Today's Cultural Warfare Update
May. 12th, 2006 02:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdThe New York Times finally notices the anti-contraception movement and growing effort to overturn Griswald so that contraception can be banned;
Focus on the Family article on the party-line vote on Brett Kavanaugh in committee; my theory is that this is really about John McCain, one of the Gang of 14; will he break the compromise he helped broker in order to win their favour in the 2008 presidential race? We'll see; note that Focus on the Family's rhetoric towards the "Gang of 14" compromise; instead of a vile roadblock, it's now a "compromise" enacted to "break the deadlock over several... nominees" which is about a zillion times more friendly - clearly they're offering an olive branch to McCain; includes the usual ACTION ITEM against any judicial filibuster;
FofF feature against California SB 1437, originally introduced against anti-gay lesson plans, amended to include GBLT figures in history and related classes; includes ACTION ITEM against the bill;
FotF condemns efforts to include contraception in the Republican health-care bill;
FotF supports "fetal pain" anti-abortion bill in Louisiana;
FotF applauds House vote to keep abortion by military doctors illegal;
FotF somewhat-admiring commentary on Dick Morris and an ACTION ITEM to demand support for the anti-marriage-rights "Marriage Protection Amendment," coming up to a vote soon;
House Armed Services Committee intervenes in military chaplain guidelines issue, inserting a clause into the DoD budget authorisation bill; I'm not certain this is particularly bad in this case, though it bothers me that they are attacking military guidelines set up in response to religious harassment at the Air Force Academy; includes ACTION ITEM to support the bill;
Focus on the Family and CWA wonk Warren Throckmorton attack the study showing that the brains of lesbians react to female pheromones like the brains of men, declare the study was reported "inaccurately"; clearly they are buying irony by the supertanker load at this point; I have no doubt at all that the media reported the story with great ineptitude, because they always do, but c'mon, guys, you have no fucking room to talk at all;
Massachusetts Supreme Court weighing validity of a proposed Constitutional amendment voiding marriage rights for lesbian and gay people; if it gets certified, then it has to go through the legislature twice (but only needs 25% YES votes) in order to get to the ballot where it will need a supermajority;
FotF claims President Clinton politicised the approval of RU-486, condemns him for it, demands it be pulled from the market immediately; see what I mean about supertankers of irony?
FotF attacks medical marijuana efforts in New Jersey, echos the usual drug warrior lines;
Centres for Disease Control doesn't want to waste its time with abstinence-only education at an anti-STD panel; Focus on the Family, et al, howl; congressional intervention from Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) gets an abstinence-only promoter wedged in;
Focus on the Family Canada's version of the "lesbian brain" story;
***** Oooh, this is neat; Focus on the Family Canada sends out a story titled "ABORTED FETAL TISSUE BEHIND MANY VACCINES" that doesn't seem to be on their website. It's against vaccines allegedly developed involving collected cells from abortions in the 1960s;
Family Research Council ACTION ITEM against Louisiana bill that would provide protection against anti-gay discrimination and harassment in state employment ; they describe it as "special privileges for homosexuals"; as always, it provides general protection on sexual orientation, which includes heterosexuality too - that's even written into the bill language explicitly - but that's never stopped them from lying about it before, why would they stop now;
American Family Association ACTION ITEM against Ford Motor for advertising in GBLT publications - in particular, in OUT magazine; calls it "proof" of "Ford's support of homosexual marriage";
AFA reports failed attempt by fundamentalist activist Ford shareholder to repeal Ford Motor's internal anti-discrimination policy; calls the 5% of the vote they got a victory; normally 95-5 is called "losing in an overwhelming landslide," but whatever;
***** Institute for Creation Research to offer a Masters Degree in Science - no, really; that part's funny, but the stated goal isn't: to create more teaching opportunities for creationists in science fields by handing out an MS in a "science" arena;
AFA and Article 8 Alliance blast youth GBLT day in Boston;
AFA newsbrief calls civil marriage for lesbian and gay people a threat to the church; also promotes Constitution Party and Mississippi comprehensive abortion ban initiative drive;
Traditional Values Coalition reports how "homosexuals target state races to gain political power";
TVC condemns CBS for running Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Public Service Announcement;
TVC ACTION ITEM urging letters to the editor condemning "lesbian brain" study reporting;
Traditional Values Coalition: "Religious Freedom Will Die If Same-Sex Marriage Legalized Nationally";
USA Today article on GBLT people in state-level races;
Anti-gay Episcopalians demand church trials against the openly-gay Bishop Robinson and the 42 bishops who consecrated him;
Here's a place where American fundamentalists and Canadian fundamentalists have little or no common ground: the Institute for Canadian Values is demanding that deportation of otherwise-law-abiding illegal immigrants stop immediately;
Canada Family Action Coalition links to a National Catholic Register story on the same testimony presented earlier by a woman who grew up with her gay father; the problem isn't so much with her unfortunate childhood, but with the fact that she and the fundamentalist movement present her case as typical, and claim from it that GBLT parentage is inherently abusive;
CFAC starts the Judicial Tyranny chant up in Canada, defending a parliamentarian who lied about a Canadian Supreme Court Justice's statements;
CFAC accuses Planned Parenthood (of Canada and the US) of supporting and promoting child pornography.
----- 1 ----
Contra-Contraception
By RUSSELL SHORTO
Published: May 7, 2006
The New York Times Magazine
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/07/magazine/07contraception.html?ex=1304654400&en=fd9a772701a5eb09&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
The English writer Daniel Defoe is best remembered today for creating the ultimate escapist fantasy, "Robinson Crusoe," but in 1727 he sent the British public into a scandalous fit with the publication of a nonfiction work called "Conjugal Lewdness: or, Matrimonial Whoredom." After apparently being asked to tone down the title for a subsequent edition, Defoe came up with a new one — "A Treatise Concerning the Use and Abuse of the Marriage Bed" — that only put a finer point on things. The book wasn't a tease, however. It was a moralizing lecture. After the wanton years that followed the restoration of the monarchy, a time when both theaters and brothels multiplied, social conservatism rooted itself in the English bosom. Self-appointed Christian morality police roamed the land, bent on restricting not only homosexuality and prostitution but also what went on between husbands and wives.
[More at URL]
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Senate Panel Approves Kavanaugh; Full Senate Vote Next
As expected, the appeals court nominee received a party-line vote
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
May 11, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0040457.cfm
The Senate Judiciary Committee today approved Brett Kavanaugh's nomination for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The 10-8 vote sends his nomination to the Senate floor, raising the issue of whether Kavanaugh will receive an up-or-down vote by the full Senate.
[...]
The question is: What will the Gang of 14 do? That's the name given to a bipartisan group of senators who struck a deal more than a year ago to break the deadlock over several of President Bush's previously stalled judicial nominees.
[...]
TAKE ACTION:
Please contact your U.S. senators through our new Action Center and tell them it is only fair that the president's judicial nominees receive a fair up-or-down vote.
[More at URL]
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Golden-State Senators Pass Bill to Teach Kids About Homosexuality
Curriculum would have to include gay historical figures and speak only positively about homosexuality.
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
Focus on the Family
May 11, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0040458.cfm
The California Senate passed legislation today, by a 22-15 vote, that would force public schools to normalize homosexuality in curriculum.
SB 1437 would require new textbooks to reflect the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in only a positive light and highlight historical figures who may have been LGBT.
Barbara McPherson, program manager of legislative affairs for the California Family Council, said debate about the proposal was headed by openly gay Sen. Sheila Kuehl.
[...]
TAKE ACTION:
We encourage California residents to contact their Assembly member and demand that he or she vote against SB 1437. You can send e-mail through our new CitizenLink Action Center.
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
Dems Call for Funding of 'Abortion-Reduction' Efforts
Translated, that means contraceptive coverage.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
May 11, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0040460.cfm
Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Harry Reid, D-Nev., tore into a Republican health care bill Wednesday for its lack of support for what they called "abortion-reduction efforts" — their new catchphrase for contraceptive coverage.
With all the traditional Democratic talking points available — coverage for the poor and elderly for example — the health-care bill sponsor, Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., said it was strange to hear Clinton and Reid choose "abortion-reduction efforts" as their point of attack.
[...]
----- 5 -----
Louisiana Looks to Pass Fetal-Pain Law
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
May 11, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0040454.cfm
Some Louisiana lawmakers are hoping to pass a law that would require doctors to tell abortion-minded women that a fetus feels pain, KATC-TV reported.
The House Health and Welfare Committee approved the measure Wednesday.
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
Abortion Provision Struck from Defense Bill
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
May 11, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0040455.cfm
The U.S. House voted down an amendment — attached to the Department of Defense Authorization bill — that would have permitted military doctors to abort preborn children.
Lanier Swann, director of government relations at Concerned Women for America, said abortion advocates have been trying to sneak this bill in for almost a decade, but time after time the House does the right thing in rejecting it.
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
Dick Morris is a Big Fan of Yours
by Gary Schneeberger, editor
Focus on the Family
Commentary
May 11, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/commentary/a0040451.cfm
Chances are, you don't think much of Dick Morris — which is why you might be surprised to learn he thinks an awful lot of you.
Morris, of course, is the one-time Clinton confidante and campaign operative best known for three things since helping POTUS No. 42 capture a second term: 1) getting caught in a compromising position with a prostitute in 1996, a dalliance that has led conservative commentators like Sean Hannity to hang some pretty colorful nicknames on him; 2) having such a bitter falling out with Clinton and his wife that he's written a pair of scathing books eviscerating the former — and future? — first couple; and 3) turning up a lot on the Fox News Channel as a political commentator.
[...]
The answers to those questions will determine what marriage will mean for future generations. Dick Morris knows that, and we'd be wise to trust him on it — no matter what we might think of his personal morality.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
To learn more about the Marriage Protection Amendment, and what you can do to help ensure its passage, visit our new CitizenLink Action Center.
[More at URL]
----- 8 -----
Congressmen Move to Protect Military Chaplains
The right to pray in Jesus' name is under attack.
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
May 10, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0040441.cfm
The House Armed Services Committee has approved language to protect the right of military chaplains to pray in accordance with their faith.
The provision, sponsored by two congressmen who are leaders on military issues — Reps. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Walter Jones, R-N.C. — was inserted into the massive Department of Defense budget authorization bill.
[...]
TAKE ACTION:
Please contact your representative and senators and ask them to support the language protecting the rights of military chaplains inserted into H.R. 5122, the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2007. You may contact them through our new Action Center.
[More at URL]
----- 9 -----
Research on the Gay Brain Reported Inaccurately
Author disputes media accounts that suggest homosexuality has a biological origin.
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
Focus on the Family
May 10, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0040439.cfm
When a team of Swedish researchers found that the brains of lesbians reacted differently to the smell of pheromones than those of heterosexual women, news outlets began touting the study as further proof that gays are born that way.
Researchers used several scents they theorized might trigger a sexual response. They found the brains of lesbians responded more like heterosexual men.
"The findings add weight to the idea that homosexuality has a physical basis and is not learned behavior," The Associated Press (AP) reported.
[More at URL]
----- 10 -----
Massachusetts High Court Weighs Marriage Protection Effort
Ballot initiative under fire is aimed at constitutionally defining marriage in traditional terms.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
May 10, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0040436.cfm
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is now considering a challenge by gay activists seeking to block a ballot initiative to bring an end to gay marriage. It's the same activist court that mandated the Legislature to legalize same-sex weddings in 2003.
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation has argued that the state constitution forbids the overruling of a Supreme Judicial Court decision.
Jordan Lorence, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, told Family News in Focus that gay activists are worried.
"They know this is a big, big loser for them, if the people get to vote on this," he said. "That's what they're trying to stop."
[More at URL]
----- 11 -----
Killer Abortion Drug Was a Pet Project of President Clinton
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
May 10, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0040443.cfm
Documents discovered in the Clinton Presidential Library have revealed that Bill Clinton's first act as president was to push for the marketing of the abortion drug RU-486 -- a drug now known to have caused the death of at least six women, LifeSite News reported.
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
Garden State Wants to Legalize Marijuana
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
May 10, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0040442.cfm
A bill in New Jersey would legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes despite evidence that there is no medicinal benefit from smoking the illegal drug, NewsMax.com reported.
Sen. Nicholas Scutari proposed the bill, which would allow people with debilitating medical conditions to use marijuana in an attempt to gain relief from pain.
[More at URL]
----- 13 -----
CDC Conference Snubs Abstinence
After protest, one speaker championing chastity is allowed on a panel.
from staff reports
May 9, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0040422.cfm
A national conference on preventing sexually transmitted diseases that is being held this week in Florida and backed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) conspicuously lacked any mention of abstinence education -- until a member of Congress complained.
Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind, said he visited the CDC's Web site and was amazed to find no one speaking in favor of abstinence education at the 2006 National STD Prevention Conference in Jacksonville.
Marc Wheat, staff director for a drug policy subcommittee that Souder chairs, said the program seemed to offer only one point of view.
[More at URL]
----- 14 -----
Media misinterpret "gay brain" study
Today’s Family News
Focus on the Family Canada
May 12, 2006
http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/sexuality/stories/051206.html
According to Dr. Ivanka Savic, who conducted a study on the different responses to sex hormones by lesbian and heterosexual women, the findings of the research have been skewed by the media.
The Swedish neurologist of the Stockholm Brain Institute said an Associated Press report was wrong in asserting that the new study added “weight to the idea that homosexuality has a physical basis and is not learned behavior.”
“This is incorrect and not stated in the paper,” Savic said in an email. In it, she was responding to a query from Dr. Warren Throckmorton, an associate professor of psychology and fellow for psychology and public policy at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania.
Although researchers did find that the 12 lesbians involved in the study responded differently than other women when exposed to pheromones, they avoided making any conclusions as to why this occurred. And yet the widely reported AP story was cited by many media outlets as still more “evidence” for a genetic or biological basis for homosexuality.
[More at URL]
----- 15 -----
ABORTED FETAL TISSUE BEHIND MANY VACCINES
Today’s Family News
Focus on the Family Canada;
May 10, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
Ottawa family physician Dr. Rene Leiva is looking for other pro-life Canadians to join him in launching a class-action suit against the federal government. He said they have failed to provide anti-viral childhood vaccines that were not developed from aborted fetal tissue.
“I’m not a lawyer, but my sense is because it goes against my [Catholic] beliefs, the government should make every effort to make that alternative available to people,” Leiva told Today’s Family News.
In many cases, manufacturers of vaccines use these cell strains as a culture on which vaccines are developed. They are then sold to provincial governments for use in compulsory inoculation programs. And while not all of the viral vaccines are grown in these cells — the Hepatitis B vaccine and some polio vaccines are grown differently — the lack of ethical options is very concerning to Leiva, who belongs to Canadian Physicians for Life.
Children of God for Life posted a list of Canadian vaccines and possible alternatives on their website. One example is Pentacel, which is administered to infants when they are two, four, six and 18 months old. Four of its five anti-viral components — pertussis (whooping cough), diphtheria, tetanus and the hib germ, which can develop into meningitis — are all grown using ethical means. But because its fifth component, polio, was grown using tainted cells, the entire product is rendered unethical, in Leiva’s opinion.
The United Kingdom uses an ethical alternative known as Pediacel. But while it was approved for use in Canada in 2000, it is not marketed here, making it both difficult and expensive for individuals to try to bring it into the country. Leiva believes that the only reason manufacturers do not produce Pediacel for use in Canada is because Pentacel is cheaper.
“That’s how they increase their profits,” he said. “Also, I guess they argue the safety and other technical reasons for it — which still may be valid from a utilitarian point of view. But the fact that something is ‘better’ doesn’t make it morally acceptable.”
Nor can Leiva imagine governments being willing to open up their contracts with the suppliers of these vaccines, “because it’s a good deal for them. It’s only under pressure from the public that they start changing.” In fact, when Leiva asked Health Canada if it would be willing to import Pediacel, he received no reply.
“All the people who are for this [existing arrangement] say, ‘These [tainted vaccines] were related to one or two abortions that happened in the 1960s,’ ” Leiva said. “If you want to be a literalist, then yes, they’re correct. Nevertheless, my research has shown that it took at least 80-something abortions to come up with the technique to be able to produce this vaccine.”
Leiva is not alone in his concern about the moral dilemma that these unethical vaccines create. In an attempt to provide some guidelines about the use of these vaccines, other Christian physicians have concluded that the ethics involved depend on how the vaccines have been developed and the distance between the end user and the means by which the vaccines were originally developed.
In a statement on the issue, the Christian Medical and Dental Association (CMDA) provides some specific recommend guidelines including its position that “using technology developed from tissue of an intentionally aborted fetus, but without continuing the cell line from that fetus, may be morally acceptable.” It goes on to posit that “[c]ontinued use of a cell line developed from an intentionally aborted fetus poses moral questions and must be decided as a matter of conscience, weighing the clear moral obligation to protect the health of our families and society against the risk of complicity with evil.”
Both Leiva and the CMDA agree that the solution to the ethical dilemma that parents face could be eliminated by developing and promoting ethical alternatives.
Health Canada allows people to refuse vaccinations for moral or religious grounds and as a matter of conscience. But Leiva insists that he cannot in good conscience advise parents not to have their children vaccinated. Because even if that means using a contaminated vaccine, that is still preferable to exposing them to the increased risk of catching a serious disease.
“For girls, rubella can be dangerous later on for their own babies. Polio can be quite bad. Chicken pox is thought to be a mild disease, but it can be serious. I have seen a four-month-old baby die of chicken pox,” he said. “I myself have a newborn, and I have had to vaccinate her with an unethical vaccine. And it’s really upsetting.”
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Please contact your Louisiana state representative and encourage him/her to vote NO on HB 853
Louisiana HB 853 would give homosexuals "special privileges."
May 9, 2006 - Tuesday
Louisiana (more on this state)
Forward to a Friend!
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=AL06E05&f=PG03I03
HB 853, which would give homosexuals "special privileges," has been introduced every year for over a decade, and every year it has died in committee, until recently. This year it has gotten more attention as the homosexual activists pursue total acceptance of their homosexual lifestyle by the general public. This radical piece of legislation is now advancing to the House floor, where it was only a few votes shy of passing last year.
Sponsored by Rep. Juan LaFonta, HB 853 would grant special protection status to a group of people based on their "perceived sexual preferences." It also adds a prohibition against "harassment" in the workplace. Harassment is undefined in the proposed legislation and in the Revised Statutes. This bill would create much confusion and it needs to be stopped, as employees would be able to move in and out of the protected class without advance notice.
[More at URL]
----- 17 -----
Ford 'Proves' Commitment To Homosexual Agenda
American Family Association
May 11, 2006
http://www.afa.net/ford051106.asp
Earlier this year, Ford Motor Company sponsored a program showing two lesbians passionately kissing each other. Now the automaker has made an in-your-face move against traditional marriage advocates with the historic step of advertising all their name brands in a homosexual magazine. This followed a request by AFA that Ford withdraw from supporting any homosexual magazine.
In the May issue of the homosexual publication OUT, Ford has advertised all eight of their brand automobiles. This is first time in history that Ford has advertised all their brands in a homosexual publication.
[...]
Take Action
If you have not already done so, sign the Boycott Ford Pledge by clicking below.
Forward this email to family and friends so they can know of Ford's support of homosexual marriage.
Click Here To Sign the Pledge Now!
If you think our efforts are worthy, would you please support us with a small gift? Thank you for caring enough to get involved.
[More at URL]
----- 18 -----
Ford Shareholders Turn Away Proposal to Amend Non-Discrimination Policy
But Proposal Supporters Encouraged by 5% Vote Favoring It
By Allie Martin
May 11, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/5/afa/112006b.asp
WILMINGTON, DE (AgapePress) - A pro-family activist says he's not surprised that a motion to remove sexual orientation from Ford Motor Company's equal employment policy did not pass. However, conservatives still say it was a victory.
Flanked by four high-level corporate officers, Ford Motor's chairman William Ford, Jr., opened today's annual shareholders meeting by saying the company is profitable in most of the world. "Worldwide our total vehicle sales have gone up for the last two years," he said. "The exception to our worldwide success is our North American automotive operations."
The two-hour meeting gave shareholders the chance to review a list of ten proposals, among them a resolution from a retired Illinois doctor that asked Ford to remove reference to sexual orientation from its written non-discrimination policy. William Ford recommended a vote against the proposal. "Ford believes that our workplace should be free from discrimination," the company leader stated. "Such an environment is conducive to productive workers."
Ford shareholder Tom Strobhar, who is a pro-family activist from Ohio, publicly read the proposed resolution and spoke in its favor. He outlined several reasons why he felt his fellow shareholders should pass the resolution.
[More at URL]
----- 18 -----
ICR Hopes Online Master's Will Create Science Teachers with Biblical Worldview
By Jim Brown
May 11, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/5/afa/112006a.asp
(AgapePress) - A well-known creationist group is now offering an online master's program for science teachers. Through the Internet-based curriculum, the California-based Institute for Creation Research (ICR) is hoping to reach out to more educators and create a network of science teachers.
Those teachers who enroll in the program will learn how to design grade-level appropriate science lessons and help their students discern between the evolutionary and biblical worldviews of science. The 11-course program includes a core comprised of science education, educational psychology, curriculum design and research courses; prescribed electives in specific areas of science, including astronomy, ecology, physics and geology; and two electives of the student's choice.
[...]
Part of the vision for ICR's online Master of Science Education program is for those who take part in it to go on to contribute to a larger scheme of "turning the country around with a creation worldview," Nason says. But before these teachers can begin transmitting that worldview, she notes, it must be instilled in the educators themselves.
[More at URL]
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Bay State Activist Blasts Governor's Promotion of Homosexual Youth Event
By Jim Brown
American Family Association
May 11, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/5/afa/112006c.asp
(AgapePress) - A Massachusetts pro-family group is denouncing a large homosexual and transgender youth event in Boston this weekend -- an event that is being promoted by Governor Mitt Romney's office.
This Saturday in Beantown, the Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth will be holding a rally and march called "Youth Pride," which is billed as "the oldest and largest event for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer youth and their allies in the nation." Kelly Lydon of Massachusetts Youth Pride says the event, contrary to some critics' fears, does not promote teenage sexual activity.
"It's a safe space," Lydon asserts. "There's no alcohol, drugs, cigarettes or sex allowed. There will be police there, there will be adult chaperones that will be there, and there's usually no problem," she says. "It's a really safe space, and it's a great day for youth."
However, Brian Camenker with the pro-family group Article 8 Alliance contends otherwise, insisting that students at Youth Pride are encouraged to flaunt their homosexuality or transsexuality. He believes claims that the yearly event does not promote homosexual lifestyles and deviant behaviors are not only false but disingenuous.
[More at URL]
----- 20 -----
Commentary & News Briefs
May 11, 2006
Compiled by Jody Brown
American Family Association/Agape Press
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/5/afa/112006h.asp
..The president of The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty warns that legalization of same-sex "marriage" will threaten churches, Christian schools, and other religious institutions. Anthony Picarello says religious groups that teach that homosexual conduct is wrong could be stripped of their tax-exempt status. He adds that Christian schools or organizations could be barred from firing teachers or employees who legally wed a same-sex partner. The Senate is expected to vote next month on a constitutional amendment that would prevent courts from redefining marriage. [AP]
[...]
...A Mississippi pro-life activist is circulating a petition to have an initiative placed on the ballot that would do what all other laws have failed to do: protect human life from natural birth to death. Since the early 1970s, the top goal of the pro-life movement has been to get Congress to pass a human-life amendment to the U.S. Constitution, knowing that it would overturn Roe v. Wade and the practice of abortion in America. David Rogers, director of the Ultimate Coalition for Unborn Children, says his group wants a statewide vote on what is being called "People's Initiative 22," a human-life amendment to the Mississippi State Constitution. "[The amendment] would protect the human life and the rights of the unborn children from conception and, actually, everybody's rights until natural death," he explains. "It's a general human-life amendment which the pro-life movement has been trying to pass in Congress to the United States Constitution, but getting anything passed through Congress has practically been impossible." According to Rogers, this is the first state version of a human-life amendment ever introduced in U.S. history. A constitutional amendment, he notes, is stronger than any law -- and a permanent protection of the people's rights. [Rusty Pugh]
...The leader of the Constitution Party says he's not surprised by recent poll results which show growing discontent with both Republicans and Democrats. A recent Zogby poll shows President Bush's approval rating has dipped below a 25 percent among his conservative base. And an Ipsos poll shows 65 percent of voters disapprove of the job Congress is doing. Michael Peroutka of the Constitution Party says Americans are fed up with both major parties. "What we really see is the progression of the same agenda by both of the major parties away from American sovereignty and the protection of American interests, et cetera, and toward this internationalist, globalist, new world order agenda," Peroutka suggests. The result, he says, represents a "uni-direction," as he calls it -- and is "the antithesis of the way America should be proceeding." He contends that most Americans realize that fact and want to see a change of direction -- something that apparently neither major party can deliver, he says. A shift in power from the GOP to the Democratic Party, he suggests, would accomplish nothing. "[T]hat's just the same old car going off the cliff at a different speed," Peroutka says. [Bill Fancher]
[More at URL]
----- 21 -----
Homosexuals Target State Races To Gain Political Power
Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2720
May 11, 2006 – Homosexual activists are running for office at the state level in order to gain more political clout in imposing the homosexual agenda upon all Americans. USA Today reports that these efforts are being made to undercut efforts to pass laws banning same-sex marriage.
More than 353 homosexuals are already in office, including 61 state legislators and three members of the U.S. Congress. This is up from 49 in 1991.
In March, three homosexual legislators in Maryland helped kill an effort to put a marriage protection amendment on the ballot.
[More at URL]
----- 22 -----
CBS Runs GLAAD PSA On Soap Opera
Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2719
May 11, 2006 – In spite of receiving more than 3,000 emails from TVC supporters who used our CapWiz email service, CBS ignored their concerns and ran its Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) public service announcement on “As The World Turns” on May 9.
The text of the PSA was designed to promote the acceptance of homosexuality for teenagers. Those opposed to homosexual sodomy were subtly linked to intolerance, prejudice and violent behavior. The PSA said: “Every day people face rejection, prejudice and violence ... But you can make a difference. Send a message of support and acceptance. Be an ally and a friend. Go to GLAAD.org.
[More at URL]
----- 23 -----
AP Misreports New Study On Lesbians And Smell
Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2718
May 11, 2006 – Associated Press Science Writer Randolph E. Schmid published an article on how female homosexual brains react differently to sex hormones than those of heterosexual women.
Schmid claimed in his article that the study published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences “add weight to the idea that homosexuality has a physical basis and is not a learned behavior.”
The study was headed by Ivanka Savic at the Stockholm Brain Institute. His team of researchers had volunteers sniff chemicals from male and female hormones thought to be pheromones—molecules said to trigger defense and sex responses in animals.
[More at URL]
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Religious Freedom Will Die If Same-Sex Marriage Legalized Nationally
Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2717
May 11, 2006 – Maggie Gallagher, president of the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy has written an important article that should be in the hands of every pastor in America. It confirms what TVC has been saying for years: That the normalization of homosexuality through same-sex marriage will lead to the destruction of religious freedom, freedom of association, and free speech in our nation.
Writing in “Banned in Boston: The coming conflict between same-sex marriage and religious liberty,” Gallagher points out that Massachusetts is leading the way in the destruction of religious liberty.
[More at URL]
----- 25 -----
Gay candidates look to further rights at state level
Updated 5/9/2006 8:28 AM ET
By Andrea Stone, USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-05-08-gay-legislators_x.htm
Stung by their failure in 2004 to stop ballot measures banning same-sex marriage, gay rights activists are moving to elect more of their own to legislatures where social policies often incubate.
The push isn't confined to places such as Massachusetts, where the state Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in 2003. Gays and lesbians are running for legislatures in Alabama, Arkansas and Oklahoma and for re-election in Idaho, Iowa, Oklahoma, North Carolina and Utah — all states whose residents voted predominantly for President Bush in 2004.
"There's a more concerted and integrated effort" in states, says Chuck Wolfe of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute, which trains and funds candidates. The group plans to give $4.3 million to openly gay candidates this year.
[More at URL]
----- 26 -----
Episcopalians want trial for homosexual bishop
Urging clergy to uphold Episcopal Church's law, doctrine
Posted: May 12, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50163
Declaring the "true church of Jesus Christ now must prevail," a group of Episcopalians has launched a campaign calling for all clergy involved in the consecration of an actively homosexual bishop to be put on trial by the church.
The selection three years ago of Rev. V. Gene Robinson to head the Diocese of New Hampshire further deepened divisions that have been growing for more than three decades between liberals and traditionalists in the 2.2 million-member branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
[More at URL]
----- 27 -----
Institute calls on government to deport criminals, not families
Institute for Canadian Values
Date: May 09, 2006
http://canadianvalues.ca/news.aspx?aid=180
OTTAWA - The Institute for Canadian Values is calling on the federal government to show restraint by directing authorities to focus their attention on deporting terrorists and criminals instead of undocumented families and workers who are otherwise law-abiding.
"The government's priorities appear to be all wrong," said Joseph Ben-Ami, Executive Director of the Institute for Canadian Values. "Surely there are still criminals and terrorists at large in Canada that ought to be deported. The government should be focused on removing them before pursuing undocumented, but otherwise law-abiding and productive workers and their families."
[More at URL]
----- 28 -----
INPERSON INTERVIEW
The Forgotten Voice in the Adoption Debate
National Catholic Register
May 7-13, 2006
by GAIL BESSE
http://www.ncregister.com/articulo4.php?artkod=NDM2
Dawn Stefanowicz and children like her are the most important voices in the debate over same-sex adoption.
And yet the voices of adult children raised by homosexuals are rarely heard.
Stefanowicz recently testified about her life with her biological father before a Massachusetts legislative committee in support of a marriage protection amendment. The amendment, which lawmakers will address May 10, would allow voters to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Stefanowicz, with her husband and children, spoke with Register correspondent Gail Besse April 20 in a phone interview from her residence.
[More at URL]
----- 29 -----
“SUPREME” Court judges and CBA need reigned in!
Canada Family Action Coalition
Online as of May 12, 2006
http://www.familyaction.org/Articles/issues/politics-law/courts/supreme-courts-and-cba.htm
Isn’t it amazing that our bestowed Chief Justice can say whatever she wants ( read a few quotes below) but not so for elected MPs – our legitimate representative lawmakers. It is also rather curious that the CBA so quickly jumps to defend a justice whom says she has the right to override OUR Constitution ( and then CBA presumably).
It seems we have 9 robed “ gods” ( of course that is just at the supreme level ) as the only source of wisdom, knowledge and justice in the land. Of course I cannot say that is what she said or else, but what did she infer? Argue that if you like, call for me to apologize and even take the issue to the “ court” of power and wisdom, but the notion that judges have supreme power over our Constitution in Canada is every bit as dangerous as the dictator rulers that have been deposed throughout history.
[More at URL]
----- 30 -----
Sexualization of children a business
Canada Familiy Action Coalition
Online as of May 12, 2006
http://www.familyaction.org/Articles/issues/child/pedophilia/normal-people-not-experts.htm
When will governments awake to the dangers of funding organizations that sexualize children , and even promote behaviors that will spread disease and even in cases kill children? An investigation of such promotion ought to be done and if there are any children who are victims of such " teaching" criminal charges should be brought.
US and Canadian based operation differ very little... -- CFAC
Rely on normal people, not experts
Commentary - May 05, 2006
By Jim Sedlak
"...Planned Parenthood's future depends on its ability to
sexualize our children. It is an organization that exists on its
income from birth control products and abortion."
I was giving a talk in Rapid City, South Dakota the other night. During the talk, I asked the audience to take a look at a book that I carry around with me. The book is being pushed for use by children age 10 and up.
[...]
Normal people all across this country should use Planned Parenthood's defense of this kiddie porn as a rallying cry. Planned Parenthood has, once again, served notice that it is after your children. It wants to get to them in the schools and the community organizations where young girls, in particular, congregate. There is a war raging in your communities and now is the time to get active.
[More at URL]
Focus on the Family article on the party-line vote on Brett Kavanaugh in committee; my theory is that this is really about John McCain, one of the Gang of 14; will he break the compromise he helped broker in order to win their favour in the 2008 presidential race? We'll see; note that Focus on the Family's rhetoric towards the "Gang of 14" compromise; instead of a vile roadblock, it's now a "compromise" enacted to "break the deadlock over several... nominees" which is about a zillion times more friendly - clearly they're offering an olive branch to McCain; includes the usual ACTION ITEM against any judicial filibuster;
FofF feature against California SB 1437, originally introduced against anti-gay lesson plans, amended to include GBLT figures in history and related classes; includes ACTION ITEM against the bill;
FotF condemns efforts to include contraception in the Republican health-care bill;
FotF supports "fetal pain" anti-abortion bill in Louisiana;
FotF applauds House vote to keep abortion by military doctors illegal;
FotF somewhat-admiring commentary on Dick Morris and an ACTION ITEM to demand support for the anti-marriage-rights "Marriage Protection Amendment," coming up to a vote soon;
House Armed Services Committee intervenes in military chaplain guidelines issue, inserting a clause into the DoD budget authorisation bill; I'm not certain this is particularly bad in this case, though it bothers me that they are attacking military guidelines set up in response to religious harassment at the Air Force Academy; includes ACTION ITEM to support the bill;
Focus on the Family and CWA wonk Warren Throckmorton attack the study showing that the brains of lesbians react to female pheromones like the brains of men, declare the study was reported "inaccurately"; clearly they are buying irony by the supertanker load at this point; I have no doubt at all that the media reported the story with great ineptitude, because they always do, but c'mon, guys, you have no fucking room to talk at all;
Massachusetts Supreme Court weighing validity of a proposed Constitutional amendment voiding marriage rights for lesbian and gay people; if it gets certified, then it has to go through the legislature twice (but only needs 25% YES votes) in order to get to the ballot where it will need a supermajority;
FotF claims President Clinton politicised the approval of RU-486, condemns him for it, demands it be pulled from the market immediately; see what I mean about supertankers of irony?
FotF attacks medical marijuana efforts in New Jersey, echos the usual drug warrior lines;
Centres for Disease Control doesn't want to waste its time with abstinence-only education at an anti-STD panel; Focus on the Family, et al, howl; congressional intervention from Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) gets an abstinence-only promoter wedged in;
Focus on the Family Canada's version of the "lesbian brain" story;
***** Oooh, this is neat; Focus on the Family Canada sends out a story titled "ABORTED FETAL TISSUE BEHIND MANY VACCINES" that doesn't seem to be on their website. It's against vaccines allegedly developed involving collected cells from abortions in the 1960s;
Family Research Council ACTION ITEM against Louisiana bill that would provide protection against anti-gay discrimination and harassment in state employment ; they describe it as "special privileges for homosexuals"; as always, it provides general protection on sexual orientation, which includes heterosexuality too - that's even written into the bill language explicitly - but that's never stopped them from lying about it before, why would they stop now;
American Family Association ACTION ITEM against Ford Motor for advertising in GBLT publications - in particular, in OUT magazine; calls it "proof" of "Ford's support of homosexual marriage";
AFA reports failed attempt by fundamentalist activist Ford shareholder to repeal Ford Motor's internal anti-discrimination policy; calls the 5% of the vote they got a victory; normally 95-5 is called "losing in an overwhelming landslide," but whatever;
***** Institute for Creation Research to offer a Masters Degree in Science - no, really; that part's funny, but the stated goal isn't: to create more teaching opportunities for creationists in science fields by handing out an MS in a "science" arena;
AFA and Article 8 Alliance blast youth GBLT day in Boston;
AFA newsbrief calls civil marriage for lesbian and gay people a threat to the church; also promotes Constitution Party and Mississippi comprehensive abortion ban initiative drive;
Traditional Values Coalition reports how "homosexuals target state races to gain political power";
TVC condemns CBS for running Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Public Service Announcement;
TVC ACTION ITEM urging letters to the editor condemning "lesbian brain" study reporting;
Traditional Values Coalition: "Religious Freedom Will Die If Same-Sex Marriage Legalized Nationally";
USA Today article on GBLT people in state-level races;
Anti-gay Episcopalians demand church trials against the openly-gay Bishop Robinson and the 42 bishops who consecrated him;
Here's a place where American fundamentalists and Canadian fundamentalists have little or no common ground: the Institute for Canadian Values is demanding that deportation of otherwise-law-abiding illegal immigrants stop immediately;
Canada Family Action Coalition links to a National Catholic Register story on the same testimony presented earlier by a woman who grew up with her gay father; the problem isn't so much with her unfortunate childhood, but with the fact that she and the fundamentalist movement present her case as typical, and claim from it that GBLT parentage is inherently abusive;
CFAC starts the Judicial Tyranny chant up in Canada, defending a parliamentarian who lied about a Canadian Supreme Court Justice's statements;
CFAC accuses Planned Parenthood (of Canada and the US) of supporting and promoting child pornography.
----- 1 ----
Contra-Contraception
By RUSSELL SHORTO
Published: May 7, 2006
The New York Times Magazine
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/07/magazine/07contraception.html?ex=1304654400&en=fd9a772701a5eb09&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
The English writer Daniel Defoe is best remembered today for creating the ultimate escapist fantasy, "Robinson Crusoe," but in 1727 he sent the British public into a scandalous fit with the publication of a nonfiction work called "Conjugal Lewdness: or, Matrimonial Whoredom." After apparently being asked to tone down the title for a subsequent edition, Defoe came up with a new one — "A Treatise Concerning the Use and Abuse of the Marriage Bed" — that only put a finer point on things. The book wasn't a tease, however. It was a moralizing lecture. After the wanton years that followed the restoration of the monarchy, a time when both theaters and brothels multiplied, social conservatism rooted itself in the English bosom. Self-appointed Christian morality police roamed the land, bent on restricting not only homosexuality and prostitution but also what went on between husbands and wives.
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
Senate Panel Approves Kavanaugh; Full Senate Vote Next
As expected, the appeals court nominee received a party-line vote
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
May 11, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0040457.cfm
The Senate Judiciary Committee today approved Brett Kavanaugh's nomination for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The 10-8 vote sends his nomination to the Senate floor, raising the issue of whether Kavanaugh will receive an up-or-down vote by the full Senate.
[...]
The question is: What will the Gang of 14 do? That's the name given to a bipartisan group of senators who struck a deal more than a year ago to break the deadlock over several of President Bush's previously stalled judicial nominees.
[...]
TAKE ACTION:
Please contact your U.S. senators through our new Action Center and tell them it is only fair that the president's judicial nominees receive a fair up-or-down vote.
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
Golden-State Senators Pass Bill to Teach Kids About Homosexuality
Curriculum would have to include gay historical figures and speak only positively about homosexuality.
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
Focus on the Family
May 11, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0040458.cfm
The California Senate passed legislation today, by a 22-15 vote, that would force public schools to normalize homosexuality in curriculum.
SB 1437 would require new textbooks to reflect the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in only a positive light and highlight historical figures who may have been LGBT.
Barbara McPherson, program manager of legislative affairs for the California Family Council, said debate about the proposal was headed by openly gay Sen. Sheila Kuehl.
[...]
TAKE ACTION:
We encourage California residents to contact their Assembly member and demand that he or she vote against SB 1437. You can send e-mail through our new CitizenLink Action Center.
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
Dems Call for Funding of 'Abortion-Reduction' Efforts
Translated, that means contraceptive coverage.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
May 11, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0040460.cfm
Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Harry Reid, D-Nev., tore into a Republican health care bill Wednesday for its lack of support for what they called "abortion-reduction efforts" — their new catchphrase for contraceptive coverage.
With all the traditional Democratic talking points available — coverage for the poor and elderly for example — the health-care bill sponsor, Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., said it was strange to hear Clinton and Reid choose "abortion-reduction efforts" as their point of attack.
[...]
----- 5 -----
Louisiana Looks to Pass Fetal-Pain Law
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
May 11, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0040454.cfm
Some Louisiana lawmakers are hoping to pass a law that would require doctors to tell abortion-minded women that a fetus feels pain, KATC-TV reported.
The House Health and Welfare Committee approved the measure Wednesday.
[More at URL]
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Abortion Provision Struck from Defense Bill
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
May 11, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0040455.cfm
The U.S. House voted down an amendment — attached to the Department of Defense Authorization bill — that would have permitted military doctors to abort preborn children.
Lanier Swann, director of government relations at Concerned Women for America, said abortion advocates have been trying to sneak this bill in for almost a decade, but time after time the House does the right thing in rejecting it.
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
Dick Morris is a Big Fan of Yours
by Gary Schneeberger, editor
Focus on the Family
Commentary
May 11, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/commentary/a0040451.cfm
Chances are, you don't think much of Dick Morris — which is why you might be surprised to learn he thinks an awful lot of you.
Morris, of course, is the one-time Clinton confidante and campaign operative best known for three things since helping POTUS No. 42 capture a second term: 1) getting caught in a compromising position with a prostitute in 1996, a dalliance that has led conservative commentators like Sean Hannity to hang some pretty colorful nicknames on him; 2) having such a bitter falling out with Clinton and his wife that he's written a pair of scathing books eviscerating the former — and future? — first couple; and 3) turning up a lot on the Fox News Channel as a political commentator.
[...]
The answers to those questions will determine what marriage will mean for future generations. Dick Morris knows that, and we'd be wise to trust him on it — no matter what we might think of his personal morality.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
To learn more about the Marriage Protection Amendment, and what you can do to help ensure its passage, visit our new CitizenLink Action Center.
[More at URL]
----- 8 -----
Congressmen Move to Protect Military Chaplains
The right to pray in Jesus' name is under attack.
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
May 10, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0040441.cfm
The House Armed Services Committee has approved language to protect the right of military chaplains to pray in accordance with their faith.
The provision, sponsored by two congressmen who are leaders on military issues — Reps. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Walter Jones, R-N.C. — was inserted into the massive Department of Defense budget authorization bill.
[...]
TAKE ACTION:
Please contact your representative and senators and ask them to support the language protecting the rights of military chaplains inserted into H.R. 5122, the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2007. You may contact them through our new Action Center.
[More at URL]
----- 9 -----
Research on the Gay Brain Reported Inaccurately
Author disputes media accounts that suggest homosexuality has a biological origin.
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
Focus on the Family
May 10, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0040439.cfm
When a team of Swedish researchers found that the brains of lesbians reacted differently to the smell of pheromones than those of heterosexual women, news outlets began touting the study as further proof that gays are born that way.
Researchers used several scents they theorized might trigger a sexual response. They found the brains of lesbians responded more like heterosexual men.
"The findings add weight to the idea that homosexuality has a physical basis and is not learned behavior," The Associated Press (AP) reported.
[More at URL]
----- 10 -----
Massachusetts High Court Weighs Marriage Protection Effort
Ballot initiative under fire is aimed at constitutionally defining marriage in traditional terms.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
May 10, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0040436.cfm
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is now considering a challenge by gay activists seeking to block a ballot initiative to bring an end to gay marriage. It's the same activist court that mandated the Legislature to legalize same-sex weddings in 2003.
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation has argued that the state constitution forbids the overruling of a Supreme Judicial Court decision.
Jordan Lorence, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, told Family News in Focus that gay activists are worried.
"They know this is a big, big loser for them, if the people get to vote on this," he said. "That's what they're trying to stop."
[More at URL]
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Killer Abortion Drug Was a Pet Project of President Clinton
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
May 10, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0040443.cfm
Documents discovered in the Clinton Presidential Library have revealed that Bill Clinton's first act as president was to push for the marketing of the abortion drug RU-486 -- a drug now known to have caused the death of at least six women, LifeSite News reported.
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
Garden State Wants to Legalize Marijuana
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
May 10, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0040442.cfm
A bill in New Jersey would legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes despite evidence that there is no medicinal benefit from smoking the illegal drug, NewsMax.com reported.
Sen. Nicholas Scutari proposed the bill, which would allow people with debilitating medical conditions to use marijuana in an attempt to gain relief from pain.
[More at URL]
----- 13 -----
CDC Conference Snubs Abstinence
After protest, one speaker championing chastity is allowed on a panel.
from staff reports
May 9, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0040422.cfm
A national conference on preventing sexually transmitted diseases that is being held this week in Florida and backed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) conspicuously lacked any mention of abstinence education -- until a member of Congress complained.
Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind, said he visited the CDC's Web site and was amazed to find no one speaking in favor of abstinence education at the 2006 National STD Prevention Conference in Jacksonville.
Marc Wheat, staff director for a drug policy subcommittee that Souder chairs, said the program seemed to offer only one point of view.
[More at URL]
----- 14 -----
Media misinterpret "gay brain" study
Today’s Family News
Focus on the Family Canada
May 12, 2006
http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/sexuality/stories/051206.html
According to Dr. Ivanka Savic, who conducted a study on the different responses to sex hormones by lesbian and heterosexual women, the findings of the research have been skewed by the media.
The Swedish neurologist of the Stockholm Brain Institute said an Associated Press report was wrong in asserting that the new study added “weight to the idea that homosexuality has a physical basis and is not learned behavior.”
“This is incorrect and not stated in the paper,” Savic said in an email. In it, she was responding to a query from Dr. Warren Throckmorton, an associate professor of psychology and fellow for psychology and public policy at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania.
Although researchers did find that the 12 lesbians involved in the study responded differently than other women when exposed to pheromones, they avoided making any conclusions as to why this occurred. And yet the widely reported AP story was cited by many media outlets as still more “evidence” for a genetic or biological basis for homosexuality.
[More at URL]
----- 15 -----
ABORTED FETAL TISSUE BEHIND MANY VACCINES
Today’s Family News
Focus on the Family Canada;
May 10, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
Ottawa family physician Dr. Rene Leiva is looking for other pro-life Canadians to join him in launching a class-action suit against the federal government. He said they have failed to provide anti-viral childhood vaccines that were not developed from aborted fetal tissue.
“I’m not a lawyer, but my sense is because it goes against my [Catholic] beliefs, the government should make every effort to make that alternative available to people,” Leiva told Today’s Family News.
In many cases, manufacturers of vaccines use these cell strains as a culture on which vaccines are developed. They are then sold to provincial governments for use in compulsory inoculation programs. And while not all of the viral vaccines are grown in these cells — the Hepatitis B vaccine and some polio vaccines are grown differently — the lack of ethical options is very concerning to Leiva, who belongs to Canadian Physicians for Life.
Children of God for Life posted a list of Canadian vaccines and possible alternatives on their website. One example is Pentacel, which is administered to infants when they are two, four, six and 18 months old. Four of its five anti-viral components — pertussis (whooping cough), diphtheria, tetanus and the hib germ, which can develop into meningitis — are all grown using ethical means. But because its fifth component, polio, was grown using tainted cells, the entire product is rendered unethical, in Leiva’s opinion.
The United Kingdom uses an ethical alternative known as Pediacel. But while it was approved for use in Canada in 2000, it is not marketed here, making it both difficult and expensive for individuals to try to bring it into the country. Leiva believes that the only reason manufacturers do not produce Pediacel for use in Canada is because Pentacel is cheaper.
“That’s how they increase their profits,” he said. “Also, I guess they argue the safety and other technical reasons for it — which still may be valid from a utilitarian point of view. But the fact that something is ‘better’ doesn’t make it morally acceptable.”
Nor can Leiva imagine governments being willing to open up their contracts with the suppliers of these vaccines, “because it’s a good deal for them. It’s only under pressure from the public that they start changing.” In fact, when Leiva asked Health Canada if it would be willing to import Pediacel, he received no reply.
“All the people who are for this [existing arrangement] say, ‘These [tainted vaccines] were related to one or two abortions that happened in the 1960s,’ ” Leiva said. “If you want to be a literalist, then yes, they’re correct. Nevertheless, my research has shown that it took at least 80-something abortions to come up with the technique to be able to produce this vaccine.”
Leiva is not alone in his concern about the moral dilemma that these unethical vaccines create. In an attempt to provide some guidelines about the use of these vaccines, other Christian physicians have concluded that the ethics involved depend on how the vaccines have been developed and the distance between the end user and the means by which the vaccines were originally developed.
In a statement on the issue, the Christian Medical and Dental Association (CMDA) provides some specific recommend guidelines including its position that “using technology developed from tissue of an intentionally aborted fetus, but without continuing the cell line from that fetus, may be morally acceptable.” It goes on to posit that “[c]ontinued use of a cell line developed from an intentionally aborted fetus poses moral questions and must be decided as a matter of conscience, weighing the clear moral obligation to protect the health of our families and society against the risk of complicity with evil.”
Both Leiva and the CMDA agree that the solution to the ethical dilemma that parents face could be eliminated by developing and promoting ethical alternatives.
Health Canada allows people to refuse vaccinations for moral or religious grounds and as a matter of conscience. But Leiva insists that he cannot in good conscience advise parents not to have their children vaccinated. Because even if that means using a contaminated vaccine, that is still preferable to exposing them to the increased risk of catching a serious disease.
“For girls, rubella can be dangerous later on for their own babies. Polio can be quite bad. Chicken pox is thought to be a mild disease, but it can be serious. I have seen a four-month-old baby die of chicken pox,” he said. “I myself have a newborn, and I have had to vaccinate her with an unethical vaccine. And it’s really upsetting.”
----- 16 -----
Please contact your Louisiana state representative and encourage him/her to vote NO on HB 853
Louisiana HB 853 would give homosexuals "special privileges."
May 9, 2006 - Tuesday
Louisiana (more on this state)
Forward to a Friend!
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=AL06E05&f=PG03I03
HB 853, which would give homosexuals "special privileges," has been introduced every year for over a decade, and every year it has died in committee, until recently. This year it has gotten more attention as the homosexual activists pursue total acceptance of their homosexual lifestyle by the general public. This radical piece of legislation is now advancing to the House floor, where it was only a few votes shy of passing last year.
Sponsored by Rep. Juan LaFonta, HB 853 would grant special protection status to a group of people based on their "perceived sexual preferences." It also adds a prohibition against "harassment" in the workplace. Harassment is undefined in the proposed legislation and in the Revised Statutes. This bill would create much confusion and it needs to be stopped, as employees would be able to move in and out of the protected class without advance notice.
[More at URL]
----- 17 -----
Ford 'Proves' Commitment To Homosexual Agenda
American Family Association
May 11, 2006
http://www.afa.net/ford051106.asp
Earlier this year, Ford Motor Company sponsored a program showing two lesbians passionately kissing each other. Now the automaker has made an in-your-face move against traditional marriage advocates with the historic step of advertising all their name brands in a homosexual magazine. This followed a request by AFA that Ford withdraw from supporting any homosexual magazine.
In the May issue of the homosexual publication OUT, Ford has advertised all eight of their brand automobiles. This is first time in history that Ford has advertised all their brands in a homosexual publication.
[...]
Take Action
If you have not already done so, sign the Boycott Ford Pledge by clicking below.
Forward this email to family and friends so they can know of Ford's support of homosexual marriage.
Click Here To Sign the Pledge Now!
If you think our efforts are worthy, would you please support us with a small gift? Thank you for caring enough to get involved.
[More at URL]
----- 18 -----
Ford Shareholders Turn Away Proposal to Amend Non-Discrimination Policy
But Proposal Supporters Encouraged by 5% Vote Favoring It
By Allie Martin
May 11, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/5/afa/112006b.asp
WILMINGTON, DE (AgapePress) - A pro-family activist says he's not surprised that a motion to remove sexual orientation from Ford Motor Company's equal employment policy did not pass. However, conservatives still say it was a victory.
Flanked by four high-level corporate officers, Ford Motor's chairman William Ford, Jr., opened today's annual shareholders meeting by saying the company is profitable in most of the world. "Worldwide our total vehicle sales have gone up for the last two years," he said. "The exception to our worldwide success is our North American automotive operations."
The two-hour meeting gave shareholders the chance to review a list of ten proposals, among them a resolution from a retired Illinois doctor that asked Ford to remove reference to sexual orientation from its written non-discrimination policy. William Ford recommended a vote against the proposal. "Ford believes that our workplace should be free from discrimination," the company leader stated. "Such an environment is conducive to productive workers."
Ford shareholder Tom Strobhar, who is a pro-family activist from Ohio, publicly read the proposed resolution and spoke in its favor. He outlined several reasons why he felt his fellow shareholders should pass the resolution.
[More at URL]
----- 18 -----
ICR Hopes Online Master's Will Create Science Teachers with Biblical Worldview
By Jim Brown
May 11, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/5/afa/112006a.asp
(AgapePress) - A well-known creationist group is now offering an online master's program for science teachers. Through the Internet-based curriculum, the California-based Institute for Creation Research (ICR) is hoping to reach out to more educators and create a network of science teachers.
Those teachers who enroll in the program will learn how to design grade-level appropriate science lessons and help their students discern between the evolutionary and biblical worldviews of science. The 11-course program includes a core comprised of science education, educational psychology, curriculum design and research courses; prescribed electives in specific areas of science, including astronomy, ecology, physics and geology; and two electives of the student's choice.
[...]
Part of the vision for ICR's online Master of Science Education program is for those who take part in it to go on to contribute to a larger scheme of "turning the country around with a creation worldview," Nason says. But before these teachers can begin transmitting that worldview, she notes, it must be instilled in the educators themselves.
[More at URL]
----- 19 -----
Bay State Activist Blasts Governor's Promotion of Homosexual Youth Event
By Jim Brown
American Family Association
May 11, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/5/afa/112006c.asp
(AgapePress) - A Massachusetts pro-family group is denouncing a large homosexual and transgender youth event in Boston this weekend -- an event that is being promoted by Governor Mitt Romney's office.
This Saturday in Beantown, the Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth will be holding a rally and march called "Youth Pride," which is billed as "the oldest and largest event for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer youth and their allies in the nation." Kelly Lydon of Massachusetts Youth Pride says the event, contrary to some critics' fears, does not promote teenage sexual activity.
"It's a safe space," Lydon asserts. "There's no alcohol, drugs, cigarettes or sex allowed. There will be police there, there will be adult chaperones that will be there, and there's usually no problem," she says. "It's a really safe space, and it's a great day for youth."
However, Brian Camenker with the pro-family group Article 8 Alliance contends otherwise, insisting that students at Youth Pride are encouraged to flaunt their homosexuality or transsexuality. He believes claims that the yearly event does not promote homosexual lifestyles and deviant behaviors are not only false but disingenuous.
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Commentary & News Briefs
May 11, 2006
Compiled by Jody Brown
American Family Association/Agape Press
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/5/afa/112006h.asp
..The president of The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty warns that legalization of same-sex "marriage" will threaten churches, Christian schools, and other religious institutions. Anthony Picarello says religious groups that teach that homosexual conduct is wrong could be stripped of their tax-exempt status. He adds that Christian schools or organizations could be barred from firing teachers or employees who legally wed a same-sex partner. The Senate is expected to vote next month on a constitutional amendment that would prevent courts from redefining marriage. [AP]
[...]
...A Mississippi pro-life activist is circulating a petition to have an initiative placed on the ballot that would do what all other laws have failed to do: protect human life from natural birth to death. Since the early 1970s, the top goal of the pro-life movement has been to get Congress to pass a human-life amendment to the U.S. Constitution, knowing that it would overturn Roe v. Wade and the practice of abortion in America. David Rogers, director of the Ultimate Coalition for Unborn Children, says his group wants a statewide vote on what is being called "People's Initiative 22," a human-life amendment to the Mississippi State Constitution. "[The amendment] would protect the human life and the rights of the unborn children from conception and, actually, everybody's rights until natural death," he explains. "It's a general human-life amendment which the pro-life movement has been trying to pass in Congress to the United States Constitution, but getting anything passed through Congress has practically been impossible." According to Rogers, this is the first state version of a human-life amendment ever introduced in U.S. history. A constitutional amendment, he notes, is stronger than any law -- and a permanent protection of the people's rights. [Rusty Pugh]
...The leader of the Constitution Party says he's not surprised by recent poll results which show growing discontent with both Republicans and Democrats. A recent Zogby poll shows President Bush's approval rating has dipped below a 25 percent among his conservative base. And an Ipsos poll shows 65 percent of voters disapprove of the job Congress is doing. Michael Peroutka of the Constitution Party says Americans are fed up with both major parties. "What we really see is the progression of the same agenda by both of the major parties away from American sovereignty and the protection of American interests, et cetera, and toward this internationalist, globalist, new world order agenda," Peroutka suggests. The result, he says, represents a "uni-direction," as he calls it -- and is "the antithesis of the way America should be proceeding." He contends that most Americans realize that fact and want to see a change of direction -- something that apparently neither major party can deliver, he says. A shift in power from the GOP to the Democratic Party, he suggests, would accomplish nothing. "[T]hat's just the same old car going off the cliff at a different speed," Peroutka says. [Bill Fancher]
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Homosexuals Target State Races To Gain Political Power
Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2720
May 11, 2006 – Homosexual activists are running for office at the state level in order to gain more political clout in imposing the homosexual agenda upon all Americans. USA Today reports that these efforts are being made to undercut efforts to pass laws banning same-sex marriage.
More than 353 homosexuals are already in office, including 61 state legislators and three members of the U.S. Congress. This is up from 49 in 1991.
In March, three homosexual legislators in Maryland helped kill an effort to put a marriage protection amendment on the ballot.
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CBS Runs GLAAD PSA On Soap Opera
Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2719
May 11, 2006 – In spite of receiving more than 3,000 emails from TVC supporters who used our CapWiz email service, CBS ignored their concerns and ran its Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) public service announcement on “As The World Turns” on May 9.
The text of the PSA was designed to promote the acceptance of homosexuality for teenagers. Those opposed to homosexual sodomy were subtly linked to intolerance, prejudice and violent behavior. The PSA said: “Every day people face rejection, prejudice and violence ... But you can make a difference. Send a message of support and acceptance. Be an ally and a friend. Go to GLAAD.org.
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AP Misreports New Study On Lesbians And Smell
Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2718
May 11, 2006 – Associated Press Science Writer Randolph E. Schmid published an article on how female homosexual brains react differently to sex hormones than those of heterosexual women.
Schmid claimed in his article that the study published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences “add weight to the idea that homosexuality has a physical basis and is not a learned behavior.”
The study was headed by Ivanka Savic at the Stockholm Brain Institute. His team of researchers had volunteers sniff chemicals from male and female hormones thought to be pheromones—molecules said to trigger defense and sex responses in animals.
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Religious Freedom Will Die If Same-Sex Marriage Legalized Nationally
Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2717
May 11, 2006 – Maggie Gallagher, president of the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy has written an important article that should be in the hands of every pastor in America. It confirms what TVC has been saying for years: That the normalization of homosexuality through same-sex marriage will lead to the destruction of religious freedom, freedom of association, and free speech in our nation.
Writing in “Banned in Boston: The coming conflict between same-sex marriage and religious liberty,” Gallagher points out that Massachusetts is leading the way in the destruction of religious liberty.
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Gay candidates look to further rights at state level
Updated 5/9/2006 8:28 AM ET
By Andrea Stone, USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-05-08-gay-legislators_x.htm
Stung by their failure in 2004 to stop ballot measures banning same-sex marriage, gay rights activists are moving to elect more of their own to legislatures where social policies often incubate.
The push isn't confined to places such as Massachusetts, where the state Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in 2003. Gays and lesbians are running for legislatures in Alabama, Arkansas and Oklahoma and for re-election in Idaho, Iowa, Oklahoma, North Carolina and Utah — all states whose residents voted predominantly for President Bush in 2004.
"There's a more concerted and integrated effort" in states, says Chuck Wolfe of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute, which trains and funds candidates. The group plans to give $4.3 million to openly gay candidates this year.
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Episcopalians want trial for homosexual bishop
Urging clergy to uphold Episcopal Church's law, doctrine
Posted: May 12, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50163
Declaring the "true church of Jesus Christ now must prevail," a group of Episcopalians has launched a campaign calling for all clergy involved in the consecration of an actively homosexual bishop to be put on trial by the church.
The selection three years ago of Rev. V. Gene Robinson to head the Diocese of New Hampshire further deepened divisions that have been growing for more than three decades between liberals and traditionalists in the 2.2 million-member branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
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Institute calls on government to deport criminals, not families
Institute for Canadian Values
Date: May 09, 2006
http://canadianvalues.ca/news.aspx?aid=180
OTTAWA - The Institute for Canadian Values is calling on the federal government to show restraint by directing authorities to focus their attention on deporting terrorists and criminals instead of undocumented families and workers who are otherwise law-abiding.
"The government's priorities appear to be all wrong," said Joseph Ben-Ami, Executive Director of the Institute for Canadian Values. "Surely there are still criminals and terrorists at large in Canada that ought to be deported. The government should be focused on removing them before pursuing undocumented, but otherwise law-abiding and productive workers and their families."
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INPERSON INTERVIEW
The Forgotten Voice in the Adoption Debate
National Catholic Register
May 7-13, 2006
by GAIL BESSE
http://www.ncregister.com/articulo4.php?artkod=NDM2
Dawn Stefanowicz and children like her are the most important voices in the debate over same-sex adoption.
And yet the voices of adult children raised by homosexuals are rarely heard.
Stefanowicz recently testified about her life with her biological father before a Massachusetts legislative committee in support of a marriage protection amendment. The amendment, which lawmakers will address May 10, would allow voters to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Stefanowicz, with her husband and children, spoke with Register correspondent Gail Besse April 20 in a phone interview from her residence.
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“SUPREME” Court judges and CBA need reigned in!
Canada Family Action Coalition
Online as of May 12, 2006
http://www.familyaction.org/Articles/issues/politics-law/courts/supreme-courts-and-cba.htm
Isn’t it amazing that our bestowed Chief Justice can say whatever she wants ( read a few quotes below) but not so for elected MPs – our legitimate representative lawmakers. It is also rather curious that the CBA so quickly jumps to defend a justice whom says she has the right to override OUR Constitution ( and then CBA presumably).
It seems we have 9 robed “ gods” ( of course that is just at the supreme level ) as the only source of wisdom, knowledge and justice in the land. Of course I cannot say that is what she said or else, but what did she infer? Argue that if you like, call for me to apologize and even take the issue to the “ court” of power and wisdom, but the notion that judges have supreme power over our Constitution in Canada is every bit as dangerous as the dictator rulers that have been deposed throughout history.
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Sexualization of children a business
Canada Familiy Action Coalition
Online as of May 12, 2006
http://www.familyaction.org/Articles/issues/child/pedophilia/normal-people-not-experts.htm
When will governments awake to the dangers of funding organizations that sexualize children , and even promote behaviors that will spread disease and even in cases kill children? An investigation of such promotion ought to be done and if there are any children who are victims of such " teaching" criminal charges should be brought.
US and Canadian based operation differ very little... -- CFAC
Rely on normal people, not experts
Commentary - May 05, 2006
By Jim Sedlak
"...Planned Parenthood's future depends on its ability to
sexualize our children. It is an organization that exists on its
income from birth control products and abortion."
I was giving a talk in Rapid City, South Dakota the other night. During the talk, I asked the audience to take a look at a book that I carry around with me. The book is being pushed for use by children age 10 and up.
[...]
Normal people all across this country should use Planned Parenthood's defense of this kiddie porn as a rallying cry. Planned Parenthood has, once again, served notice that it is after your children. It wants to get to them in the schools and the community organizations where young girls, in particular, congregate. There is a war raging in your communities and now is the time to get active.
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no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 11:21 am (UTC)Our tabloid press are following the US approach though, and when you get a case of a law-abiding family being deported (we had one in our home town) it only gets a mention in the local papers and the less-than-repressive parts of the media - which are in a frighteningly small minority. The only time it made the rest of the media was when the Conservative candidate for this seat in the election came out in support of the family in spite of the party line on asylum and immigration, which was almost unbridled racism, and then manipulated photographs of banners to fit that party line. And sure enough, what should have been a Conservative walk in the park saw the Labour MP win with a greatly increased majority.