Today's Cultural Warfare Update
Apr. 3rd, 2006 12:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdTheology seminar teacher: Evolutionary theory "on its last legs"; Kentucky governor endorses teaching "intelligent design" as a science instead of evolutionary theory; this is the kind of ground-level support creationism continues to get;
Focus on the Family's James Dobson: "The media -- even one year later -- is still trying to cover up what really happened" in the Terri Schiavo case;
Focus on the Family scare-story against computer games, calls for Federal action;
FotF demands to know why RU486 hasn't been taken off the market by Congress; includes ACTION ITEM to support "Holly's Law" which would take RU-486 off the market;
FotF story on the Massachusetts Supreme Court upholding their 1913 miscegenation law, barring nonresidents from getting married in Massachusetts if their states of residence would bar the marriage; the anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund is pleased;
FotF attacks Planned Parenthood, playing up the "they're only in it for the MASSIVE MONEY" angle; "once a teenager is hooked, he or she can prove to be
a good source of income for many years to come"; It's funny how they get all anti-capitalist sometimes;
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) wants a bill to crack down on deceptive advertising by fundamentalist-funded "pregnancy resource centres"; these are pseudo-clinics that dress themselves up as Planned Parenthood competitors; I know somebody who went to one once (she wasn't even pregnant) and they were convinced she was and did everything they could to keep her there for as long as possible, throwing anti-abortion propaganda at her; they do their best to put one near every Planned Parenthood clinic; recently, they've been trying to make them more clinic-like, but traditionally they offered nothing except a standard OTC pregnancy test and a lot of harassment;
FotF spins the Antonin Scalia gesture tempest in a teapot; I find their outrage - OUTRAGE! - about her question more interesting than the actual incident;
FotF ACTION ITEM to support veto of Plan B bill in Colorado;
Concerned Women for America calls for HR1079 ("Holly's Law") that pulls RU486 off the market;
After an anti-abortion pharmacist lied to a nurse and told her Plan B was not carried at the store where they worked - when in fact they did carry it and it was in stock, but the pharmacist finds Plan B morally objectionable - Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich has issued an an executive order requiring pharmacies accept orders for the pill upon customer request, or return the prescription to the customer;
Human Events coverage of the Congressional action fundamentalists are pushing to try to get RU-486 taken off the market;
Concerned Women for America's Robert Knight and guest Leah Farish talk about a 10 Commandments case in Oklahoma;
***** Concerned Women for America's Robert Knight and guest Stephen Bennett promote "ex-gay" movement; Robert Knight describes the torture murder of Matthew Shepard as a "mugging"; says that the answer for gay and lesbian people is to "not have sex. Period." Calls efforts to protect GBLT students from bullying "mislead"; guest Bennett says, "people need to realise the entire homosexual activist movement is not about equality, it's not about tolerance, it's about power. They're the ones who want control and they want to be in control of everything." This is why I listen to the ones they won't transcribe, because that's where they hide the extra red meat;
American Family Association promotes new "ex-gay" ministry initiative;
AFA: Falwell says McCain would be a "champion and a leader" for an anti-marriage Federal Marriage Amendment if courts toss out state anti-marriage amendments;
AFA: Focus on the Family dumps Wells Fargo over GBLT supportive policies;
Focus on the Family: saying that an “educated, competent adult’s place is in the office," particularly when talking about women, is "fighting words" for "women who have chosen to stay home and raise a family"; feminists want to "destroy[...] marriage and the traditional family unit";
Traditional Values Coalition does a "special report" on Pastor Jim Wallis, accusing him of being a Soviet Communist;
TVC's Louis Sheldon: racial civil rights could be "lost to history" if lesbian and gay people get civil equality, playing both the zero-sum game and the fear-of-whitey race card;
TVC links to FrontPage article on the Washington DC "War on Christians" conference, wherein fundamentalists claim Christianity is about to be outlawed and so on;
Family Research Council supports Missouri resolution introducing urging a federal anti-marriage amendment; it's only been introduced, it hasn't passed;
FRC applauds Massachusetts supreme court upholding 1913 miscegenation law;
Focus on the Family Canada on an anti-abortion effort on college campuses in Calgary and Hamilton;
Faith and Freedom Network issues another anti-marriage-rights talking point.
----- 1 -----
Evolution theory on last legs, says seminary teacher
By Dylan T. Lovan
ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/14244463.htm
LOUISVILLE - To William Dembski, all the debate in this country over evolution won't matter in a decade.
By then, he says, the theory of evolution put forth by Charles Darwin 150 years ago will be dead.
[...]
Dembski is one of the country's leading proponents of intelligent design, which asserts that certain features of living organisms are best explained by an intelligent cause. The ideas put forth by Dembski's movement have piqued the interest of some school boards, churches and politicians -- including Kentucky's governor and President Bush.
But biologists call Dembski's statements on the death of evolution absurd. They say intelligent design, or ID, has failed as a science, so its supporters are trying to foster interest in a receptive public.
Dembski, who holds a Ph.D. in mathematics and philosophy, teaches a course on intelligent design at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. He calls Darwinian evolution "viscerally unacceptable" to most Americans.
[...]
Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher called design by an intelligent source a "self-evident truth" in his annual State of the Commonwealth address in January. Fletcher has said he would encourage schools to teach the concept.
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
Schiavo Remembered, Honored
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
March 30, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0040014.cfm
SUMMARY: It's been a year since the agonizing case of the
profoundly disabled woman came to a sad end.
Friday marks one year since the court-ordered death of
Terri Schindler Schiavo at a hospice in the Clearwater,
Fla., area. It will be a day tinged with sadness -- but
also one of hope.
The removal of the profoundly disabled woman's feeding and
hydration tube came by order of Pinellas County Judge
George Greer -- but it was done at the insistence of her
husband, Michael Schiavo, and over the protests of her
parents, Robert and Mary Schindler.
The Schindlers went all the way to Congress, President
Bush and the Supreme Court to try to save their child, but
failed. Thirteen days after the tube was removed, Terri
died.
Focus on the Family Action Chairman Dr. James Dobson said
the media -- even one year later -- is still trying to
cover up what really happened to her.
[...]
For more about last year's fight to save Terri Schiavo --
and the real issues it raised about euthanasia -- please
see, "What You Need to Know About Terri Schiavo," by
Carrie Gordon Earll, on the Focus on Social Issues Web
site.
http://www.family.org/cforum/fosi/bioethics/facts/a0027736.cfm
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
SENATE MULLS VIDEO-GAME RESTRICTIONS
Subcommittee hears from victims of those steeped in violent play.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
March 30, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0040013.cfm
States are passing laws to restrict the sale of violent
video games to young people, but the courts are striking
them down. That's why the U.S. Senate is getting involved,
asking those affected by video-game-related violence to
share their stories.
But Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., who chairs a Judiciary
Committee subcommittee considering the issue, said
legislation is a long way off.
One of those who testified before Brownback's subcommittee
was Steve Strickland, who told senators how a teenager
"executed" his brother and two fellow police officers.
"They were not just shot," he said. "All three received a
bullet to the head after they were on the floor. Devin
Moore (the shooter) practiced on this game hour after hour
to kill our loved ones. It made him a more effective
killer."
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
Little Movement on RU-486 Bill
SUMMARY: Family advocates wonder why Congress won't move to pull abortion drug off market in the wake of two more deaths.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
March 30, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0040012.cfm
How many more young women have to die before RU-486 is
taken off the market? That's a question many are asking
in light of two more deaths connected to use of the
abortion pill.
Despite the obvious risks of taking the medication,
though, Congress seems unwilling to move forward with a
vote on pulling the drug off the market at least
temporarily.
The drug was quickly approved during the Clinton
administration, but it's not being used the way the Food
and Drug Administration envisioned, under a doctor's
supervision. Pro-life groups are urging Congress to
consider Holly's Law, a bill that would remove the pill
from store shelves.
[...]
FOR MORE INFORMATION/TAKE ACTION: To learn more about the
health dangers of RU-486, visit the Focus on Social Issues
Web site.
http://www.family.org/cforum/fosi/bioethics/faqs/a0027731.cfm
Then, please take a moment to contact your congressman and
senators and urge them to allow Holly's Law to come to the
floor for a vote. For contact information, including an
easy-to-use e-mail form, visit the CitizenLink Action
Center and type your ZIP code into the space provided.
http://www3.capwiz.com/fof/dbq/officials/
[More at URL]
----- 5 -----
Out-of-State Gay Couples Still Can't Get Married in Massachusetts
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
March 30, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court today upheld a
law prohibiting out-of-state couples from marrying in the
commonwealth if their marriage would be prohibited in
their home states.
The lawsuit was filed by out-of-state same-sex couples
seeking to have the 1913 law thrown out. Had the law been
declared unconstitutional, gay couples from across the
nation may have been allowed to marry in Massachusetts,
with many then returning home to demand their home states
recognize their marriages.
The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), which filed a
friend-of-the-court brief in the case in defense of the
law, applauded the court's decision.
"This case has important implications for the rest of the
country with regard to defending marriage against
activists who are attempting to destroy it," said Glen
Lavy, senior vice president of ADF's Marriage Litigation
Center. "Legally, marriage is designed to protect
children. The state's primary interest in licensing
marriage is to encourage parents to get married and raise
their children together.
"Massachusetts' recognition of same-sex marriage already
undermines this essential principle; allowing couples
prohibited from marrying in their own states to marry in
the commonwealth would only have exacerbated the problem."
----- 6 -----
Planned Parenthood Lures Teens With iPods, Movie Tickets
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
March 30, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
The nation's largest abortion provider is trying out a new
marketing tactic -- dangling iPods, movie tickets and
discount coupons in front of potential clients, most of
whom are likely to be teenagers.
Anyone who makes an appointment at one of eight facilities
run by Planned Parenthood Golden State before the end of
April can enter to win the iPod, according to Douglas R.
Scott, president of Life Decisions International (LDI).
"Now what age group is most likely to be swayed by this
kind of gimmick?" Scott asked. "This incentive is clearly
aimed at young people.
In another program, Planned Parenthood is offering free
movie passes to anyone who refers a friend to one of its
clinics.
"Just like any other business, Planned Parenthood utilizes
programs designed to bring in more customers. Just like
any other business, a key target group for Planned
Parenthood is young people," Scott said. "And just like
any other business, Planned Parenthood seeks to get more
young people in their doors to increase the size of their
already overflowing coffers -- funds often provided by
taxpayers.
"And once a teenager is hooked, he or she can prove to be
a good source of income for many years to come."
----- 7 -----
Abortion Advocates Target PRCs
SUMMARY: The pro-abortion lobby wants a crackdown on pregnancy-resource centers.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
March 31, 2006
by Pete Winn, associate editor
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0040036.cfm
Even though abortion clinics themselves are not subject to
any kind of federal restraints, a pro-abortion
congresswoman said she wants Congress to regulate pro-life
pregnancy-resource centers (PRCs) under federal
truth-in-advertising regulations.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., has introduced a bill
designed to crack down on PRCs -- also known as
crisis-pregnancy centers -- which she says engage in
"deceptive advertising."
"When women are making a health decision, they should
never be subject to deceit or trickery," Maloney said.
"Some of these crisis-pregnancy centers should be called
'counterfeit pregnancy centers.' "
But Kristin Hansen of CareNet, the largest network of
pregnancy-resource centers in the country, said the
charges simply aren't true.
These days, she explained, many if not most PRCs have
converted into full-fledged medical clinics, with the
supervision of a medical doctor, nurses and personnel on
staff who are qualified to run ultrasound machines.
[More at URL]
----- 8 -----
COMMENTARY: GESTURE OF DISRESPECT
You won't believe the question a reporter asked Antonin Scalia.
Gesture of Disrespect
by Gary Schneeberger, editor
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
March 31, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/commentary/a0040038.cfm
You've probably heard by now of the hubbub over an
encounter Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had with a
journalist as he left a Catholic Mass last Sunday.
After a Boston Herald reporter asked him a question he
wasn't inclined to answer, Scalia made a hand gesture --
involving the movement of his fingers under his chin -- in
her direction. The reporter characterized it in print as
"obscene," but Scalia maintained it was simply meant as
dismissive, as in "I have no interest in answering your
question." In a letter to the Herald's editors questioning
the reporter's interpretation of the exchange, Scalia
charged her with having "watched too many episodes of 'The
Sopranos.' "
The judge let her off easy. She's guilty of a lot more
than that.
[...]
The worst of it isn't even anything she wrote -- but the
question she asked that offended Scalia in the first
place. Given a rare chance to ask the media-shy 20-year
veteran of the high court a question as he departed the
Cathedral of the Holy Cross, the best Sweet could muster
was something along the lines of, "Do attorneys who appear
before you have reason to be concerned about your
impartiality in church/state cases given the fact that you
so openly celebrate your Roman Catholic beliefs?"
[...]
TAKE ACTION: Please take a moment to respectfully ask the
editors of the Boston Herald to be more careful and fair
in their coverage of Christians and Christianity. To
compose an e-mail to send the paper's headquarters, click
the link below.
http://www3.capwiz.com/fof/mail/compose/?type=ME&mediaid=323
[More at URL]
----- 9 -----
Colorado Plan-B Legislation Headed for Veto
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
March 31, 2006
A Colorado bill that would allow pharmacists to prescribe
the morning-after pill cleared its final legislative
hurdle today, but appeared headed for a veto by the
governor.
The Denver Post reported that Republican Gov. Bill Owens
has "strong concerns" about the bill, particularly a
provision to allow pharmacists to give the pills to minors
without medical consultation.
Dan Hopkins, Owens' spokesman, also said the governor has
concerns whether it is proper to have pharmacists
prescribe drugs.
The bill's sponsor, Democratic Sen. Betty Boyd, said she
expects Owens to veto the measure, adding that Democrats
probably won't try an override.
While supporters say the he morning-after pill, sold under
the name Plan B, would reduce the number of abortions, it
can sometimes prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in
the womb, which pro-lifers say is essentially an early
abortion.
"Those of us that believe life begins at conception really
take exception to this statement that emergency
contraception prevents pregnancy before it occurs," said
Republican Sen. Doug Lamborn of Colorado Springs. "Perhaps
if science can come up with some guarantees, I'd be more
comfortable with it."
TAKE ACTION: If you are a Colorado resident, let Gov.
Owens know you support a veto of the legislation that
would allow pharmacists to prescribe the morning-after
pill. You can find send him e-mail through the CitizenLink
Action Center.
http://www3.capwiz.com/fof/bio/?id=9480&lvl=S&chamber=G
----- 10 -----
Congressmen Call Again for Pulling RU-486 From Market
Amelia Wigton
Concerned Women for America
March 31, 2006
http://www.cwalac.org/article_317.shtml
The recent and tragic deaths of two more women from RU-486, bringing the U.S. toll to seven, prompted a March 29 press conference on Capitol Hill where key representatives reiterated their staunch support of legislation aimed at pulling the dangerous drug off the market.
The RU-486 Suspension and Review Act (H.R.1079) is typically referred to as “Holly’s Law,” in memory of 18-year-old Holly Patterson, who died in 2003 after taking the drug. H.R. 1079 was introduced in March of 2005 and has 79 House co-sponsors. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) introduced the Senate version of the bill, which has 11 co-sponsors.
Concerned Women for America (CWA) strongly supports this legislation and is actively lobbying for its passage.
[...]
Key members of the House, including Reps. Trent Franks (R-Arizona), Chris Smith (R-New Jersey), Mike Pence (R-Indiana), Joe Pitts (R-Pennsylvania) and Roscoe Bartlett (R-Maryland) spoke at the press conference.
[More at URL]
----- 11 -----
Illinois Governor Blagojevich Toughens Directive Forcing Morning After Pill Use
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 28, 2006
http://www.lifenews.com/state1535.html
Springfield, IL (LifeNews.com) -- Not satisfied with forcing Illinois pharmacists to dispense the morning after pill if its in stock, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has issued an updated executive order forcing pharmacies to order more morning after pills if they are unavailable.
The new directive comes after the state took disciplinary action against a pharmacist at a central Illinois drug store told a nurse that the store did not carry the Plan B pills when they were actually in stock.
Under his new order, pharmacies must order more Plan B pills on a customer's request if they are out of stock. Otherwise, the pharmacy is obligated to transfer the prescription to another store that can fill the order or provide an alternative drug.
According to the Springfield Journal Register, Blagojevich is also requiring pharmacies to post a phone number and web site for customers to use to complain if they can't get their morning after pill prescription filled by the store.
[...]
The revised executive order is another slap in the face to pharmacies and pro-life pharmacists who don't want to dispense a drug that can cause abortions.
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
House Members Want 'Abortion Pill' Off the Market
By: Ivy J. Sellers
Posted 03/29/06
04:03 PM
http://www.humaneventsonline.com/blog-detail.php?id=13628
Today Rep. Chris Smith (R.-N.J.), co-chairman of the Pro-Life Caucus in the House of Representatives, along with seven other House Republicans, led the charge to take off the market an abortion pill they say is deadly. (See photos below.)
The drug, known officially as Mifeprex or RU-486, is used by women hoping to terminate an unwanted pregnancy; but, at this point, it's not only killing their unborn babies, it's killing the women who use it as well.
Recently it was reported that two more women have died as a result of taking the pill -- making a total of seven known deaths in the U.S. and at least three overseas since the drug was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2000.
[More at URL]
----- 13 -----
Ten Commandments in Oklahoma
Concerned Women for America
3/27/2006
http://www.cwfa.org/articledisplay.asp?id=10411&department=CWA&categoryid=misc
There is a new Ten Commandments case underway that could become the first of these cases to go before a jury. Civil Rights Attorney Leah Farish is involved with this case, representing the person who donated the monument. She spoke with Bob Knight, Director of CWA’s Culture & Family Institute, about why this case is unique and has the power to turn back attempts to secularize the nation. Click here to listen.
[Robert Knight and Leah Farish, Special guest. Leah Farish: Green v. Haskell County in Oklahoma; "the reason that this might be a little different is there's a possibility this might go before a jury"; expecting a jury to rule in favour of the 10 Commandments display regardless of anything else. It's a new one, put up two years ago. "Current law tends to favour older displays." Plan is to assert that the courthouse lawn is a "forum" and therefore the 10 Commandments display is public speech. Alliance Defense Fund is representing the county, Leah Farish is representing the donor of the display. Also floats the legal argument that removing the 10 Commandments display would be anti-religion; "once placed... then when it's ripped out, you also are not allowed under Lemon vs. Curtzman, under the first amendment, to show hostility to religion, and I think that sends a more powerful message than when you have accepted a gift from a bunch of community members and placed it with no dissent." Robert Knight attacks ACLU as trying to destroy American heritage. Donor is a preacher. Farish claims the 10 commandments "are not a particular religious expression," which only makes sense in the context that only Christianity (and Judaism) are real religions. Robert Knight: "We know it came from God directly on Mt. Sinai, and it didn't come to the Buddhists or the Hindus, and it really is part of the fabric of our moral culture." Compares people who want it removed to Communists, "ripping away symbols of the peoples' past." Knight attacks judges as "playing God now."]
----- 14 -----
New Attack Launched Against Ex-Gay Ministries
Concerned Women for America
3/31/2006
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/10426/CWA/misc/index.htm
Matt Foreman, head of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, is calling for a nationwide effort to keep the knowledge and message of the ex-gay movement out of public schools. This effort is being launched just ahead of the “Day of Truth,” a day where Christian students counter the pro-homosexual message of the “Day of Silence.” Bob Knight, Director of CWA’s Culture & Family Institute, speaks with Stephen Bennett, of Stephen Bennett Ministries, about this effort to silence the message of redemption. Click here to listen.
[Robert Knight and Stephen Bennett: Robert Knight: "There are more good materials now finding their way into schools that tell kids they have a choice, they don't have to get into the homosexual lifestyle even if they have feelings in that direction, and they give solid scientific information. PFOX, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, has some wonderful brochures telling kids you have a choice, before you get into this, know the facts, that sort of thing, and so, we're seeing that the organised homosexual lobby is now fighting back and saying that they have to fight the so-called religious right and keep them from getting to the kids, so they can get to the kids, and persuade them that they're born gay and can't change and if they want good mental health, they have to continue pursuing the gay lifestyle."
Steven Bennett: "We've been facing that... for about the last six years. They're trying to do anything that they can to silence our voices of proclaiming the truth and, you know, it's not only within ex-gay ministries, I think you can see this across the board with Christianity itself. Anything that proclaims the truth, they're trying to silence, but again, specifically on this issue within the schools, within homosexuality being touted as natural and normal, you know, they don't want the truth to be proclaimed, because I firmly believe that if people do hear the truth - that people are not born gay and that people can change - their whole entire agenda crumbles. There goes gay adoption, gay marriage, gay-straight alliances, everything out the door, because it's firmly built on this faulty presupposition that people are born gay and that people can't change. But people such as myself and thousands of other men and women who are out there are living proof that that's a complete lie, and they do not want that truth to be heard."
Knight: "The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force used to be one of the more respected [laughs] of the homosexual activist organisations, and they used to have kind of a professional tone, but since Matt Forman took over as executive director, they've been rather shrill. He's been accusing Christian leaders of, quote, having blood on their hands, you know, whenever there's a tragic incident in which a man, I think it was a homosexual sex hustle gone bad and they killed a guy [Ed. Note: Note the blaming of the victim; we don't even know what case this is; we don't know who or what it was about; Knight has turned a murder victim, via allegation, into somebody who 'had it coming'; this is the same slime technique used to attack rape victims], and he put out a press release blaming prominent Christian figures, saying if they wouldn't be so homophobic, this wouldn't have happened, which is what they did to us during the Matthew Sheppard incident in 1998, when Matthew Sheppard was a victim of a mugging, really [Ed. Note: !!!! He was beaten nearly to death and left to die], but they went beyond it, and left him exposed, and he died. Note again the minimisation of the crime of murder; he wasn't murdered, "he died."] And he became the national poster boy for hate crimes, and the idea that anybody who opposed homosexuality is practically begging for gays to be hunted down and killed. I mean it's a libel against people who hold traditional values and actually have compassion for people who are struggling with homosexuality and want to lead them out of the darkness and into the light. It's a polar opposite of what we're trying to do. [Ed. note: CWA is one of the main propaganda of anti-gay slander of the most vile sort.]"
Knight: "But Matt Forman recently said that he and his organisation, which has millions of dollars and many staff members, are going to target the schools and try to keep kids from hearing the message of ex-gays. In other words, they're going to deny these kids the choice and the chance to overcome desires they've had and to only hear one side of the issue, and I think that'd be very tragic if they get away with it."
Knight: "The ex-gay message is: you don't have to engage in sex. Period. You have a choice. You may have desires and you don't know where you got them or how, but you're a human being created in the image of God, and you have the power to channel your sexuality into something that God would honour and allow to become a wonderful part of your life instead of something that will lead you down a tragic path. And I think when Stephen talks to young people, I think what Stephen tries to do is deprogramme them from the cultural messages they're getting that they're all going to do it, that they're fated to do it, and that they have no choice."
Bennett: "It is difficult... but it's not impossible... Many of the youth of today have been programmed to believe a false message, and they're being bombarded with this of course through MTV, the movies, newspapers, radio, anything, they're constantly getting this message, and even in their schools. But when someone like myself, or again, numerous other men and women who have come out of homosexual behaviour, let me make this clear: I'm a heterosexual man who once engaged in homosexual behaviour. i was not a homosexual individual and I make that clear with anyone: I believe we were all created heterosexual individuals, male and female. I just happened to engage in homosexual sin. So when I explain that to students and how I ended up straying down that path, they can understand it a little bit better. They may not understand everything, but they hear a different message, many of them for the very first time, that I never knew that people were not born gay, and I never knew that people could change. And we're going to be partnering with the Alliance Defense Fund coming up in the Day of Truth, and we're going to be speaking out in the Chicago area, and also at some major public high schools around the nation, declaring the truth about homosexuality, that we believe people are not born gay, and again that people can change. We'll be going in to some schools through the religious club, and of course, we'll be bringing the gospel and the message of Christ, and the other ones where we're going in through free speech clubs or maybe other things where we can't necessarily present the gospel, especially if we're speaking to entire student bodies, I'm going to share my testimony of coming out, but from a secular perspective, and listen: it's just as powerful to see that someone who once engaged in homosexuality has come out of it, and is now happily married to a wife and kids, so, this is a message that our youth needs to hear today, it is not a dangerous message, as some militant gay activists are trying to put out. Again, they're trying to silence the truth. And people need to realise the entire homosexual activist movement is not about equality, it's not about tolerance, it's about power. They're the ones who want control and they want to be in control of everything."
Knight: "The Day of Truth itself is a response to the homosexual activists' Day of Silence the day before, I think it's April 27th, Day of Truth is the next day, you might check on those dates, but it's near the end of April, and the Alliance Defense Fund came up with this idea, that hey, why not give kids a chance to counter the idea that you can't tell the truth about homosexuality. And i think they had something like 130 schools initially, and if you look at the history of the Day of Science, they began with a handful of schools, in places like Massachusetts and California, and they spread, and now they claim they're in something like 4,000 schools. Alliance Defense Fund hopes to duplicate that kind of success and have people in schools all over the country rising up and saying, it's time for us to be able to tell the truth, you can't silence us anymore. ... They have to counter the constant propaganda they got from not only the media but school officials these days. A lot of them are just misled, seriously, I think they think it's the compassionate response to allow a gay-straight alliance and say, well, we're going to shelter these kids from bullying. But the answer of course is not to provide a place where they'll be ushered into the gay lifestyle and even sent off-campus to gay activist groups and even gay bars, but to give them the tools they need to counter temptations that could take them down the wrong path. They're there, and we have to work harder to make sure kids have access to materials and speakers like Stephen Bennett who can tell them the truth."
----- 15 -----
Conferences Slated to Equip Pastors, Laity for Ministry to Homosexuals
By Allie Martin
American Family Association
Agape Press
March 31, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/3/afa/312006b.asp
(AgapePress) - A North Carolina-based ministry is planning a series of conferences geared toward church pastors, staff members, and lay leaders in an effort to better equip them to minister to those who want to leave the homosexual lifestyle.
Tim Wilkins is a former homosexual who now runs Cross Ministry, which helps to equip churches to evangelize and disciple the homosexual. One of the ways Cross Ministry achieves its goal is through conferences that convey -- through personal testimony, workshops, and literature -- the reality of change for those struggling with same-sex attraction. This summer, Wilkins' ministry will hold a series of one-day conferences under the banner of "More Than Words."
Wilkins explains that the conferences will equip Christians how to better ministry to homosexuals. "The conference itself is [subtitled] 'Walking People Out of Homosexuality' -- not ... 'Walking Out of Homosexuality,'" the ministry leader explains. "If we used the title 'Walking Out of Homosexuality,' the implication ... would be that the conference is only for those who are dealing personally, in their own lives, with homosexuality."
But that is not the case, Wilkins says. "[T]his conference is for everybody -- pastors, associate pastors, church staff, professionals, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, neighbors, coworkers." The ministry website promises to get conference attendees to the "bottom line" where they can make a difference in the lives of homosexuals by "witnessing the grace, love, and power of Jesus Christ who makes 'all things new.'"
[More at URL]
----- 16 -----
Falwell Defends Choice of McCain as Graduation Speaker at Liberty Univ.
American Family Association/Agape Press
By Jim Brown
March 31, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/3/afa/312006d.asp
(AgapePress) - Dr. Jerry Falwell is defending his decision to invite Arizona Senator John McCain to speak at Liberty University's spring commencement ceremony. McCain will make his first ever appearance at the Lynchburg, Virginia, school when he delivers the Christian university's commencement address on May 13.
The invitation from Liberty Chancellor Jerry Falwell may come as a surprise to some conservatives, considering McCain's past opposition to the Federal Marriage Amendment, his support for embryonic stem-cell research, and his recent cameo appearance on the raunchy, nudity-filled movie Wedding Crashers. But Dr. Falwell said he wanted to invite a "dominant Christian leader of the free world."
"There are several very good pro-life, pro-family candidates who are vying for the White House, and I thought I would invite one of them who's an American hero, a military hero, who's a U.S. Senator, and who, very frankly, is at the moment the frontrunner," Falwell explains. "That doesn't mean we're endorsing Senator McCain, but it does mean we're taking a very close look."
According to Dr. Falwell, Senator McCain assured him during a telephone conversation earlier this week that if federal courts were to toss out state amendments protecting traditional marriage, he would be "a champion and a leader" for a Federal Marriage Amendment.
----- 17 -----
Darwinism Critic Applauds California School District's New Science Policy
By Jim Brown
American Family Association/Agape Press
March 31, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/3/afa/312006e.asp
(AgapePress) - A southern California school district has voted to allow teachers to present scientific criticisms of evolution in biology class. Under a new policy adopted by the Lancaster School District, "discussions that question the theory of evolution may be appropriate as long as they do not stray from current criteria of scientific fact, hypothesis, and theory."
The school district officials' vote came after a citizens group called Integrity in Academics organized support for the policy change. Attorney Larry Caldwell, president of the group Quality Science Education for All, also backed the new guidelines. Such policies are not frequently found in public schools, Caldwell notes. "This is significant because, in too many school districts around the country, we find that any criticism of Darwinism is suppressed," he says.
[Ed. Note: Larry Caldwell is a well-known Creationist; his group, "Quality Science Education for All" is a well-known Creationist stalking horse.]
Education activists have been advocating revisions in the Lancaster, California, school district with respect to the teaching of evolution for some time now. Besides the changes in the school's science education policy, the district is also looking to adopt new science textbooks: the current texts do not even mention the so-called Cambrian explosion -- a period in the fossil record marked by a geologically sudden appearance of complex multi-cellular macroscopic organisms.
[More at URL]
----- 18 -----
Focus on the Family Dumps Wells Fargo
By AFA Journal
American Family Association/Agape Press
March 31, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/3/afa/312006f.asp
(AgapePress) - Focus on the Family announced in December that it is ending its banking relationship with Wells Fargo due to that company's aggressive efforts to promote the homosexual-rights movement.
Over the years, the pro-family organization had become aware of other pro-homosexual efforts by the company. But what finally tipped the scales was the decision by Wells Fargo to support the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) with company money.
"Earlier this year we learned that Wells Fargo gave a matching gift to a pro-homosexual group to enable it to raise more money to fight organizations like our own," Focus said in a December press release. "As one of Wells Fargo's customers, we objected, and we received no satisfactory resolution from the bank's corporate office."
[More at URL]
----- 19 -----
Feminist's Resurrect an Old Theme about Stay-at-Home Moms
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
March 31, 2006
by Kim Trobee
http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0040022.cfm
Good Morning America guest says a "woman's place in the office."
If you’re a stay-at-home mom, you could be a threat to civilization. That’s according to feminist, Linda Hirshman, who recently appeared on a two-part segment on Good Morning America. Hirshman claims an “educated, competent adult’s place is in the office.” Those are fighting words for women who have chosen to stay home and raise a family.
Ivonne Strevette used to work outside the home, but with five children ages 11 to 6 months, she’s decided to go the stay-at-home route. She admits there are days when she’s had enough.
[...]
Rebecca Hagelin, author of the book Home Invasion says the feminist agenda hasn’t changed since it raised its ugly head in the 1960’s.
“It’s really an empty lie that they’ve been selling to women for generations and the fact that they’re now hitting the American airwaves and the networks again, it’s just the same old mantra repackaged.”
[...]
Hagelin says she believes they are just the mouthpiece for a feminist movement that won’t be silent until it has destroyed marriage and the traditional family unit.
[More at URL]
----- 20 -----
Special Report: Pastor Jim Wallis: Liberalism’s ‘Religious’ Strategist
Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2664
March 30, 2006 - Pastor Jim Wallis, founder of the leftist Sojourners organization is a darling of secularist liberals who attempted to use him in the 2004 elections to seduce evangelical Christians into voting for presidential candidate John Kerry.
Wallis is also a darling of the liberal media. He is often quoted in articles critical of conservative Christians or of President Bush’s faith.
[More at URL]
----- 21 -----
TVC Chairman Holds Marriage Summit At Prominent African-American Church
Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2663
March 30, 2006 – Rev. Louis P. Sheldon held a Marriage Summit at Kingdom Builders Christian Center in Norcross, Georgia, last weekend to urge African-American pastors and lay leaders to defend their schools and legislature against the homosexual agenda.
Kingdom Builders Pastor Jamie T. Pleasant, Ph.D., is taking a leadership role with TVC in helping monitor school districts and the legislature to make certain that homosexual activists do not highjack the Civil Rights Movement.
According to Rev. Sheldon, “There is a growing concern among African-Americans that homosexuals are trying to claim protected minority status and are highjacking the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement. They realize that their struggle for equality can be lost to history if homosexuals continue to compare their agenda to that of African-Americans.”
[More at URL]
----- 22 -----
The Media's War on the "War on Christians" Conference
By Don Feder
FrontPageMagazine.com | March 31, 2006
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=21871
Last week (March 27-28), Vision America convened a War On Christians conference in Washington, D.C. It was the first to address escalating attacks on Christians from Hollywood, the news media, academia, the courts, and activist groups like the ACLU and Anti-Defamation League.
Speakers included scholars, authors, clergy (among them an Orthodox rabbi), lawyers and members of Congress. Delegates came from as far away as South Africa. I was the conference coordinator, as well as a speaker on two panels ("Jews Confront the War On Christians" and "Hollywood: Christians Through a Distorted Lens").
You will be shocked – shocked! – to learn that the mainstream media did its best to trivialize and marginalize the conference: to present a thoughtful examination of the rising tide of anti-Christian bias and persecution as the work of hysterical, paranoid whack-jobs who are manufacturing a crisis to generate donations and mobilize Republican votes.
* An alleged news story in The Washington Post, (March 29th) by Alan Cooperman, was headlined "’War’ on Christians Is Alleged." Try to imagine the Post covering the 2005 conference Examining the Real Agenda of the Religious Far Right and headlining its story "Coming ‘Theocracy’ Alleged."
* Cooperman misidentified Dr. Rick Scarborough, president of Vision America (the conference host) as a "radio commentator." You know, one of those guys who screams at you over the airwaves. In fact, besides being the head of a growing national movement, Scarborough is a Baptist minister, an author and an acclaimed speaker.
* Cooperman included extensive quotes attacking the conference – SOP for reportage on conservative events. A professor of social ethics charged that the meeting was "a spoiled brat response by Christians who have always enjoyed the privileges of a majority position." A mainline Protestant cleric claimed that by calling attention to the war on Christians in the U.S., the conference "disrespects the experience of people who have been jailed and died because of their faith."
* This theme dominated news "coverage" – Christians are so powerful that it’s absurd to claim they’re persecuted. Thus, a commentary in USA Today (March 28th) by Tom Krattenmaker (who called the conference’s theme "overblown" and reckless): "We are in the second term of the most faith-friendly, explicitly Christian presidency in many a decade….Hollywood is producing more Christian-friendly movies [like The DaVinci Code? – DF] while Christian news media, Christian music, Christian novels and other forms of Christian pop culture continue making their strong mark on society." I’m only surprised Krattenmaker didn’t cite the presence of "In God We Trust" on our currency to refute claims of Christian persecution.
[More at URL]
----- 23 -----
FRC Praises Missouri Resolution On Marriage Protection Amendment
March 31, 2006 - Friday
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 31, 2006
CONTACT: Bethanie Swendsen (202) 393-2100
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PR06C12
"There is a sense of urgency across this country to protect traditional marriage. Already 19 states have passed state resolutions into law and the number is growing."
Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council
Washington, D.C. - Today, Family Research Council (FRC) President Tony Perkins released the following statement praising the introduction of a resolution by Missouri State Representative Jane Cunningham that urges the U.S. to approve the Marriage Protection Amendment which would define marriage in the United States as a union of one man and one woman:
"We applaud Rep. Jane Cunningham for introducing this resolution in support of an U.S. Constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man, one woman. As we've seen, the courts pose a direct threat to the will of the people and activist judges are making decisions that rightfully belong in the hands of the voters. Despite continued action by state officials to pass state resolutions, we see an even greater need for a Marriage Protection Amendment.
"There is a sense of urgency across this country to protect traditional marriage. Already 19 states have passed state resolutions into law and the number is growing. This should send a clear message to Washington and to Congress that U.S. citizens are in strong support of protecting this most sacred institution.
"As state officials and legislatures lead the way, so should the United States Congress protect their efforts by passing Senate Joint Resolution 1 this June."
----- 24 -----
FRC Welcomes Massachusetts Ruling Against Export of Same-Sex 'Marriage'
March 30, 2006 - Thursday
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 30, 2006
CONTACT: J.P. Duffy or Bethanie Swendsen, (202) 393-2100
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PR06C11
Washington, D.C. - Today, Family Research Council welcomed the 6-1 decision of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts upholding that state's enforcement of a law that prevents out-of-state couples from marrying in Massachusetts if they would be prohibited from doing so in their home state.
Peter Sprigg, FRC's Vice President for Policy and author of the book Outrage: How Gay Activists and Liberal Judges Are Trashing Democracy to Redefine Marriage, released the following statement:
"It is refreshing that the high court of Massachusetts has applied the plain meaning of the law in this case. However, the Court did leave the door open for possible future 'marriages' of same-sex couples from states that do not explicitly define marriage, such as New York and Rhode Island. The ruling also does nothing to prevent same-sex couples 'married' as Massachusetts residents from later moving to other states and demanding recognition of their unions.
"We are pleased that Massachusetts will not immediately begin exporting same-sex 'marriage' to every otherstate in the union. However, very soon we expect a ruling from the Washington State Supreme Court possibly mandating same-sex 'marriage.' If this happens, out-of-state, same-sex couples would be permitted to 'marry' in Washington state. States that have not defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman should move swiftly to do so, and Congress should act on a Marriage Protection Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in order to protect the definition of marriage once and for all."
----- 25 -----
Graphic images ignite abortion debate
Focus on the Family (Canadian version)
Today's Family News
March 31, 2006
http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/life/stories/033106.html
Pro-lifers on two university campuses are satisfied that their recent displays of graphic images of aborted babies at least provoked a renewed discussion about the realities of abortion.
“It’s not for shock value, it just makes you think,” Drew Brown, vice-president of Campus Pro-Life at the University of Calgary, told the Calgary Herald.
The group had set up an outdoor exhibit of 12 gruesome images. But while they caused many heads to turn, only a “small group of students,” according to the Herald, said they thought it was an inappropriate tactic to get people talking about abortion.
“We were impressed by the number of conversations,” CPL secretary Matt Wilson told LifeSiteNews.com. “Many students came back several times throughout the day. We achieved our goal of reigniting discussion on this taboo topic.”
The reaction was in marked contrast to a similar exhibit last year, to which the university refused the right to be displayed on campus, concerned it was too provocative. Regardless, one student managed to vandalize three of last year’s pictures.
This year, the images were allowed on campus on condition that they face inward. The university put up a sign noting that the exhibit is protected under the freedom of expression guarantees in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
[More at URL]
----- 26 -----
Faith and Freedom Network
Talking Points: The Case For Marriage V
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
http://www.faithandfreedom.us/weblog/2006/03/talking-points-case-for-marriage-v.html
Don't children just need two loving parents?
That was a key argument for advocates of no-fault divorce laws thirty-years ago. Studies show that the love of parents cannot always mitigate the harmful effects of divorce. Kids need both their mom and dad because men and women are not interchangeable.
We recognize that a two-parent home may not always be possible. Certainly, a caring society should support and aid single-parent families, but a wise society should never intentionally create families without a mother or father.
[Ed. Note: the counter-argument to this is that historically, lesbian and gay families have taken children that straight families have been unwilling to take, and studies showing that gay and lesbian couples produce children remarkably similar to those produced by opposite-sex partners actually do matter, and that this is clearly superiour to remaining in foster care. This won't work against the fundamentalists themselves, of course, since they consider having children in the mere presense of GBLT people to be a form of child abuse. But it will work for saner people.]
Focus on the Family's James Dobson: "The media -- even one year later -- is still trying to cover up what really happened" in the Terri Schiavo case;
Focus on the Family scare-story against computer games, calls for Federal action;
FotF demands to know why RU486 hasn't been taken off the market by Congress; includes ACTION ITEM to support "Holly's Law" which would take RU-486 off the market;
FotF story on the Massachusetts Supreme Court upholding their 1913 miscegenation law, barring nonresidents from getting married in Massachusetts if their states of residence would bar the marriage; the anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund is pleased;
FotF attacks Planned Parenthood, playing up the "they're only in it for the MASSIVE MONEY" angle; "once a teenager is hooked, he or she can prove to be
a good source of income for many years to come"; It's funny how they get all anti-capitalist sometimes;
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) wants a bill to crack down on deceptive advertising by fundamentalist-funded "pregnancy resource centres"; these are pseudo-clinics that dress themselves up as Planned Parenthood competitors; I know somebody who went to one once (she wasn't even pregnant) and they were convinced she was and did everything they could to keep her there for as long as possible, throwing anti-abortion propaganda at her; they do their best to put one near every Planned Parenthood clinic; recently, they've been trying to make them more clinic-like, but traditionally they offered nothing except a standard OTC pregnancy test and a lot of harassment;
FotF spins the Antonin Scalia gesture tempest in a teapot; I find their outrage - OUTRAGE! - about her question more interesting than the actual incident;
FotF ACTION ITEM to support veto of Plan B bill in Colorado;
Concerned Women for America calls for HR1079 ("Holly's Law") that pulls RU486 off the market;
After an anti-abortion pharmacist lied to a nurse and told her Plan B was not carried at the store where they worked - when in fact they did carry it and it was in stock, but the pharmacist finds Plan B morally objectionable - Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich has issued an an executive order requiring pharmacies accept orders for the pill upon customer request, or return the prescription to the customer;
Human Events coverage of the Congressional action fundamentalists are pushing to try to get RU-486 taken off the market;
Concerned Women for America's Robert Knight and guest Leah Farish talk about a 10 Commandments case in Oklahoma;
***** Concerned Women for America's Robert Knight and guest Stephen Bennett promote "ex-gay" movement; Robert Knight describes the torture murder of Matthew Shepard as a "mugging"; says that the answer for gay and lesbian people is to "not have sex. Period." Calls efforts to protect GBLT students from bullying "mislead"; guest Bennett says, "people need to realise the entire homosexual activist movement is not about equality, it's not about tolerance, it's about power. They're the ones who want control and they want to be in control of everything." This is why I listen to the ones they won't transcribe, because that's where they hide the extra red meat;
American Family Association promotes new "ex-gay" ministry initiative;
AFA: Falwell says McCain would be a "champion and a leader" for an anti-marriage Federal Marriage Amendment if courts toss out state anti-marriage amendments;
AFA: Focus on the Family dumps Wells Fargo over GBLT supportive policies;
Focus on the Family: saying that an “educated, competent adult’s place is in the office," particularly when talking about women, is "fighting words" for "women who have chosen to stay home and raise a family"; feminists want to "destroy[...] marriage and the traditional family unit";
Traditional Values Coalition does a "special report" on Pastor Jim Wallis, accusing him of being a Soviet Communist;
TVC's Louis Sheldon: racial civil rights could be "lost to history" if lesbian and gay people get civil equality, playing both the zero-sum game and the fear-of-whitey race card;
TVC links to FrontPage article on the Washington DC "War on Christians" conference, wherein fundamentalists claim Christianity is about to be outlawed and so on;
Family Research Council supports Missouri resolution introducing urging a federal anti-marriage amendment; it's only been introduced, it hasn't passed;
FRC applauds Massachusetts supreme court upholding 1913 miscegenation law;
Focus on the Family Canada on an anti-abortion effort on college campuses in Calgary and Hamilton;
Faith and Freedom Network issues another anti-marriage-rights talking point.
----- 1 -----
Evolution theory on last legs, says seminary teacher
By Dylan T. Lovan
ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/14244463.htm
LOUISVILLE - To William Dembski, all the debate in this country over evolution won't matter in a decade.
By then, he says, the theory of evolution put forth by Charles Darwin 150 years ago will be dead.
[...]
Dembski is one of the country's leading proponents of intelligent design, which asserts that certain features of living organisms are best explained by an intelligent cause. The ideas put forth by Dembski's movement have piqued the interest of some school boards, churches and politicians -- including Kentucky's governor and President Bush.
But biologists call Dembski's statements on the death of evolution absurd. They say intelligent design, or ID, has failed as a science, so its supporters are trying to foster interest in a receptive public.
Dembski, who holds a Ph.D. in mathematics and philosophy, teaches a course on intelligent design at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. He calls Darwinian evolution "viscerally unacceptable" to most Americans.
[...]
Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher called design by an intelligent source a "self-evident truth" in his annual State of the Commonwealth address in January. Fletcher has said he would encourage schools to teach the concept.
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
Schiavo Remembered, Honored
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
March 30, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0040014.cfm
SUMMARY: It's been a year since the agonizing case of the
profoundly disabled woman came to a sad end.
Friday marks one year since the court-ordered death of
Terri Schindler Schiavo at a hospice in the Clearwater,
Fla., area. It will be a day tinged with sadness -- but
also one of hope.
The removal of the profoundly disabled woman's feeding and
hydration tube came by order of Pinellas County Judge
George Greer -- but it was done at the insistence of her
husband, Michael Schiavo, and over the protests of her
parents, Robert and Mary Schindler.
The Schindlers went all the way to Congress, President
Bush and the Supreme Court to try to save their child, but
failed. Thirteen days after the tube was removed, Terri
died.
Focus on the Family Action Chairman Dr. James Dobson said
the media -- even one year later -- is still trying to
cover up what really happened to her.
[...]
For more about last year's fight to save Terri Schiavo --
and the real issues it raised about euthanasia -- please
see, "What You Need to Know About Terri Schiavo," by
Carrie Gordon Earll, on the Focus on Social Issues Web
site.
http://www.family.org/cforum/fosi/bioethics/facts/a0027736.cfm
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
SENATE MULLS VIDEO-GAME RESTRICTIONS
Subcommittee hears from victims of those steeped in violent play.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
March 30, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0040013.cfm
States are passing laws to restrict the sale of violent
video games to young people, but the courts are striking
them down. That's why the U.S. Senate is getting involved,
asking those affected by video-game-related violence to
share their stories.
But Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., who chairs a Judiciary
Committee subcommittee considering the issue, said
legislation is a long way off.
One of those who testified before Brownback's subcommittee
was Steve Strickland, who told senators how a teenager
"executed" his brother and two fellow police officers.
"They were not just shot," he said. "All three received a
bullet to the head after they were on the floor. Devin
Moore (the shooter) practiced on this game hour after hour
to kill our loved ones. It made him a more effective
killer."
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
Little Movement on RU-486 Bill
SUMMARY: Family advocates wonder why Congress won't move to pull abortion drug off market in the wake of two more deaths.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
March 30, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0040012.cfm
How many more young women have to die before RU-486 is
taken off the market? That's a question many are asking
in light of two more deaths connected to use of the
abortion pill.
Despite the obvious risks of taking the medication,
though, Congress seems unwilling to move forward with a
vote on pulling the drug off the market at least
temporarily.
The drug was quickly approved during the Clinton
administration, but it's not being used the way the Food
and Drug Administration envisioned, under a doctor's
supervision. Pro-life groups are urging Congress to
consider Holly's Law, a bill that would remove the pill
from store shelves.
[...]
FOR MORE INFORMATION/TAKE ACTION: To learn more about the
health dangers of RU-486, visit the Focus on Social Issues
Web site.
http://www.family.org/cforum/fosi/bioethics/faqs/a0027731.cfm
Then, please take a moment to contact your congressman and
senators and urge them to allow Holly's Law to come to the
floor for a vote. For contact information, including an
easy-to-use e-mail form, visit the CitizenLink Action
Center and type your ZIP code into the space provided.
http://www3.capwiz.com/fof/dbq/officials/
[More at URL]
----- 5 -----
Out-of-State Gay Couples Still Can't Get Married in Massachusetts
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
March 30, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court today upheld a
law prohibiting out-of-state couples from marrying in the
commonwealth if their marriage would be prohibited in
their home states.
The lawsuit was filed by out-of-state same-sex couples
seeking to have the 1913 law thrown out. Had the law been
declared unconstitutional, gay couples from across the
nation may have been allowed to marry in Massachusetts,
with many then returning home to demand their home states
recognize their marriages.
The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), which filed a
friend-of-the-court brief in the case in defense of the
law, applauded the court's decision.
"This case has important implications for the rest of the
country with regard to defending marriage against
activists who are attempting to destroy it," said Glen
Lavy, senior vice president of ADF's Marriage Litigation
Center. "Legally, marriage is designed to protect
children. The state's primary interest in licensing
marriage is to encourage parents to get married and raise
their children together.
"Massachusetts' recognition of same-sex marriage already
undermines this essential principle; allowing couples
prohibited from marrying in their own states to marry in
the commonwealth would only have exacerbated the problem."
----- 6 -----
Planned Parenthood Lures Teens With iPods, Movie Tickets
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
March 30, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
The nation's largest abortion provider is trying out a new
marketing tactic -- dangling iPods, movie tickets and
discount coupons in front of potential clients, most of
whom are likely to be teenagers.
Anyone who makes an appointment at one of eight facilities
run by Planned Parenthood Golden State before the end of
April can enter to win the iPod, according to Douglas R.
Scott, president of Life Decisions International (LDI).
"Now what age group is most likely to be swayed by this
kind of gimmick?" Scott asked. "This incentive is clearly
aimed at young people.
In another program, Planned Parenthood is offering free
movie passes to anyone who refers a friend to one of its
clinics.
"Just like any other business, Planned Parenthood utilizes
programs designed to bring in more customers. Just like
any other business, a key target group for Planned
Parenthood is young people," Scott said. "And just like
any other business, Planned Parenthood seeks to get more
young people in their doors to increase the size of their
already overflowing coffers -- funds often provided by
taxpayers.
"And once a teenager is hooked, he or she can prove to be
a good source of income for many years to come."
----- 7 -----
Abortion Advocates Target PRCs
SUMMARY: The pro-abortion lobby wants a crackdown on pregnancy-resource centers.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
March 31, 2006
by Pete Winn, associate editor
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0040036.cfm
Even though abortion clinics themselves are not subject to
any kind of federal restraints, a pro-abortion
congresswoman said she wants Congress to regulate pro-life
pregnancy-resource centers (PRCs) under federal
truth-in-advertising regulations.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., has introduced a bill
designed to crack down on PRCs -- also known as
crisis-pregnancy centers -- which she says engage in
"deceptive advertising."
"When women are making a health decision, they should
never be subject to deceit or trickery," Maloney said.
"Some of these crisis-pregnancy centers should be called
'counterfeit pregnancy centers.' "
But Kristin Hansen of CareNet, the largest network of
pregnancy-resource centers in the country, said the
charges simply aren't true.
These days, she explained, many if not most PRCs have
converted into full-fledged medical clinics, with the
supervision of a medical doctor, nurses and personnel on
staff who are qualified to run ultrasound machines.
[More at URL]
----- 8 -----
COMMENTARY: GESTURE OF DISRESPECT
You won't believe the question a reporter asked Antonin Scalia.
Gesture of Disrespect
by Gary Schneeberger, editor
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
March 31, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/commentary/a0040038.cfm
You've probably heard by now of the hubbub over an
encounter Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had with a
journalist as he left a Catholic Mass last Sunday.
After a Boston Herald reporter asked him a question he
wasn't inclined to answer, Scalia made a hand gesture --
involving the movement of his fingers under his chin -- in
her direction. The reporter characterized it in print as
"obscene," but Scalia maintained it was simply meant as
dismissive, as in "I have no interest in answering your
question." In a letter to the Herald's editors questioning
the reporter's interpretation of the exchange, Scalia
charged her with having "watched too many episodes of 'The
Sopranos.' "
The judge let her off easy. She's guilty of a lot more
than that.
[...]
The worst of it isn't even anything she wrote -- but the
question she asked that offended Scalia in the first
place. Given a rare chance to ask the media-shy 20-year
veteran of the high court a question as he departed the
Cathedral of the Holy Cross, the best Sweet could muster
was something along the lines of, "Do attorneys who appear
before you have reason to be concerned about your
impartiality in church/state cases given the fact that you
so openly celebrate your Roman Catholic beliefs?"
[...]
TAKE ACTION: Please take a moment to respectfully ask the
editors of the Boston Herald to be more careful and fair
in their coverage of Christians and Christianity. To
compose an e-mail to send the paper's headquarters, click
the link below.
http://www3.capwiz.com/fof/mail/compose/?type=ME&mediaid=323
[More at URL]
----- 9 -----
Colorado Plan-B Legislation Headed for Veto
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
March 31, 2006
A Colorado bill that would allow pharmacists to prescribe
the morning-after pill cleared its final legislative
hurdle today, but appeared headed for a veto by the
governor.
The Denver Post reported that Republican Gov. Bill Owens
has "strong concerns" about the bill, particularly a
provision to allow pharmacists to give the pills to minors
without medical consultation.
Dan Hopkins, Owens' spokesman, also said the governor has
concerns whether it is proper to have pharmacists
prescribe drugs.
The bill's sponsor, Democratic Sen. Betty Boyd, said she
expects Owens to veto the measure, adding that Democrats
probably won't try an override.
While supporters say the he morning-after pill, sold under
the name Plan B, would reduce the number of abortions, it
can sometimes prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in
the womb, which pro-lifers say is essentially an early
abortion.
"Those of us that believe life begins at conception really
take exception to this statement that emergency
contraception prevents pregnancy before it occurs," said
Republican Sen. Doug Lamborn of Colorado Springs. "Perhaps
if science can come up with some guarantees, I'd be more
comfortable with it."
TAKE ACTION: If you are a Colorado resident, let Gov.
Owens know you support a veto of the legislation that
would allow pharmacists to prescribe the morning-after
pill. You can find send him e-mail through the CitizenLink
Action Center.
http://www3.capwiz.com/fof/bio/?id=9480&lvl=S&chamber=G
----- 10 -----
Congressmen Call Again for Pulling RU-486 From Market
Amelia Wigton
Concerned Women for America
March 31, 2006
http://www.cwalac.org/article_317.shtml
The recent and tragic deaths of two more women from RU-486, bringing the U.S. toll to seven, prompted a March 29 press conference on Capitol Hill where key representatives reiterated their staunch support of legislation aimed at pulling the dangerous drug off the market.
The RU-486 Suspension and Review Act (H.R.1079) is typically referred to as “Holly’s Law,” in memory of 18-year-old Holly Patterson, who died in 2003 after taking the drug. H.R. 1079 was introduced in March of 2005 and has 79 House co-sponsors. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) introduced the Senate version of the bill, which has 11 co-sponsors.
Concerned Women for America (CWA) strongly supports this legislation and is actively lobbying for its passage.
[...]
Key members of the House, including Reps. Trent Franks (R-Arizona), Chris Smith (R-New Jersey), Mike Pence (R-Indiana), Joe Pitts (R-Pennsylvania) and Roscoe Bartlett (R-Maryland) spoke at the press conference.
[More at URL]
----- 11 -----
Illinois Governor Blagojevich Toughens Directive Forcing Morning After Pill Use
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 28, 2006
http://www.lifenews.com/state1535.html
Springfield, IL (LifeNews.com) -- Not satisfied with forcing Illinois pharmacists to dispense the morning after pill if its in stock, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has issued an updated executive order forcing pharmacies to order more morning after pills if they are unavailable.
The new directive comes after the state took disciplinary action against a pharmacist at a central Illinois drug store told a nurse that the store did not carry the Plan B pills when they were actually in stock.
Under his new order, pharmacies must order more Plan B pills on a customer's request if they are out of stock. Otherwise, the pharmacy is obligated to transfer the prescription to another store that can fill the order or provide an alternative drug.
According to the Springfield Journal Register, Blagojevich is also requiring pharmacies to post a phone number and web site for customers to use to complain if they can't get their morning after pill prescription filled by the store.
[...]
The revised executive order is another slap in the face to pharmacies and pro-life pharmacists who don't want to dispense a drug that can cause abortions.
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
House Members Want 'Abortion Pill' Off the Market
By: Ivy J. Sellers
Posted 03/29/06
04:03 PM
http://www.humaneventsonline.com/blog-detail.php?id=13628
Today Rep. Chris Smith (R.-N.J.), co-chairman of the Pro-Life Caucus in the House of Representatives, along with seven other House Republicans, led the charge to take off the market an abortion pill they say is deadly. (See photos below.)
The drug, known officially as Mifeprex or RU-486, is used by women hoping to terminate an unwanted pregnancy; but, at this point, it's not only killing their unborn babies, it's killing the women who use it as well.
Recently it was reported that two more women have died as a result of taking the pill -- making a total of seven known deaths in the U.S. and at least three overseas since the drug was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2000.
[More at URL]
----- 13 -----
Ten Commandments in Oklahoma
Concerned Women for America
3/27/2006
http://www.cwfa.org/articledisplay.asp?id=10411&department=CWA&categoryid=misc
There is a new Ten Commandments case underway that could become the first of these cases to go before a jury. Civil Rights Attorney Leah Farish is involved with this case, representing the person who donated the monument. She spoke with Bob Knight, Director of CWA’s Culture & Family Institute, about why this case is unique and has the power to turn back attempts to secularize the nation. Click here to listen.
[Robert Knight and Leah Farish, Special guest. Leah Farish: Green v. Haskell County in Oklahoma; "the reason that this might be a little different is there's a possibility this might go before a jury"; expecting a jury to rule in favour of the 10 Commandments display regardless of anything else. It's a new one, put up two years ago. "Current law tends to favour older displays." Plan is to assert that the courthouse lawn is a "forum" and therefore the 10 Commandments display is public speech. Alliance Defense Fund is representing the county, Leah Farish is representing the donor of the display. Also floats the legal argument that removing the 10 Commandments display would be anti-religion; "once placed... then when it's ripped out, you also are not allowed under Lemon vs. Curtzman, under the first amendment, to show hostility to religion, and I think that sends a more powerful message than when you have accepted a gift from a bunch of community members and placed it with no dissent." Robert Knight attacks ACLU as trying to destroy American heritage. Donor is a preacher. Farish claims the 10 commandments "are not a particular religious expression," which only makes sense in the context that only Christianity (and Judaism) are real religions. Robert Knight: "We know it came from God directly on Mt. Sinai, and it didn't come to the Buddhists or the Hindus, and it really is part of the fabric of our moral culture." Compares people who want it removed to Communists, "ripping away symbols of the peoples' past." Knight attacks judges as "playing God now."]
----- 14 -----
New Attack Launched Against Ex-Gay Ministries
Concerned Women for America
3/31/2006
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/10426/CWA/misc/index.htm
Matt Foreman, head of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, is calling for a nationwide effort to keep the knowledge and message of the ex-gay movement out of public schools. This effort is being launched just ahead of the “Day of Truth,” a day where Christian students counter the pro-homosexual message of the “Day of Silence.” Bob Knight, Director of CWA’s Culture & Family Institute, speaks with Stephen Bennett, of Stephen Bennett Ministries, about this effort to silence the message of redemption. Click here to listen.
[Robert Knight and Stephen Bennett: Robert Knight: "There are more good materials now finding their way into schools that tell kids they have a choice, they don't have to get into the homosexual lifestyle even if they have feelings in that direction, and they give solid scientific information. PFOX, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, has some wonderful brochures telling kids you have a choice, before you get into this, know the facts, that sort of thing, and so, we're seeing that the organised homosexual lobby is now fighting back and saying that they have to fight the so-called religious right and keep them from getting to the kids, so they can get to the kids, and persuade them that they're born gay and can't change and if they want good mental health, they have to continue pursuing the gay lifestyle."
Steven Bennett: "We've been facing that... for about the last six years. They're trying to do anything that they can to silence our voices of proclaiming the truth and, you know, it's not only within ex-gay ministries, I think you can see this across the board with Christianity itself. Anything that proclaims the truth, they're trying to silence, but again, specifically on this issue within the schools, within homosexuality being touted as natural and normal, you know, they don't want the truth to be proclaimed, because I firmly believe that if people do hear the truth - that people are not born gay and that people can change - their whole entire agenda crumbles. There goes gay adoption, gay marriage, gay-straight alliances, everything out the door, because it's firmly built on this faulty presupposition that people are born gay and that people can't change. But people such as myself and thousands of other men and women who are out there are living proof that that's a complete lie, and they do not want that truth to be heard."
Knight: "The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force used to be one of the more respected [laughs] of the homosexual activist organisations, and they used to have kind of a professional tone, but since Matt Forman took over as executive director, they've been rather shrill. He's been accusing Christian leaders of, quote, having blood on their hands, you know, whenever there's a tragic incident in which a man, I think it was a homosexual sex hustle gone bad and they killed a guy [Ed. Note: Note the blaming of the victim; we don't even know what case this is; we don't know who or what it was about; Knight has turned a murder victim, via allegation, into somebody who 'had it coming'; this is the same slime technique used to attack rape victims], and he put out a press release blaming prominent Christian figures, saying if they wouldn't be so homophobic, this wouldn't have happened, which is what they did to us during the Matthew Sheppard incident in 1998, when Matthew Sheppard was a victim of a mugging, really [Ed. Note: !!!! He was beaten nearly to death and left to die], but they went beyond it, and left him exposed, and he died. Note again the minimisation of the crime of murder; he wasn't murdered, "he died."] And he became the national poster boy for hate crimes, and the idea that anybody who opposed homosexuality is practically begging for gays to be hunted down and killed. I mean it's a libel against people who hold traditional values and actually have compassion for people who are struggling with homosexuality and want to lead them out of the darkness and into the light. It's a polar opposite of what we're trying to do. [Ed. note: CWA is one of the main propaganda of anti-gay slander of the most vile sort.]"
Knight: "But Matt Forman recently said that he and his organisation, which has millions of dollars and many staff members, are going to target the schools and try to keep kids from hearing the message of ex-gays. In other words, they're going to deny these kids the choice and the chance to overcome desires they've had and to only hear one side of the issue, and I think that'd be very tragic if they get away with it."
Knight: "The ex-gay message is: you don't have to engage in sex. Period. You have a choice. You may have desires and you don't know where you got them or how, but you're a human being created in the image of God, and you have the power to channel your sexuality into something that God would honour and allow to become a wonderful part of your life instead of something that will lead you down a tragic path. And I think when Stephen talks to young people, I think what Stephen tries to do is deprogramme them from the cultural messages they're getting that they're all going to do it, that they're fated to do it, and that they have no choice."
Bennett: "It is difficult... but it's not impossible... Many of the youth of today have been programmed to believe a false message, and they're being bombarded with this of course through MTV, the movies, newspapers, radio, anything, they're constantly getting this message, and even in their schools. But when someone like myself, or again, numerous other men and women who have come out of homosexual behaviour, let me make this clear: I'm a heterosexual man who once engaged in homosexual behaviour. i was not a homosexual individual and I make that clear with anyone: I believe we were all created heterosexual individuals, male and female. I just happened to engage in homosexual sin. So when I explain that to students and how I ended up straying down that path, they can understand it a little bit better. They may not understand everything, but they hear a different message, many of them for the very first time, that I never knew that people were not born gay, and I never knew that people could change. And we're going to be partnering with the Alliance Defense Fund coming up in the Day of Truth, and we're going to be speaking out in the Chicago area, and also at some major public high schools around the nation, declaring the truth about homosexuality, that we believe people are not born gay, and again that people can change. We'll be going in to some schools through the religious club, and of course, we'll be bringing the gospel and the message of Christ, and the other ones where we're going in through free speech clubs or maybe other things where we can't necessarily present the gospel, especially if we're speaking to entire student bodies, I'm going to share my testimony of coming out, but from a secular perspective, and listen: it's just as powerful to see that someone who once engaged in homosexuality has come out of it, and is now happily married to a wife and kids, so, this is a message that our youth needs to hear today, it is not a dangerous message, as some militant gay activists are trying to put out. Again, they're trying to silence the truth. And people need to realise the entire homosexual activist movement is not about equality, it's not about tolerance, it's about power. They're the ones who want control and they want to be in control of everything."
Knight: "The Day of Truth itself is a response to the homosexual activists' Day of Silence the day before, I think it's April 27th, Day of Truth is the next day, you might check on those dates, but it's near the end of April, and the Alliance Defense Fund came up with this idea, that hey, why not give kids a chance to counter the idea that you can't tell the truth about homosexuality. And i think they had something like 130 schools initially, and if you look at the history of the Day of Science, they began with a handful of schools, in places like Massachusetts and California, and they spread, and now they claim they're in something like 4,000 schools. Alliance Defense Fund hopes to duplicate that kind of success and have people in schools all over the country rising up and saying, it's time for us to be able to tell the truth, you can't silence us anymore. ... They have to counter the constant propaganda they got from not only the media but school officials these days. A lot of them are just misled, seriously, I think they think it's the compassionate response to allow a gay-straight alliance and say, well, we're going to shelter these kids from bullying. But the answer of course is not to provide a place where they'll be ushered into the gay lifestyle and even sent off-campus to gay activist groups and even gay bars, but to give them the tools they need to counter temptations that could take them down the wrong path. They're there, and we have to work harder to make sure kids have access to materials and speakers like Stephen Bennett who can tell them the truth."
----- 15 -----
Conferences Slated to Equip Pastors, Laity for Ministry to Homosexuals
By Allie Martin
American Family Association
Agape Press
March 31, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/3/afa/312006b.asp
(AgapePress) - A North Carolina-based ministry is planning a series of conferences geared toward church pastors, staff members, and lay leaders in an effort to better equip them to minister to those who want to leave the homosexual lifestyle.
Tim Wilkins is a former homosexual who now runs Cross Ministry, which helps to equip churches to evangelize and disciple the homosexual. One of the ways Cross Ministry achieves its goal is through conferences that convey -- through personal testimony, workshops, and literature -- the reality of change for those struggling with same-sex attraction. This summer, Wilkins' ministry will hold a series of one-day conferences under the banner of "More Than Words."
Wilkins explains that the conferences will equip Christians how to better ministry to homosexuals. "The conference itself is [subtitled] 'Walking People Out of Homosexuality' -- not ... 'Walking Out of Homosexuality,'" the ministry leader explains. "If we used the title 'Walking Out of Homosexuality,' the implication ... would be that the conference is only for those who are dealing personally, in their own lives, with homosexuality."
But that is not the case, Wilkins says. "[T]his conference is for everybody -- pastors, associate pastors, church staff, professionals, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, neighbors, coworkers." The ministry website promises to get conference attendees to the "bottom line" where they can make a difference in the lives of homosexuals by "witnessing the grace, love, and power of Jesus Christ who makes 'all things new.'"
[More at URL]
----- 16 -----
Falwell Defends Choice of McCain as Graduation Speaker at Liberty Univ.
American Family Association/Agape Press
By Jim Brown
March 31, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/3/afa/312006d.asp
(AgapePress) - Dr. Jerry Falwell is defending his decision to invite Arizona Senator John McCain to speak at Liberty University's spring commencement ceremony. McCain will make his first ever appearance at the Lynchburg, Virginia, school when he delivers the Christian university's commencement address on May 13.
The invitation from Liberty Chancellor Jerry Falwell may come as a surprise to some conservatives, considering McCain's past opposition to the Federal Marriage Amendment, his support for embryonic stem-cell research, and his recent cameo appearance on the raunchy, nudity-filled movie Wedding Crashers. But Dr. Falwell said he wanted to invite a "dominant Christian leader of the free world."
"There are several very good pro-life, pro-family candidates who are vying for the White House, and I thought I would invite one of them who's an American hero, a military hero, who's a U.S. Senator, and who, very frankly, is at the moment the frontrunner," Falwell explains. "That doesn't mean we're endorsing Senator McCain, but it does mean we're taking a very close look."
According to Dr. Falwell, Senator McCain assured him during a telephone conversation earlier this week that if federal courts were to toss out state amendments protecting traditional marriage, he would be "a champion and a leader" for a Federal Marriage Amendment.
----- 17 -----
Darwinism Critic Applauds California School District's New Science Policy
By Jim Brown
American Family Association/Agape Press
March 31, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/3/afa/312006e.asp
(AgapePress) - A southern California school district has voted to allow teachers to present scientific criticisms of evolution in biology class. Under a new policy adopted by the Lancaster School District, "discussions that question the theory of evolution may be appropriate as long as they do not stray from current criteria of scientific fact, hypothesis, and theory."
The school district officials' vote came after a citizens group called Integrity in Academics organized support for the policy change. Attorney Larry Caldwell, president of the group Quality Science Education for All, also backed the new guidelines. Such policies are not frequently found in public schools, Caldwell notes. "This is significant because, in too many school districts around the country, we find that any criticism of Darwinism is suppressed," he says.
[Ed. Note: Larry Caldwell is a well-known Creationist; his group, "Quality Science Education for All" is a well-known Creationist stalking horse.]
Education activists have been advocating revisions in the Lancaster, California, school district with respect to the teaching of evolution for some time now. Besides the changes in the school's science education policy, the district is also looking to adopt new science textbooks: the current texts do not even mention the so-called Cambrian explosion -- a period in the fossil record marked by a geologically sudden appearance of complex multi-cellular macroscopic organisms.
[More at URL]
----- 18 -----
Focus on the Family Dumps Wells Fargo
By AFA Journal
American Family Association/Agape Press
March 31, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/3/afa/312006f.asp
(AgapePress) - Focus on the Family announced in December that it is ending its banking relationship with Wells Fargo due to that company's aggressive efforts to promote the homosexual-rights movement.
Over the years, the pro-family organization had become aware of other pro-homosexual efforts by the company. But what finally tipped the scales was the decision by Wells Fargo to support the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) with company money.
"Earlier this year we learned that Wells Fargo gave a matching gift to a pro-homosexual group to enable it to raise more money to fight organizations like our own," Focus said in a December press release. "As one of Wells Fargo's customers, we objected, and we received no satisfactory resolution from the bank's corporate office."
[More at URL]
----- 19 -----
Feminist's Resurrect an Old Theme about Stay-at-Home Moms
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
March 31, 2006
by Kim Trobee
http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0040022.cfm
Good Morning America guest says a "woman's place in the office."
If you’re a stay-at-home mom, you could be a threat to civilization. That’s according to feminist, Linda Hirshman, who recently appeared on a two-part segment on Good Morning America. Hirshman claims an “educated, competent adult’s place is in the office.” Those are fighting words for women who have chosen to stay home and raise a family.
Ivonne Strevette used to work outside the home, but with five children ages 11 to 6 months, she’s decided to go the stay-at-home route. She admits there are days when she’s had enough.
[...]
Rebecca Hagelin, author of the book Home Invasion says the feminist agenda hasn’t changed since it raised its ugly head in the 1960’s.
“It’s really an empty lie that they’ve been selling to women for generations and the fact that they’re now hitting the American airwaves and the networks again, it’s just the same old mantra repackaged.”
[...]
Hagelin says she believes they are just the mouthpiece for a feminist movement that won’t be silent until it has destroyed marriage and the traditional family unit.
[More at URL]
----- 20 -----
Special Report: Pastor Jim Wallis: Liberalism’s ‘Religious’ Strategist
Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2664
March 30, 2006 - Pastor Jim Wallis, founder of the leftist Sojourners organization is a darling of secularist liberals who attempted to use him in the 2004 elections to seduce evangelical Christians into voting for presidential candidate John Kerry.
Wallis is also a darling of the liberal media. He is often quoted in articles critical of conservative Christians or of President Bush’s faith.
[More at URL]
----- 21 -----
TVC Chairman Holds Marriage Summit At Prominent African-American Church
Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2663
March 30, 2006 – Rev. Louis P. Sheldon held a Marriage Summit at Kingdom Builders Christian Center in Norcross, Georgia, last weekend to urge African-American pastors and lay leaders to defend their schools and legislature against the homosexual agenda.
Kingdom Builders Pastor Jamie T. Pleasant, Ph.D., is taking a leadership role with TVC in helping monitor school districts and the legislature to make certain that homosexual activists do not highjack the Civil Rights Movement.
According to Rev. Sheldon, “There is a growing concern among African-Americans that homosexuals are trying to claim protected minority status and are highjacking the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement. They realize that their struggle for equality can be lost to history if homosexuals continue to compare their agenda to that of African-Americans.”
[More at URL]
----- 22 -----
The Media's War on the "War on Christians" Conference
By Don Feder
FrontPageMagazine.com | March 31, 2006
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=21871
Last week (March 27-28), Vision America convened a War On Christians conference in Washington, D.C. It was the first to address escalating attacks on Christians from Hollywood, the news media, academia, the courts, and activist groups like the ACLU and Anti-Defamation League.
Speakers included scholars, authors, clergy (among them an Orthodox rabbi), lawyers and members of Congress. Delegates came from as far away as South Africa. I was the conference coordinator, as well as a speaker on two panels ("Jews Confront the War On Christians" and "Hollywood: Christians Through a Distorted Lens").
You will be shocked – shocked! – to learn that the mainstream media did its best to trivialize and marginalize the conference: to present a thoughtful examination of the rising tide of anti-Christian bias and persecution as the work of hysterical, paranoid whack-jobs who are manufacturing a crisis to generate donations and mobilize Republican votes.
* An alleged news story in The Washington Post, (March 29th) by Alan Cooperman, was headlined "’War’ on Christians Is Alleged." Try to imagine the Post covering the 2005 conference Examining the Real Agenda of the Religious Far Right and headlining its story "Coming ‘Theocracy’ Alleged."
* Cooperman misidentified Dr. Rick Scarborough, president of Vision America (the conference host) as a "radio commentator." You know, one of those guys who screams at you over the airwaves. In fact, besides being the head of a growing national movement, Scarborough is a Baptist minister, an author and an acclaimed speaker.
* Cooperman included extensive quotes attacking the conference – SOP for reportage on conservative events. A professor of social ethics charged that the meeting was "a spoiled brat response by Christians who have always enjoyed the privileges of a majority position." A mainline Protestant cleric claimed that by calling attention to the war on Christians in the U.S., the conference "disrespects the experience of people who have been jailed and died because of their faith."
* This theme dominated news "coverage" – Christians are so powerful that it’s absurd to claim they’re persecuted. Thus, a commentary in USA Today (March 28th) by Tom Krattenmaker (who called the conference’s theme "overblown" and reckless): "We are in the second term of the most faith-friendly, explicitly Christian presidency in many a decade….Hollywood is producing more Christian-friendly movies [like The DaVinci Code? – DF] while Christian news media, Christian music, Christian novels and other forms of Christian pop culture continue making their strong mark on society." I’m only surprised Krattenmaker didn’t cite the presence of "In God We Trust" on our currency to refute claims of Christian persecution.
[More at URL]
----- 23 -----
FRC Praises Missouri Resolution On Marriage Protection Amendment
March 31, 2006 - Friday
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 31, 2006
CONTACT: Bethanie Swendsen (202) 393-2100
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PR06C12
"There is a sense of urgency across this country to protect traditional marriage. Already 19 states have passed state resolutions into law and the number is growing."
Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council
Washington, D.C. - Today, Family Research Council (FRC) President Tony Perkins released the following statement praising the introduction of a resolution by Missouri State Representative Jane Cunningham that urges the U.S. to approve the Marriage Protection Amendment which would define marriage in the United States as a union of one man and one woman:
"We applaud Rep. Jane Cunningham for introducing this resolution in support of an U.S. Constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man, one woman. As we've seen, the courts pose a direct threat to the will of the people and activist judges are making decisions that rightfully belong in the hands of the voters. Despite continued action by state officials to pass state resolutions, we see an even greater need for a Marriage Protection Amendment.
"There is a sense of urgency across this country to protect traditional marriage. Already 19 states have passed state resolutions into law and the number is growing. This should send a clear message to Washington and to Congress that U.S. citizens are in strong support of protecting this most sacred institution.
"As state officials and legislatures lead the way, so should the United States Congress protect their efforts by passing Senate Joint Resolution 1 this June."
----- 24 -----
FRC Welcomes Massachusetts Ruling Against Export of Same-Sex 'Marriage'
March 30, 2006 - Thursday
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 30, 2006
CONTACT: J.P. Duffy or Bethanie Swendsen, (202) 393-2100
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PR06C11
Washington, D.C. - Today, Family Research Council welcomed the 6-1 decision of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts upholding that state's enforcement of a law that prevents out-of-state couples from marrying in Massachusetts if they would be prohibited from doing so in their home state.
Peter Sprigg, FRC's Vice President for Policy and author of the book Outrage: How Gay Activists and Liberal Judges Are Trashing Democracy to Redefine Marriage, released the following statement:
"It is refreshing that the high court of Massachusetts has applied the plain meaning of the law in this case. However, the Court did leave the door open for possible future 'marriages' of same-sex couples from states that do not explicitly define marriage, such as New York and Rhode Island. The ruling also does nothing to prevent same-sex couples 'married' as Massachusetts residents from later moving to other states and demanding recognition of their unions.
"We are pleased that Massachusetts will not immediately begin exporting same-sex 'marriage' to every otherstate in the union. However, very soon we expect a ruling from the Washington State Supreme Court possibly mandating same-sex 'marriage.' If this happens, out-of-state, same-sex couples would be permitted to 'marry' in Washington state. States that have not defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman should move swiftly to do so, and Congress should act on a Marriage Protection Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in order to protect the definition of marriage once and for all."
----- 25 -----
Graphic images ignite abortion debate
Focus on the Family (Canadian version)
Today's Family News
March 31, 2006
http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/life/stories/033106.html
Pro-lifers on two university campuses are satisfied that their recent displays of graphic images of aborted babies at least provoked a renewed discussion about the realities of abortion.
“It’s not for shock value, it just makes you think,” Drew Brown, vice-president of Campus Pro-Life at the University of Calgary, told the Calgary Herald.
The group had set up an outdoor exhibit of 12 gruesome images. But while they caused many heads to turn, only a “small group of students,” according to the Herald, said they thought it was an inappropriate tactic to get people talking about abortion.
“We were impressed by the number of conversations,” CPL secretary Matt Wilson told LifeSiteNews.com. “Many students came back several times throughout the day. We achieved our goal of reigniting discussion on this taboo topic.”
The reaction was in marked contrast to a similar exhibit last year, to which the university refused the right to be displayed on campus, concerned it was too provocative. Regardless, one student managed to vandalize three of last year’s pictures.
This year, the images were allowed on campus on condition that they face inward. The university put up a sign noting that the exhibit is protected under the freedom of expression guarantees in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
[More at URL]
----- 26 -----
Faith and Freedom Network
Talking Points: The Case For Marriage V
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
http://www.faithandfreedom.us/weblog/2006/03/talking-points-case-for-marriage-v.html
Don't children just need two loving parents?
That was a key argument for advocates of no-fault divorce laws thirty-years ago. Studies show that the love of parents cannot always mitigate the harmful effects of divorce. Kids need both their mom and dad because men and women are not interchangeable.
We recognize that a two-parent home may not always be possible. Certainly, a caring society should support and aid single-parent families, but a wise society should never intentionally create families without a mother or father.
[Ed. Note: the counter-argument to this is that historically, lesbian and gay families have taken children that straight families have been unwilling to take, and studies showing that gay and lesbian couples produce children remarkably similar to those produced by opposite-sex partners actually do matter, and that this is clearly superiour to remaining in foster care. This won't work against the fundamentalists themselves, of course, since they consider having children in the mere presense of GBLT people to be a form of child abuse. But it will work for saner people.]
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Date: 2006-04-03 02:08 pm (UTC)