation effort in the news. Jan LaRue, CWA’s Chief Counsel, has more on these victories.
Click to listen:
3rd U.S. Circuit of Appeals on Obscenity
New York State Appeals Court on Traditional Marriage
Alito Supporters Rally Together to Counter Anti-Alito Forces
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
Massachusetts Pro-Life Group: Catholic Hospitals Should Defy MAP Law
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
December 14, 2005
Boston, MA (LifeNews.com) -- A Catholic pro-life group in Massachusetts is urging Catholic hospitals in the state to resist complying with a new law that forces all medical facilities to provide the morning after pill to victims of rape who ask for it. The drug sometimes causes an abortion and Catholic hospitals are trying to figure out what to do.
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts says the state's Catholic hospitals should defy the law, which takes effect today.
The hospitals could consider taking the law to court, but Catholic Action League executive director C.J. Doyle tells the Associated Press compliance would violate the pro-life teachings of the church.
"The appropriate response for Catholic hospitals is noncompliance," Doyle said. "Otherwise, they would be compromising their religious integrity and Catholic identity."
A representative of Caritas Christi, a group of six Catholic hospitals that are the second largest health care provider in the state, confirmed to AP that it intends to go ahead with a new policy it announced earlier in the week.
That policy would have the hospitals first perform a pregnancy test and to only give the Plan B drugs to women who test negative for a pregnancy.
[More at URL]
----- 13 -----
Polygamy Next "Right" on Judicial Chopping Block Warn Pro-Family Advocates
By Terry Vanderheyden
Lifesite
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/dec/05121305.html
WASHINGTON, December 13, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Pro-family analysts are warning that, since the legalization of same-sex "marriage" in Canada and Massachusetts, polygamy is likely the next frontier in the advancing disintegration of the Judeo-Christian edifice.
South Dakota State Rep. Elizabeth Kraus, who proposed a constitutional amendment that would explicitly ban not only same-sex "marriage" but also polygamy, warned: "Once you open the marriage door to anyone other than one man or one woman, you haven't begun to slide down the slippery slope. You've already hit rock bottom."
Kraus's proposed amendment reads, "Only marriage between a man and a woman shall be valid or recognized in South Dakota. The uniting of two or more persons in a civil union, domestic partnership, or other quasi-marital relationship shall not be valid or recognized in South Dakota." The proposed amendment will appear on a ballot in South Dakota's general election in November of 2006, as the proposition was already confirmed by both the House and Senate there earlier this year.
[More at URL]
----- 14 -----
Wal-Mart Preparing to Offer Another Carrot to GLBT Community
By Fred Jackson and Jody Brown
December 15, 2005
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/12/afa/152005b.asp
(AgapePress) - The American Family Association (AFA) is expressing disappointment and concern over a pro-homosexual seminar being held on Friday at Wal-Mart's headquarters in Arkansas.
AFA spokesman Randy Sharp says his organization has obtained a copy of a Wal-Mart staff memo inviting home office associates to a seminar on December 16 entitled "Why Market to Gay America?" The memo, dated December 8, notes that America's homosexual community has $610 billion in purchasing power, and that the seminar -- sponsored by Wal-Mart's Office of Diversity -- will "provide insight into the purchasing decisions of GLBT [gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender] customers."
Sharp says Wal-Mart has long been seen as a shopping place that supports family values. But now, he says, that image is in question.
"Basically what they're doing is they're giving their stamp of approval on homosexuality, recognizing it as a facet in America that deserves their support and their encouragement," he says. "And they want their business."
Sharp is calling on family advocates to contact Wal-Mart headquarters at 1-800-WALMART and make their concerns known about Friday's pro-homosexual seminar.
[More at URL]
----- 15 -----
AFA considering boycott of Ford Motor Company
American Family Association Press Release
For Immediate Release: 12/15/2005
http://media.afa.net/newdesign/ReleaseDetail.asp?id=3336
(Tupelo, MS) - The American Family Association says that Ford Motor Company reneged on some agreements reached in discussions with the automobile giant, and the organization is considering its next move.
“We had an agreement with Ford, worked out in good faith. Unfortunately, some Ford Motor Company officials made the decision to violate the good faith agreement. We are now considering our response to the violation and expect to reach a decision very soon,” said Donald E. Wildmon, chairman of AFA.
AFA had called for a boycott of Ford last spring because of Ford’s support for the homosexual agenda and homosexual marriage but suspended the boycott for six months at the request of a group of Ford dealers. Wildmon said AFA and Ford officials hammered out an agreement in the interim that was accepted by both parties.
“All we wanted was for Ford to refrain from choosing sides in the cultural war, and supporting groups which promote same-sex marriage is not remaining neutral,” Wildmon stated.
He stated that because Ford broke the agreement, the option of a boycott is now very much alive.
No additional comments regarding Ford will be made at this time.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-12-16 07:50 pm (UTC)As far as the so-called War on Christmas goes, the one-two punch of The Daily Show and the Colbert Report has been pure genius the last couple of weeks.
no subject
Date: 2005-12-17 06:53 am (UTC)Two or more persons.... wouldn't that include the afore mentioned man and woman?