Today's Cultural Warfare Update
Jan. 6th, 2006 01:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdTrinity Broadcasting Network is going to be showing Justice Sunday III, but on delay, starting at 10PM Pacific. The Family Research Council is going to webcast the thing live, and there'll be audio broadcasts on fundamentalist radio stations; given the tightness of the schedule - it goes over the air just a day before the hearings start - I might listen in to the live airing rather than just waiting for the transcribable showing my TiVo will grab.
This'll be fun like dental work is fun. Dental work without anesthetic.
And now, today's news:
Indiana lawmaker Troy Woodruff has drafted and filed a bill to make abortion a Class C felony specifically to challenge Roe v. Wade under the new Supreme Court makeup;
Planned Parenthood action item on Indiana H.B. 1096, the abovementioned bill;
Fundamentalist evangelicals snuck into the hearing room where the Alito confirmation process will start and blessed the chair he'll be sitting on, along with several others, saying "God... is interested" in the hearings (but it's not really about religion, it's about "judicial philosophy");
Focus on the Family's viewer's guide to the Alito hearings - includes ACTION ITEM to call Senators to support his confirmation;
Jerry Falwell, who blamed gay and lesbian people and the ACLU for the September 11th attacks, to address Justice Sunday on "religious freedom" issues; also endorses nominee Alito; includes ACTION ITEM to get involved in Justice Sunday;
Focus on the Family article on so-called "partial birth" abortion ban;
Florida billboard company declines anti-abortion billboard as too controversial; church threatens to sue; the previous board up, also by them, was also anti-abortion-rights, but was accepted; I don't know why they're changing it;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM to thank Troy Woodruff for introducing bill to make abortion a felony in Indiana;
Two Cherokee Nation lesbians married during a brief window of legal same-sex marriage under tribal law in Oklahoma; the local tribal council sued in Cherokee court to get it voided, even though it was legal; Judicial Appeals Tribunal (their Supreme Court) refused, and allowed the marriage to stand;
Concerned Women for America's Mark Landsbaum - are there any women working for CWFA's Culture and Family Institute? - takes TownHall.com columist to task for not being hard enough on Brokeback Mountain, calls same-sex relationships "evil" and "wrong";
Concerned Women for America's Robert Knight (..apparently not...) talks about Mattel's Barbie poll which had "I don't know"; Mattel said it was a mistake and changed it to "I don't want to say"; they whine about how they "aren't allowed to say" things without getting criticised;
Focus on the Family reports on CWA's Alito-supporting press conference;
Family Research Council announces more Justice Sunday III participants: Alan Sears, Alliance Defense Fund; Bill Donohue, Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights; Brian Bosma, Speaker, Indiana House of Representatives; Dr. D. James Kennedy, Center for Reclaiming America; David Barton, Wallbuilders; Don Feder, Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation; Edwin Meese III, Former U.S. Attorney General;
Two NBC affiliates drop The Book of Daniel in response to protests;
Focus on the Family Canada repeats the "Netherlands plural marriage" lie;
FotF Canada denounces Supreme Court legalisation of private "swingers" clubs;
FotF rails against group of pediatricians opposing anti-marriage Federal Marriage Amendment.
[EDIT: I misnumbered; two different articles were numbered nine. Fixed.]
----- 1 -----
Abortion bill backer confident
By JENNIFER WHITSON Courier & Press Indianapolis bureau (317) 631-7405 or whitsonj@courierpress.com
December 31, 2005
http://www.courierpress.com/ecp/news/article/0,1626,ECP_734_4353799,00.html
INDIANAPOLIS - State Rep. Troy Woodruff has drafted a bill that would make abortions illegal in Indiana except when a mother's health is in danger, a bill that would bring a firestorm of debate and national attention if filed.
Woodruff, R-Vincennes, said Friday he's "feeling pretty confident" that he will file the bill.
Woodruff said the bill as drafted would define life as beginning at conception and would alter Indiana's feticide law.
The current law makes feticide a Class C felony, punishable with a two- to eight-year prison sentence, except in the case of an abortion performed under the state's guidelines. The bill would make all abortions a Class C felony except in the case where a pregnancy endangers a mother's health, Woodruff said.
"I think it's very important that we do everything we can to protect Hoosiers whether they're born or not," he said. When asked if the law would run afoul of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade, Woodruff said, "This would be a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade."
He said with new members coming onto the Supreme Court, that ruling could be changed and that some state must take the issue through the appeals process to test the new court.
"I wish every state would send it up there," Woodruff said. Asked if he was prepared for the attention and potential strife this hot-button issue would bring, Woodruff said yes.
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
Abortions illegal in Indiana
Planned Parenthood
January 5, 2006
http://www.ppaction.org/campaign/hb1096_010506
Today, Rep. Troy Woodruff filed a bill to make abortion illegal in Indiana.
Less than 24 hours after Speaker of the House Brian Bosma promised to uphold the law of the land, we face HB 1096, which mocks both the U.S. and Indiana constitutions. HB 1096 would derail decades of progress for women’s rights and make abortion--which has been a safe, legal procedure--a Class C felony. Doctors convicted of performing abortions would serve two- to eight-year prison terms.
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
Ministers Say They Blessed Seats Ahead of Alito Hearing
By JUNE KRONHOLZ
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
January 5, 2006 7:20 p.m.
Long URL elided
WASHINGTON -- Insisting that God "certainly needs to be involved" in the Supreme Court confirmation process, three Christian ministers today blessed the doors of the hearing room where Senate Judiciary Committee members will begin considering the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito on Monday.
Capitol Hill police barred them from entering the room to continue what they called a consecration service. But in a bit of one-upsmanship, the three announced that they had let themselves in a day earlier, touching holy oil to the seats where Judge Alito, the senators, witnesses, Senate staffers and the press will sit, and praying for each of the 13 committee members by name.
"We did adequately apply oil to all the seats," said the Rev. Rob Schenck, who identified himself as an evangelical Christian and as president of the National Clergy Council in Washington.
[...]
The three ministers insisted they weren't taking sides in the Alito debate. "This is not a pro-Alito prayer," insisted the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition. With abortion, public prayer, gay marriage and right-to-life issues among those topping public debate, however, "God…is interested in what goes on" in the nomination hearing, Rev. Schenck said.
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
VIEWERS' GUIDE TO THE ALITO HEARINGS
A preview of what to expect from the high court nominee's Senate appearance.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
by Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst
January 5, 2006
SUMMARY: Don't know what to expect next week when the
Senate takes up Judge Samuel Alito's nomination to the
Supreme Court? We've got the answers to your questions.
http://www.family.org/cforum/citizenmag/departments/a0039021.cfm
On Monday, the 18 members of the Senate Judiciary
committee begin a weeklong hearing on the nomination of
Samuel Alito to become the next associate justice of the
Supreme Court. If confirmed by the full Senate, the
55-year-old Alito will replace the retiring Sandra Day
O'Connor and become the 110th justice to sit on the
highest court in the land.
Whether or not you watched any of John Roberts' hearing,
you may have questions about the process, as well as an
interest in what to expect during Alito's turn in front of
the cameras. Here's a primer on what to look for.
[...]
TAKE ACTION: Please take a moment to contact your two U.S.
senators -- even if you've done it before -- and urge them
to ensure that Judge Alito receives a fair hearing and an
up-or-down vote in the full Senate. For contact
information, including an easy-to-use e-mail form, visit
the CitizenLink Action Center.
http://www3.capwiz.com/fof/dbq/officials/
[More at URL]
----- 5 -----
Falwell Defends Religious Freedom
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
January 5, 2006
by Pete Winn, associate editor
SUMMARY: The man who founded the Moral Majority is again
talking about defending morality -- and will do so this
weekend at "Justice Sunday III."
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0039093.cfm
The Rev. Dr. Jerry Falwell says there's a very specific
reason he is taking part in "Justice Sunday III" this
weekend -- he is concerned about what he calls "the
virtual disappearance of religious freedom in many corners
of our culture."
Falwell, senior pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church whose
Moral Majority became a lightning rod on a wide array of
moral and social issues in the 1980s, will no doubt draw
some additional lightning strikes from the left for taking
part in the event at Philadelphia's Greater Exodus Baptist
Church, which will be available to churches nationwide via
video simulcast.
[...]
"I'm sure (the Alito nomination is) much better than
anything John Kerry would have done -- or anything Hillary
Clinton will do -- so it's to our best advantage to
hopefully follow the judgment of the president, because I
do believe that he is a man committed to faith, family and
Judeo-Christian values."
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, the
organizer of Justice Sunday III, said there is a link
between the issues of religious freedom, judicial activism
and the Alito nomination.
[...]
TAKE ACTION/ FOR MORE INFORMATION: For more information --
or to sign your church up for the simulcast or satellite
feed for "Justice Sunday III" -- please call the Family
Research Council at 202-393-2100 or see the event's Web
site.
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
High Court May Hear Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Case
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
January 5, 2006
from staff reports
SUMMARY: Justices could announce as early as Friday
intention to hear an appeal of challenge to the federal
law banning the abhorrent procedure.
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0039088.cfm
The Supreme Court is expected to announce as early as
Friday whether it will take up a challenge to the federal
Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act.
Congress passed the law in 2003, but it has never been
enforced. That's because the abortion lobby filed suit
against the ban in New York, California and Nebraska, and
courts in all three cases ruled the law unconstitutional.
[...]
But Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National
Right to Life Committee, said the lower courts have
overstepped their bounds.
"We want the Supreme Court to accept this case," he told
Family News in Focus, "and to untie the hands of Congress
here and let this law be enforced."
The federal law contains an exception for the life, but
not the health, of the mother. Eve Gartner of Planned
Parenthood said that means doctors will be more concerned
with staying out of jail than caring for their patients.
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
Church Can't Put Up Pro-Life Message
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
January 5, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
Gospel Baptist Church in Bonita Springs, Fla., has been
told it can't put up a new billboard in a location it has
leased for four years because the pro-life message on the
sign is too political, NewsPress.com reported.
The proposed billboard shows a picture of a 3-month-old
baby and the words "Abortion Kills Babies." It was set to
replace a current billboard that reads, "The Ultimate
Weapon of Mass Destruction -- Abortion -- taking 43
million lives and counting."
Bill Condon, general manager at the Lamar Advertising
agency, said the new billboard is simply too controversial
and the agency had to say "no."
"I try to be as fair as I can, but at the same time it's
difficult for me to put a pulse on what exactly may set
the public off," Condon said. "It's a judgment call."
William James Lees, president of Wise & Time Advertising,
the designer of the billboard, "there's never been a
situation where a board has been rejected in my 14 years."
John Boutchia, a pastor at Gospel Baptist Church, said it
doesn't make sense that his church can't take a stand
against abortion because it might offend someone; he sees
signs that are offensive to him all the time.
"What I find amazing is all of these beer companies and
gambling casino places can go ahead and advertise
everything and anything that they want," he said. "Here is
a little church in a community helping, trying to keep the
moral temperature of our society up."
Bill Lytell, senior pastor at the church, said he hopes
the church and the ad agency can come to an agreement.
"We do not want to litigate them, but we are prepared to,"
Lytell said. "I'd love to settle this very peaceably. I'm
hopeful we can."
----- 8 -----
Bill Seeks to Outlaw Abortion in Indiana
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
January 5, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
A bill filed in the Indiana State House on Wednesday seeks
to make abortion illegal.
House Bill 1096, filed by Republican Rep. Troy Woodruff,
would change the state's current feticide law -- which
makes it illegal to kill a preborn child in the commission
of a crime -- and make it a felony to perform an abortion
in the state.
Woodruff said he filed the bill knowing that, if passed,
it may ultimately end up before the Supreme Court.
"Also, the people have never had an opportunity to vote on
the matter," he said.
Republican Rep. Marlin Stutzman, chairman of the House
Public Policy and Veterans Affairs Committee, said he is
reviewing his committee schedule to find a space to hear
the proposed law.
"The bill is very close to my heart," Stutzman said.
TAKE ACTION: Thank Rep. Woodruff for his bill. For contact
information, including an easy-to-use e-mail form, visit
the CitizenLink Action Center.
http://www3.capwiz.com/fof/bio/?id=143356&lvl=L&chamber=H
----- 9 -----
Tribe's Fight to Preserve Traditional Marriage Lost in Court
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
January 5, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
The Cherokee Nation's top court has decided not to strike
down a same-sex marriage between two tribe members,
Reuters reported.
Kathy Reynolds and Dawn McKinley were married in May 2004
during a brief time when Cherokee tribal law in Oklahoma
allowed same-sex marriages. The law was later changed.
The Judicial Appeals Tribunal of the Cherokee Nation in
Tahlequah, Okla., denied the request for an injunction
against the marriage brought by the Tribal Council.
"Members of the Tribal Council, like private Cherokee
citizens, must demonstrate a specific particularized
harm," the court said. "In the present case, the Council
members fail to demonstrate the requisite harm."
Todd Hembree, lawyer for the Tribal Council, said the
tribe will not continue to fight to have the marriage
declared null.
"As far as the Tribal Council is concerned, that is the
end of the legal proceedings," he said.
Hembree said that because Indian tribes enjoy sovereign
status, it is possible that the U.S. government will have
to recognize the marriage.
----- 10 -----
David Lazar's Review of Brokeback Mountain Misses the Point
1/6/2006
By Mark Landsbaum
Concerned Women for America
Homosexual relationships are wrong – that’s why they shouldn’t be celebrated.
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/9860/CFI/family/index.htm
Mr. Lazar is correct. The “lovers” of Brokeback Mountain are neither heroes nor courageous.
Mr. Lazar’s error is seeing the problem merely in its consequences (infidelity, broken families, suicidal depression), rather than in its cause: homosexual lust.
Mr. Lazar looks to the consequences of the sinful act as if they can be tweaked, as if the sin can be committed in a better way (by self-sacrifice, consideration of others, without shame) in order to alleviate its dire consequences.
The Bible says this is calling evil good and good evil. It compounds the error. It doesn’t fix it.
The reason for these horrid consequences isn’t that the sin wasn’t committed in a kind, compassionate manner. The reason is the sin itself. No good can come from evil. Thinking that what is an abomination before God can be made acceptable if it’s merely taken out of the closet and performed in a kindly manner is foolishness.
Homosexual sexual relationships are wrong. That’s the reason they should not be celebrated. Not because they haven’t yet been ingratiated into the public conscience or shamelessly accepted by their practitioners.
[More at URL]
----- 11 -----
Mattel Changes Barbie Poll
1/5/2006
Concerned Women for America
http://www.cwfa.org/articledisplay.asp?id=9852&department=CWA&categoryid=family
Mattel, the makers of the iconic Barbie doll, moved quickly to change the poll on the Barbie.com Web site. Last week we reported that the poll asked children their sex giving them the options of “I’m a girl,” “I’m a boy,” and “I don’t know.” Today that third option reads “I don’t want to say.” Bob Knight, Director of CWA’s Culture & Family Institute provides this update. Click here to listen.
[Robert Knight: "Because of a call from a concerned parent whose daughter stumbled on this on the Barbie website and said, 'Yeah, I don't know what to tell my daughter, she's confused now,' we started to look into it. And we viewed the site, and the site has a poll for kids, and the second question is, 'Are you a,' and it says, 'a girl,' 'a boy,' or 'I don't know.' And then after they took a lot of flak, they changed it to, 'I don't want to say,' although I don't know how much that really improves things, it still puts n the minds of children the idea that this is something that's obscure, or maybe there's some doubt as to their gender identity. But the emails we've gotten are almost universally abusive, full of profanity, people going ballistic saying, how dare you attack Barbie, you know, we're getting the Tinky-Winky treatment here, where if you make a comment about something involving a children's programme or a children's product, you get ridiculed because of the silly nature of the children's product. Jerry Falwell caught a lot of flak a few years ago when his National Liberty Journal wrote an article about the founder of Teletubbies, which included Tinky-Winky, the little purple boy with the purse and the upside-down purple triangle, and the founder said that he had designed Tinky-Winky precisely that way to raise gender doubts amoung children. And so, the Journal actually just reported that, and it quickly morphed into 'Jerry Falwell says Tinky-Winky's gay and he's attacking him.' And to this day you see ridicule. And now we're being compared to that. I got one email the other day that said, 'well, why don't you and Jerry Falwell go now attack another cartoon character or something,' and I'm thinking, so, let's see, the web sites and children's programmes can pump out anything they want, and if we see something that's slightly questionable or disturbing, we're not allowed to say so, or we'll be accused of overreacting or attacking this beloved figure."
"The ages start at a very young age and go all the way up to 70 now, and at the time we viewed it, before the holidays, it looked like it just went from four to eight, it was a more concise grouping, which I think they changed that as well. I think the fact Mattel reacted and changed the wording proves that there was a problem with the wording in the first place. Otherwise, they wouldn't have acted, they would have said, 'hey, go take a jump in the lake, we don't see anything wrong with it.'"
"Some of those kids are probably still confused, 'what do you mean, I don't know? Are there kids who don't know? Do you know any four year olds who don't know whether they're a boy or a girl?"
"That's what threw us, the fact that a parent had to confront this at a seemingly-innocent kid-oriented website. And, you know, some of the emails have accused us of saying, 'well, all sorts of people visit this website, why are you saying it's just about kids?' If you go to the website, it's all pink, it's very girly, it's clearly geared to little girls. ... I can't see people in their 60s gravitating to this website any time soon."]
----- 12 -----
Conservative Women Say Alito Opposition Ineffective
by Bill Wilson
Focus on the Family
January 6, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0039096.cfm
Liberal groups turn to publicity stunts to get their message out.
The Senate confirmation hearings for Samuel Alito are just days away. Major news polls show the Supreme Court nominee has the support of as many as six in ten Americans and the unanimous “well-qualified” endorsement from the American Bar Association. In desperation, the far-left has pulled out all the stops including disrupting a news conference from a host of conservative women’s groups that endorse Alito.
Even though the opposition is noisy, Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America says it isn’t taking hold, perhaps because it’s anti-Bush as opposed to being anti-Alito.
“We’re not seeing very much opposition to judge Alito. Now we are seeing opposition from the groups that have raised millions of dollars on the promise that they will oppose any nominee that President Bush has put forward.”
[More at URL]
----- 13 -----
FRC Announces Additional Participants to Justice Sunday III
January 6, 2006 - Friday
Family Research Council
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PR06A04&f=PG03I03
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: Amber Hildebrand, adh@frc.org, (202) 393-2100 J.P. Duffy, jpd@frc.org 202-679-6800 or Bethanie Swendsen, bas@frc.org Justice Sunday Press Office: 215-235-1394 x 1933 (Temporary Number this week)
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PR06A05&f=PG03I03
BROADCAST TO FOCUS ON JUDICIAL ACTIVISM ONE DAY BEFORE THE ALITO HEARINGS
Philadelphia, PA. - Today, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins and organizer of Justice Sunday III "Proclaim Liberty Throughout the Land" announced that the following participants will be joining the program through television packages:
Alan Sears, Alliance Defense Fund
Bill Donohue, Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights
Brian Bosma, Speaker, Indiana House of Representatives
Dr. D. James Kennedy, Center for Reclaiming America
David Barton, Wallbuilders
Don Feder, Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation
Edwin Meese III, Former U.S. Attorney General
The simulcast will air live on hundreds of radio stations, Sky Angel Nationwide Satellite Television System and via webcast on www.justicesunday.com. TBN is airing the program time-delayed at 10 PM ET. Greater Exodus Baptist Church in Philadelphia will host the simulcast on Sunday, January 8, at 7 PM ET- 8:30 PM ET. For more information regarding the Justice Sunday III - "Proclaim Liberty Throughout the Land!" live simulcast, log onto www.justicesunday.com or call the FRC Press Office at (202) 393-2100.
-30-
----- 14 -----
Two NBC Affiliates Reject "Book of Daniel" Series
Issue No.: 31
by: Bridget Maher
Family Research Council
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=CU06A01&f=PG03I03
Two NBC affiliates in Indiana and Arkansas are refusing to show the anti-christian TV series "The Book of Daniel," which debuts Friday, January 6. Bill Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights explains why this series is offensive to Christians:
[More at URL]
----- 15 -----
Group marriage on the horizon?
Focus on the Family Canada
January 4, 2006
http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/family/stories/010406_02.html
The Netherlands’ first “marriage” last fall of a man to two women at the same time “is an unmistakable step down the road to legalized group marriage,” warns Stanley Kurtz with the Hoover Institution, writing in the Washington-based Weekly Standard.
As the Brussels Journal reported in late September, Victor de Bruijn entered into a marriage-like “private cohabitation contract” with both Bianca, his wife of eight years, and Mirjam Geven, who they had met two-and-a-half years ago through an Internet chat room. After Geven had divorced her husband, she moved in with the de Bruijns and began a bisexual relationship with both of them.
[More at URL]
[Editor's note: this was not, in fact, any sort of government recognition of a plural marriage. They filed papers showing their residence was all in the same place. That's it. Fundamentalist groups have been portraying it as plural marriage ever since.]
----- 16 -----
Court's "swingers" ruling denounced
Focus on the Family Canada
January 4, 2006
http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/sexuality/stories/010406.html
The Supreme Court’s pre-Christmas decision to legalize so-called “swingers” sex clubs “clearly establishes the courts as the new arbiters of public morality,” says Janet Epp Buckingham, director of law and public policy for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, writing in the Globe and Mail. “They have cut out Canadian society and the concerns of ordinary Canadians.”
In two 7-2 rulings handed down on December 21, Canada’s highest court said clubs that offer group sex and partner-swapping are not criminal because they are not harmful to the “proper functioning of Canadian society.” As the National Post noted, this throws out the previous benchmark for what legally constitutes obscenity, namely sexual behaviours that offend community standards of tolerance.
“Moral views, even if strongly held, do not suffice,” wrote Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin for the majority. “As members of a diverse society, we must be prepared to tolerate conduct of which we disapprove.”
McLachlin stated there was no evidence that the two Montreal clubs in question were causing any harm to anyone, since “only those already disposed to this sort of sexual activity were allowed to participate and watch.” “No one,” she added, “was pressured to have sex, paid for sex, or treated as a mere sexual object for the gratification of others.”
But that, says Buckingham, “sets the barrier for ‘harm’ at an incredibly high level,” because now only the courts—and not the community at large—will be able to determine if “harm” has in fact occurred. And yet the decision will have “ripple effects” that may not be readily apparent. “Swingers clubs,” she points out, “will now be able to advertise publicly and encourage more couples to consider consensual adultery. Some marriages and relationships will likely not survive this sexual experimentation.”
[More at URL]
----- 17 -----
Group of Pediatricians Co-opts the Phrase “Pro-Family” to Pitch a Liberal Agenda
Focus on the Family
by Kim Trobee
January 6, 2006
Critics say neither the group nor its agenda are pro-family.
http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0039094.cfm
A group of self described “pro-family” pediatricians has gathered almost 1000 signatures calling for the defeat of the Federal Marriage Amendment. But Dr. Joseph Zanga, President of the American College of Pediatricians, says the signers are pro-family in name only.
“This was not a group that was trying to defend children or protect children, but rather a group that was trying to defend and promote homosexual marriage and particularly homosexual adoption.”
[More at URL]
This'll be fun like dental work is fun. Dental work without anesthetic.
And now, today's news:
Indiana lawmaker Troy Woodruff has drafted and filed a bill to make abortion a Class C felony specifically to challenge Roe v. Wade under the new Supreme Court makeup;
Planned Parenthood action item on Indiana H.B. 1096, the abovementioned bill;
Fundamentalist evangelicals snuck into the hearing room where the Alito confirmation process will start and blessed the chair he'll be sitting on, along with several others, saying "God... is interested" in the hearings (but it's not really about religion, it's about "judicial philosophy");
Focus on the Family's viewer's guide to the Alito hearings - includes ACTION ITEM to call Senators to support his confirmation;
Jerry Falwell, who blamed gay and lesbian people and the ACLU for the September 11th attacks, to address Justice Sunday on "religious freedom" issues; also endorses nominee Alito; includes ACTION ITEM to get involved in Justice Sunday;
Focus on the Family article on so-called "partial birth" abortion ban;
Florida billboard company declines anti-abortion billboard as too controversial; church threatens to sue; the previous board up, also by them, was also anti-abortion-rights, but was accepted; I don't know why they're changing it;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM to thank Troy Woodruff for introducing bill to make abortion a felony in Indiana;
Two Cherokee Nation lesbians married during a brief window of legal same-sex marriage under tribal law in Oklahoma; the local tribal council sued in Cherokee court to get it voided, even though it was legal; Judicial Appeals Tribunal (their Supreme Court) refused, and allowed the marriage to stand;
Concerned Women for America's Mark Landsbaum - are there any women working for CWFA's Culture and Family Institute? - takes TownHall.com columist to task for not being hard enough on Brokeback Mountain, calls same-sex relationships "evil" and "wrong";
Concerned Women for America's Robert Knight (..apparently not...) talks about Mattel's Barbie poll which had "I don't know"; Mattel said it was a mistake and changed it to "I don't want to say"; they whine about how they "aren't allowed to say" things without getting criticised;
Focus on the Family reports on CWA's Alito-supporting press conference;
Family Research Council announces more Justice Sunday III participants: Alan Sears, Alliance Defense Fund; Bill Donohue, Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights; Brian Bosma, Speaker, Indiana House of Representatives; Dr. D. James Kennedy, Center for Reclaiming America; David Barton, Wallbuilders; Don Feder, Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation; Edwin Meese III, Former U.S. Attorney General;
Two NBC affiliates drop The Book of Daniel in response to protests;
Focus on the Family Canada repeats the "Netherlands plural marriage" lie;
FotF Canada denounces Supreme Court legalisation of private "swingers" clubs;
FotF rails against group of pediatricians opposing anti-marriage Federal Marriage Amendment.
[EDIT: I misnumbered; two different articles were numbered nine. Fixed.]
----- 1 -----
Abortion bill backer confident
By JENNIFER WHITSON Courier & Press Indianapolis bureau (317) 631-7405 or whitsonj@courierpress.com
December 31, 2005
http://www.courierpress.com/ecp/news/article/0,1626,ECP_734_4353799,00.html
INDIANAPOLIS - State Rep. Troy Woodruff has drafted a bill that would make abortions illegal in Indiana except when a mother's health is in danger, a bill that would bring a firestorm of debate and national attention if filed.
Woodruff, R-Vincennes, said Friday he's "feeling pretty confident" that he will file the bill.
Woodruff said the bill as drafted would define life as beginning at conception and would alter Indiana's feticide law.
The current law makes feticide a Class C felony, punishable with a two- to eight-year prison sentence, except in the case of an abortion performed under the state's guidelines. The bill would make all abortions a Class C felony except in the case where a pregnancy endangers a mother's health, Woodruff said.
"I think it's very important that we do everything we can to protect Hoosiers whether they're born or not," he said. When asked if the law would run afoul of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade, Woodruff said, "This would be a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade."
He said with new members coming onto the Supreme Court, that ruling could be changed and that some state must take the issue through the appeals process to test the new court.
"I wish every state would send it up there," Woodruff said. Asked if he was prepared for the attention and potential strife this hot-button issue would bring, Woodruff said yes.
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
Abortions illegal in Indiana
Planned Parenthood
January 5, 2006
http://www.ppaction.org/campaign/hb1096_010506
Today, Rep. Troy Woodruff filed a bill to make abortion illegal in Indiana.
Less than 24 hours after Speaker of the House Brian Bosma promised to uphold the law of the land, we face HB 1096, which mocks both the U.S. and Indiana constitutions. HB 1096 would derail decades of progress for women’s rights and make abortion--which has been a safe, legal procedure--a Class C felony. Doctors convicted of performing abortions would serve two- to eight-year prison terms.
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
Ministers Say They Blessed Seats Ahead of Alito Hearing
By JUNE KRONHOLZ
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
January 5, 2006 7:20 p.m.
Long URL elided
WASHINGTON -- Insisting that God "certainly needs to be involved" in the Supreme Court confirmation process, three Christian ministers today blessed the doors of the hearing room where Senate Judiciary Committee members will begin considering the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito on Monday.
Capitol Hill police barred them from entering the room to continue what they called a consecration service. But in a bit of one-upsmanship, the three announced that they had let themselves in a day earlier, touching holy oil to the seats where Judge Alito, the senators, witnesses, Senate staffers and the press will sit, and praying for each of the 13 committee members by name.
"We did adequately apply oil to all the seats," said the Rev. Rob Schenck, who identified himself as an evangelical Christian and as president of the National Clergy Council in Washington.
[...]
The three ministers insisted they weren't taking sides in the Alito debate. "This is not a pro-Alito prayer," insisted the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition. With abortion, public prayer, gay marriage and right-to-life issues among those topping public debate, however, "God…is interested in what goes on" in the nomination hearing, Rev. Schenck said.
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
VIEWERS' GUIDE TO THE ALITO HEARINGS
A preview of what to expect from the high court nominee's Senate appearance.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
by Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst
January 5, 2006
SUMMARY: Don't know what to expect next week when the
Senate takes up Judge Samuel Alito's nomination to the
Supreme Court? We've got the answers to your questions.
http://www.family.org/cforum/citizenmag/departments/a0039021.cfm
On Monday, the 18 members of the Senate Judiciary
committee begin a weeklong hearing on the nomination of
Samuel Alito to become the next associate justice of the
Supreme Court. If confirmed by the full Senate, the
55-year-old Alito will replace the retiring Sandra Day
O'Connor and become the 110th justice to sit on the
highest court in the land.
Whether or not you watched any of John Roberts' hearing,
you may have questions about the process, as well as an
interest in what to expect during Alito's turn in front of
the cameras. Here's a primer on what to look for.
[...]
TAKE ACTION: Please take a moment to contact your two U.S.
senators -- even if you've done it before -- and urge them
to ensure that Judge Alito receives a fair hearing and an
up-or-down vote in the full Senate. For contact
information, including an easy-to-use e-mail form, visit
the CitizenLink Action Center.
http://www3.capwiz.com/fof/dbq/officials/
[More at URL]
----- 5 -----
Falwell Defends Religious Freedom
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
January 5, 2006
by Pete Winn, associate editor
SUMMARY: The man who founded the Moral Majority is again
talking about defending morality -- and will do so this
weekend at "Justice Sunday III."
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0039093.cfm
The Rev. Dr. Jerry Falwell says there's a very specific
reason he is taking part in "Justice Sunday III" this
weekend -- he is concerned about what he calls "the
virtual disappearance of religious freedom in many corners
of our culture."
Falwell, senior pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church whose
Moral Majority became a lightning rod on a wide array of
moral and social issues in the 1980s, will no doubt draw
some additional lightning strikes from the left for taking
part in the event at Philadelphia's Greater Exodus Baptist
Church, which will be available to churches nationwide via
video simulcast.
[...]
"I'm sure (the Alito nomination is) much better than
anything John Kerry would have done -- or anything Hillary
Clinton will do -- so it's to our best advantage to
hopefully follow the judgment of the president, because I
do believe that he is a man committed to faith, family and
Judeo-Christian values."
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, the
organizer of Justice Sunday III, said there is a link
between the issues of religious freedom, judicial activism
and the Alito nomination.
[...]
TAKE ACTION/ FOR MORE INFORMATION: For more information --
or to sign your church up for the simulcast or satellite
feed for "Justice Sunday III" -- please call the Family
Research Council at 202-393-2100 or see the event's Web
site.
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
High Court May Hear Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Case
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
January 5, 2006
from staff reports
SUMMARY: Justices could announce as early as Friday
intention to hear an appeal of challenge to the federal
law banning the abhorrent procedure.
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0039088.cfm
The Supreme Court is expected to announce as early as
Friday whether it will take up a challenge to the federal
Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act.
Congress passed the law in 2003, but it has never been
enforced. That's because the abortion lobby filed suit
against the ban in New York, California and Nebraska, and
courts in all three cases ruled the law unconstitutional.
[...]
But Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National
Right to Life Committee, said the lower courts have
overstepped their bounds.
"We want the Supreme Court to accept this case," he told
Family News in Focus, "and to untie the hands of Congress
here and let this law be enforced."
The federal law contains an exception for the life, but
not the health, of the mother. Eve Gartner of Planned
Parenthood said that means doctors will be more concerned
with staying out of jail than caring for their patients.
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
Church Can't Put Up Pro-Life Message
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
January 5, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
Gospel Baptist Church in Bonita Springs, Fla., has been
told it can't put up a new billboard in a location it has
leased for four years because the pro-life message on the
sign is too political, NewsPress.com reported.
The proposed billboard shows a picture of a 3-month-old
baby and the words "Abortion Kills Babies." It was set to
replace a current billboard that reads, "The Ultimate
Weapon of Mass Destruction -- Abortion -- taking 43
million lives and counting."
Bill Condon, general manager at the Lamar Advertising
agency, said the new billboard is simply too controversial
and the agency had to say "no."
"I try to be as fair as I can, but at the same time it's
difficult for me to put a pulse on what exactly may set
the public off," Condon said. "It's a judgment call."
William James Lees, president of Wise & Time Advertising,
the designer of the billboard, "there's never been a
situation where a board has been rejected in my 14 years."
John Boutchia, a pastor at Gospel Baptist Church, said it
doesn't make sense that his church can't take a stand
against abortion because it might offend someone; he sees
signs that are offensive to him all the time.
"What I find amazing is all of these beer companies and
gambling casino places can go ahead and advertise
everything and anything that they want," he said. "Here is
a little church in a community helping, trying to keep the
moral temperature of our society up."
Bill Lytell, senior pastor at the church, said he hopes
the church and the ad agency can come to an agreement.
"We do not want to litigate them, but we are prepared to,"
Lytell said. "I'd love to settle this very peaceably. I'm
hopeful we can."
----- 8 -----
Bill Seeks to Outlaw Abortion in Indiana
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
January 5, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
A bill filed in the Indiana State House on Wednesday seeks
to make abortion illegal.
House Bill 1096, filed by Republican Rep. Troy Woodruff,
would change the state's current feticide law -- which
makes it illegal to kill a preborn child in the commission
of a crime -- and make it a felony to perform an abortion
in the state.
Woodruff said he filed the bill knowing that, if passed,
it may ultimately end up before the Supreme Court.
"Also, the people have never had an opportunity to vote on
the matter," he said.
Republican Rep. Marlin Stutzman, chairman of the House
Public Policy and Veterans Affairs Committee, said he is
reviewing his committee schedule to find a space to hear
the proposed law.
"The bill is very close to my heart," Stutzman said.
TAKE ACTION: Thank Rep. Woodruff for his bill. For contact
information, including an easy-to-use e-mail form, visit
the CitizenLink Action Center.
http://www3.capwiz.com/fof/bio/?id=143356&lvl=L&chamber=H
----- 9 -----
Tribe's Fight to Preserve Traditional Marriage Lost in Court
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
January 5, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
The Cherokee Nation's top court has decided not to strike
down a same-sex marriage between two tribe members,
Reuters reported.
Kathy Reynolds and Dawn McKinley were married in May 2004
during a brief time when Cherokee tribal law in Oklahoma
allowed same-sex marriages. The law was later changed.
The Judicial Appeals Tribunal of the Cherokee Nation in
Tahlequah, Okla., denied the request for an injunction
against the marriage brought by the Tribal Council.
"Members of the Tribal Council, like private Cherokee
citizens, must demonstrate a specific particularized
harm," the court said. "In the present case, the Council
members fail to demonstrate the requisite harm."
Todd Hembree, lawyer for the Tribal Council, said the
tribe will not continue to fight to have the marriage
declared null.
"As far as the Tribal Council is concerned, that is the
end of the legal proceedings," he said.
Hembree said that because Indian tribes enjoy sovereign
status, it is possible that the U.S. government will have
to recognize the marriage.
----- 10 -----
David Lazar's Review of Brokeback Mountain Misses the Point
1/6/2006
By Mark Landsbaum
Concerned Women for America
Homosexual relationships are wrong – that’s why they shouldn’t be celebrated.
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/9860/CFI/family/index.htm
Mr. Lazar is correct. The “lovers” of Brokeback Mountain are neither heroes nor courageous.
Mr. Lazar’s error is seeing the problem merely in its consequences (infidelity, broken families, suicidal depression), rather than in its cause: homosexual lust.
Mr. Lazar looks to the consequences of the sinful act as if they can be tweaked, as if the sin can be committed in a better way (by self-sacrifice, consideration of others, without shame) in order to alleviate its dire consequences.
The Bible says this is calling evil good and good evil. It compounds the error. It doesn’t fix it.
The reason for these horrid consequences isn’t that the sin wasn’t committed in a kind, compassionate manner. The reason is the sin itself. No good can come from evil. Thinking that what is an abomination before God can be made acceptable if it’s merely taken out of the closet and performed in a kindly manner is foolishness.
Homosexual sexual relationships are wrong. That’s the reason they should not be celebrated. Not because they haven’t yet been ingratiated into the public conscience or shamelessly accepted by their practitioners.
[More at URL]
----- 11 -----
Mattel Changes Barbie Poll
1/5/2006
Concerned Women for America
http://www.cwfa.org/articledisplay.asp?id=9852&department=CWA&categoryid=family
Mattel, the makers of the iconic Barbie doll, moved quickly to change the poll on the Barbie.com Web site. Last week we reported that the poll asked children their sex giving them the options of “I’m a girl,” “I’m a boy,” and “I don’t know.” Today that third option reads “I don’t want to say.” Bob Knight, Director of CWA’s Culture & Family Institute provides this update. Click here to listen.
[Robert Knight: "Because of a call from a concerned parent whose daughter stumbled on this on the Barbie website and said, 'Yeah, I don't know what to tell my daughter, she's confused now,' we started to look into it. And we viewed the site, and the site has a poll for kids, and the second question is, 'Are you a,' and it says, 'a girl,' 'a boy,' or 'I don't know.' And then after they took a lot of flak, they changed it to, 'I don't want to say,' although I don't know how much that really improves things, it still puts n the minds of children the idea that this is something that's obscure, or maybe there's some doubt as to their gender identity. But the emails we've gotten are almost universally abusive, full of profanity, people going ballistic saying, how dare you attack Barbie, you know, we're getting the Tinky-Winky treatment here, where if you make a comment about something involving a children's programme or a children's product, you get ridiculed because of the silly nature of the children's product. Jerry Falwell caught a lot of flak a few years ago when his National Liberty Journal wrote an article about the founder of Teletubbies, which included Tinky-Winky, the little purple boy with the purse and the upside-down purple triangle, and the founder said that he had designed Tinky-Winky precisely that way to raise gender doubts amoung children. And so, the Journal actually just reported that, and it quickly morphed into 'Jerry Falwell says Tinky-Winky's gay and he's attacking him.' And to this day you see ridicule. And now we're being compared to that. I got one email the other day that said, 'well, why don't you and Jerry Falwell go now attack another cartoon character or something,' and I'm thinking, so, let's see, the web sites and children's programmes can pump out anything they want, and if we see something that's slightly questionable or disturbing, we're not allowed to say so, or we'll be accused of overreacting or attacking this beloved figure."
"The ages start at a very young age and go all the way up to 70 now, and at the time we viewed it, before the holidays, it looked like it just went from four to eight, it was a more concise grouping, which I think they changed that as well. I think the fact Mattel reacted and changed the wording proves that there was a problem with the wording in the first place. Otherwise, they wouldn't have acted, they would have said, 'hey, go take a jump in the lake, we don't see anything wrong with it.'"
"Some of those kids are probably still confused, 'what do you mean, I don't know? Are there kids who don't know? Do you know any four year olds who don't know whether they're a boy or a girl?"
"That's what threw us, the fact that a parent had to confront this at a seemingly-innocent kid-oriented website. And, you know, some of the emails have accused us of saying, 'well, all sorts of people visit this website, why are you saying it's just about kids?' If you go to the website, it's all pink, it's very girly, it's clearly geared to little girls. ... I can't see people in their 60s gravitating to this website any time soon."]
----- 12 -----
Conservative Women Say Alito Opposition Ineffective
by Bill Wilson
Focus on the Family
January 6, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0039096.cfm
Liberal groups turn to publicity stunts to get their message out.
The Senate confirmation hearings for Samuel Alito are just days away. Major news polls show the Supreme Court nominee has the support of as many as six in ten Americans and the unanimous “well-qualified” endorsement from the American Bar Association. In desperation, the far-left has pulled out all the stops including disrupting a news conference from a host of conservative women’s groups that endorse Alito.
Even though the opposition is noisy, Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America says it isn’t taking hold, perhaps because it’s anti-Bush as opposed to being anti-Alito.
“We’re not seeing very much opposition to judge Alito. Now we are seeing opposition from the groups that have raised millions of dollars on the promise that they will oppose any nominee that President Bush has put forward.”
[More at URL]
----- 13 -----
FRC Announces Additional Participants to Justice Sunday III
January 6, 2006 - Friday
Family Research Council
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PR06A04&f=PG03I03
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: Amber Hildebrand, adh@frc.org, (202) 393-2100 J.P. Duffy, jpd@frc.org 202-679-6800 or Bethanie Swendsen, bas@frc.org Justice Sunday Press Office: 215-235-1394 x 1933 (Temporary Number this week)
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PR06A05&f=PG03I03
BROADCAST TO FOCUS ON JUDICIAL ACTIVISM ONE DAY BEFORE THE ALITO HEARINGS
Philadelphia, PA. - Today, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins and organizer of Justice Sunday III "Proclaim Liberty Throughout the Land" announced that the following participants will be joining the program through television packages:
Alan Sears, Alliance Defense Fund
Bill Donohue, Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights
Brian Bosma, Speaker, Indiana House of Representatives
Dr. D. James Kennedy, Center for Reclaiming America
David Barton, Wallbuilders
Don Feder, Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation
Edwin Meese III, Former U.S. Attorney General
The simulcast will air live on hundreds of radio stations, Sky Angel Nationwide Satellite Television System and via webcast on www.justicesunday.com. TBN is airing the program time-delayed at 10 PM ET. Greater Exodus Baptist Church in Philadelphia will host the simulcast on Sunday, January 8, at 7 PM ET- 8:30 PM ET. For more information regarding the Justice Sunday III - "Proclaim Liberty Throughout the Land!" live simulcast, log onto www.justicesunday.com or call the FRC Press Office at (202) 393-2100.
-30-
----- 14 -----
Two NBC Affiliates Reject "Book of Daniel" Series
Issue No.: 31
by: Bridget Maher
Family Research Council
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=CU06A01&f=PG03I03
Two NBC affiliates in Indiana and Arkansas are refusing to show the anti-christian TV series "The Book of Daniel," which debuts Friday, January 6. Bill Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights explains why this series is offensive to Christians:
[More at URL]
----- 15 -----
Group marriage on the horizon?
Focus on the Family Canada
January 4, 2006
http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/family/stories/010406_02.html
The Netherlands’ first “marriage” last fall of a man to two women at the same time “is an unmistakable step down the road to legalized group marriage,” warns Stanley Kurtz with the Hoover Institution, writing in the Washington-based Weekly Standard.
As the Brussels Journal reported in late September, Victor de Bruijn entered into a marriage-like “private cohabitation contract” with both Bianca, his wife of eight years, and Mirjam Geven, who they had met two-and-a-half years ago through an Internet chat room. After Geven had divorced her husband, she moved in with the de Bruijns and began a bisexual relationship with both of them.
[More at URL]
[Editor's note: this was not, in fact, any sort of government recognition of a plural marriage. They filed papers showing their residence was all in the same place. That's it. Fundamentalist groups have been portraying it as plural marriage ever since.]
----- 16 -----
Court's "swingers" ruling denounced
Focus on the Family Canada
January 4, 2006
http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/sexuality/stories/010406.html
The Supreme Court’s pre-Christmas decision to legalize so-called “swingers” sex clubs “clearly establishes the courts as the new arbiters of public morality,” says Janet Epp Buckingham, director of law and public policy for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, writing in the Globe and Mail. “They have cut out Canadian society and the concerns of ordinary Canadians.”
In two 7-2 rulings handed down on December 21, Canada’s highest court said clubs that offer group sex and partner-swapping are not criminal because they are not harmful to the “proper functioning of Canadian society.” As the National Post noted, this throws out the previous benchmark for what legally constitutes obscenity, namely sexual behaviours that offend community standards of tolerance.
“Moral views, even if strongly held, do not suffice,” wrote Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin for the majority. “As members of a diverse society, we must be prepared to tolerate conduct of which we disapprove.”
McLachlin stated there was no evidence that the two Montreal clubs in question were causing any harm to anyone, since “only those already disposed to this sort of sexual activity were allowed to participate and watch.” “No one,” she added, “was pressured to have sex, paid for sex, or treated as a mere sexual object for the gratification of others.”
But that, says Buckingham, “sets the barrier for ‘harm’ at an incredibly high level,” because now only the courts—and not the community at large—will be able to determine if “harm” has in fact occurred. And yet the decision will have “ripple effects” that may not be readily apparent. “Swingers clubs,” she points out, “will now be able to advertise publicly and encourage more couples to consider consensual adultery. Some marriages and relationships will likely not survive this sexual experimentation.”
[More at URL]
----- 17 -----
Group of Pediatricians Co-opts the Phrase “Pro-Family” to Pitch a Liberal Agenda
Focus on the Family
by Kim Trobee
January 6, 2006
Critics say neither the group nor its agenda are pro-family.
http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0039094.cfm
A group of self described “pro-family” pediatricians has gathered almost 1000 signatures calling for the defeat of the Federal Marriage Amendment. But Dr. Joseph Zanga, President of the American College of Pediatricians, says the signers are pro-family in name only.
“This was not a group that was trying to defend children or protect children, but rather a group that was trying to defend and promote homosexual marriage and particularly homosexual adoption.”
[More at URL]
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-01-07 12:16 am (UTC)So they think same-sex relationships are "evil" and "wrong." I have never found an instance of this opinion that didn't have some religious statement behind it - "because it says so in the bible," or "God hates gays," or whatever.
Here's what I want to know: if they think it's so bad, why don't they just let God worry about it? If THEY are doing 'all the right things' why can't they let God deal with the people who (supposedly) aren't? No. They have to create action items and press releases and whatnot to keep shoving their noses into people's private lives.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-07 12:50 am (UTC)Um, yeah. Explicitly. Christian evangelical fundamentalist viewpoint. Creationism, "biblical worldview," a zygote is a person, "freedom of religion" really means "freedom of Christianity (and Judeasm)," women should do the graceful submission to men thing - you name it, they've got it. I mean, they're buddy-buddy with the Christian Reconstructionists and Dominionist movement. CWA really is pretty hardcore, tho' they play down some of it these days, even in their own media - they've learned that more people are listening. But I was listening to them in the mid and late 90s, when they didn't know that, and they were much more overt about "homosexuality = paedophilia" and "religion = Christianity, everything else is a cult and not covered by the first amendment" and all that fun stuff.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-07 04:27 am (UTC)Not so fast there! Even for Jews who oppose abortion, they don’t go as far as anti-abortion Christians. For one thing, Jewish tradition explicitly has it that life does not start at conception. For another, all of the major branches of Judaism, including the Orthodox, support therapeutic cloning for purposes of medical research.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-07 04:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-07 05:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-07 06:23 am (UTC)