Today's Cultural Warfare Update
May. 17th, 2006 11:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdYou know how the Boy Scouts were saying that they discriminate against GBLT kids and atheists, but anyone with religious faith is okay? Not so much on the ground. A Louisiana group booted two kids for having Wiccan faith; best yet, according to the Eagle Scout father, they told him that if he'd lied about it, he could have stayed. The national says that the decision is up to the local group; eventually the local governing board relented, but the resulting situation was so hostile the kids left anyway;
WorldNetDaily's "Vox Day," who describes himself as a "Christian libertarian," says hell yes we can expel massive numbers of illegals - hell, it only took the Nazis seven years to kill six million Jews. YES REALLY. He says he was "misinterpreted" (pointer courtesy![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
elfs); [ETA: The original article has been edited to remove all the Nazi imagery. See the comments section below for details];
Salon has an except from the Michelle Goldberg book, Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism;
I don't have any summary for this, so I'll just paste in the first paragraph and hope desperately that it's just astoundingly tone-deaf but well-intended medical advice: "New federal guidelines ask all females capable of conceiving a baby to treat themselves -- and to be treated by the health care system -- as pre-pregnant, regardless of whether they plan to get pregnant anytime soon." The Washington Post titled their article about it, "Forever Pregnant";
One woman's reaction to that (where I got the WaPo URL), talking about how her doctor is already putting any potential foetus's potential health ahead of her health by refusing the anti-seizure medications she would like to try - because said doctor doesn't trust her not to get pregnant, even though she has no interest whatsoever in carrying another child;
Fundamentalists demand more action from President Bush and Republican leaders in their anti-gay, anti-abortion, and "indecency" legislation efforts;
Missouri town bans unmarried parents from living in the same house;
State appeals judge strikes down Georgia's gay-marriage ban on the multiple-subjects rule - like a lot of states, they have a "single-subject" rule for their initiatives; they'll do it again next year, only I imagine it'll be two separate initiatives, one to ban marriage, one to ban civil unions;
Iraqi Ayatollah Ahmad Husseini Al-Baghdadi calls for the murder and burning of all gay men and lesbians;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM and news story wanting answers on marriage rights from candidates, and telling people to write in to support the anti-marriage-rights amendment;
California marriage ban fails to make ballot;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM to use their "letter-writing wizard" to shuffle their canned letter segments into "original" letters to the editor; this is their way of trying to get around bans on standardised letters; nobody, but nobody, is for it, but their letters still get through on a semi-regular basis in various little papers across the country;
Senator Brownback promises Focus on the Family that the Senate will vote on the Broadcast Indecency Act; includes ACTION ITEM to support either of two versions coming up for consideration;
Focus on the Family pushes proposed state bans on lesbian and gay foster parenting and adoption in 16 states; they have a list of states with bans in progress; the Roberts Supreme Court has already refused to hear an appeal on Florida's blanket ban, so assume any of these that pass will stand, too;
FotF version of the Georgia marriage ban story quotes the governor attacking the judges for their ruling, vowing a new amendment;
FotF attacks polls showing support for embryonic stem-cell research as "biased" for not including bullshit fundamentalist rhetoric as part of the questions;
Family Research Council ACTION ITEM pushes the "Broadcast Indecency Bill";
Family Research Council condemns Georgia judge who rules by the law and overturns the state marriage ban initiative because it included more than one subject in violation of state law; yes, they call him a judicial activist threatening marriage; it's important to note how the whole "judicial activism" thing is only applied when they dislike the ruling;
American Family Association ACTION ITEM calling for letters to Congress to support the anti-marriage-rights "Marriage Protection Amendment;" they're fully engaged in the Republican "assert that Democrats support gay marriage" message for 2006; if only it were true;
AFA/Agape Press attack genetics research in the form of "transhumanism";
LifeNews reports on more fundamentalist calls to pull RU-486 from the market;
Tennessee Baptist Convention threatens lawsuit against university over appointment of non-Baptist trustees;
AFA: Laura Bush is wrong, we must make opposing marriage for lesbian and gay people the primary issue of the campaign;
Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) introduces bill requiring schools and libraries to ban access to social networking sites like MySpace and Friendster; no word on whether Livejournal would be BAHLEETED! but I imagine it would;
New York Posts CWA admitting that their big objection to the morning-after pill is that people might have sex;
AFA/Agape Press condemn California education bill; CWA wonk Robert Knight is quoted extensively;
Alberta bill providing widespread protections to anti-marriage activists in marriage-related state jobs to refuse to do those jobs without punishment of any sort if queers were involved fails; Focus on the Family Canada reacts unhappily to the news.
----- 1 -----
Scout's admission of being Wiccan leads to turmoil
By Melanie Crownover
Special to The Town Talk
http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060509/NEWS01/605090308/1002
ANACOCO -- The camp is going well so far. Boy Scouts have gathered from around the area in khaki button-ups and red scarves, eager to earn their God and Country badge.
The leader in a room of about 20 Scouts decides to break the ice by showing how religiously diverse the gathering is.
By a showing of hands, he asks who belongs to the Baptist Church, the Catholic Church, the Methodist Church, continuing on until two boys are left who have not raised their hands.
One of the brothers is called out to tell the group what church he attends. He replies, "I'm Wiccan."
[...]
"The number one scout law is to do your duty to God and your country," Troop 71 Scout Master Gene Doherty said. "They met to discuss whether or not the boys could live up to that because of their religion."
The conclusion was that they could not.
Doherty called Army Cpt. Todd Buchheim, the boys' father and a former Eagle Scout stationed at Fort Polk, to inform him that the boys no longer were welcome in the troop. The Buchheims said Doherty told them that if Cody had lied about his faith, the boys could have remained with no problem.
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
Against a fence
Vox Day
Posted: May 15, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
[ETA: The original article has been edited to remove all the Nazi imagery. The first three paragraphs reprinted below are original, but have been rewritten. See the comments section below for details; he blames his editor, and has provided the complete original text elsewhere. So he's standing by his, um, original words, if you can find his blog and from there get the pointer.]
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50198
Dear Jorge plans to address the nation tonight, a speech wherein he will almost surely attempt to deceive citizens into believing that he does not wish the mass migration from Mexico to continue unabated. He will likely offer some negligible resources for law enforcement and border security – resources which will never materialize – in return for an amnesty program that will grant American citizenship to the Mexican nationals who have helped lower America's wage rates by 16 percent over the last 32 years.
And he will be lying, again, just as he lied when he said: "Massive deportation of the people here is unrealistic – it's just not going to work."
Not only will it work, but one can easily estimate how long it would take. If it took the Germans less than four years to rid themselves of 6 million Jews, many of whom spoke German and were fully integrated into German society, it couldn't possibly take more than eight years to deport 12 million illegal aliens, many of whom don't speak English and are not integrated into American society.
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
"Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism"
May 12, 2006
Salon
Across the United States, religious activists are organizing to establish an American theocracy. A frightening look inside the growing right-wing movement.
Editor's note: This is an excerpt from senior writer Michelle Goldberg's new book, "Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism."
By Michelle Goldberg
http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2006/05/12/goldberg/index_np.html
A teenage modern dance troupe dressed all in black took their places on the stage of the First Baptist Church of Pleasant Grove, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama. Two dancers, donning black overcoats, crossed their arms menacingly. As a Christian pop ballad swelled on the speakers, a boy wearing judicial robes walked out. Holding a Ten Commandments tablet that seemed to be made of cardboard, he was playing former Alabama Supreme Court justice Roy Moore. The trench-coated thugs approached him, miming a violent rebuke and forcing him to the other end of the stage, sans Commandments.
There, a cluster of dancers impersonating liberal activists waved signs with slogans like "No Moore!" and "Keep God Out!! No God in Court." The boy Moore danced a harangue, first lurching toward his tormentors and then cringing back in outrage before breaking through their line to lunge for his monument. But the dancers in trench coats -- agents of atheism -- got hold of it first and took it away, leaving him abject on the floor. As the song's uplifting chorus played -- "After you've done all you can, you just stand" -- a dancer in a white robe, playing either an angel or God himself, came forward and helped the Moore character to his feet.
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
Forever Pregnant
Guidelines: Treat Nearly All Women as Pre-Pregnant
By January W. Payne
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 16, 2006; Page HE01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/15/AR2006051500875.html?referrer=emailarticle
New federal guidelines ask all females capable of conceiving a baby to treat themselves -- and to be treated by the health care system -- as pre-pregnant, regardless of whether they plan to get pregnant anytime soon.
Among other things, this means all women between first menstrual period and menopause should take folic acid supplements, refrain from smoking, maintain a healthy weight and keep chronic conditions such as asthma and diabetes under control.
[More at URL]
----- 5 -----
Oh no you didn't.
scheherazade in blue jeans
May 16, 2006
http://shadesong.livejournal.com/2871261.html
Link via fiannaharpar:
New federal guidelines ask all females capable of conceiving a baby to treat themselves -- and to be treated by the health care system -- as pre-pregnant, regardless of whether they plan to get pregnant anytime soon.
Pre-pregnant.
[...]
I have been unable to obtain adequate medical care for my epilepsy because I am what they'd call pre-pregnant. As my neurologist puts it, I am a woman of child-bearing age. As such, they flat-out refuse to try me on any medicines other than the ones proven least likely to affect a fetus (read: the ones that are paying off my neurologist). Despite the fact that I have declared my belly a no-fetus zone.
My neurologist does not trust me to not get pregnant. My neurologist puts a potential fetus's potential health over my health.
And now the government wants to officially sanction that.
Oh HELL no.
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
Conservative Christians Criticize Republicans
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
The New York Times
Published: May 15, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/15/washington/15dobson.html?ei=5090&en=e08df3ea11f1db6d&ex=1305345600&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all
WASHINGTON, May 13 — Some of President Bush's most influential conservative Christian allies are becoming openly critical of the White House and Republicans in Congress, warning that they will withhold their support in the midterm elections unless Congress does more to oppose same-sex marriage, obscenity and abortion.
[...]
In the last several weeks, Dr. James C. Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family and one of the most influential Christian conservatives, has publicly accused Republican leaders of betraying the social conservatives who helped elect them in 2004. He has also warned in private meetings with about a dozen of the top Republicans in Washington that he may turn critic this fall unless the party delivers on conservative goals.
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
Town won't let unmarried parents live together
Wednesday, May 17, 2006; Posted: 11:41 a.m. EDT (15:41 GMT)
CNN
BLACK JACK, Missouri (AP) -- The City Council has rejected a measure allowing unmarried couples with multiple children to live together, and the mayor said those who fall into that category could soon face eviction.
Olivia Shelltrack and Fondrey Loving were denied an occupancy permit after moving into a home in this St. Louis suburb because they have three children and are not married.
[...]
Black Jack's special counsel, Sheldon Stock, declined to say whether the city will seek to remove Loving and Shelltrack from their home.
[More at URL]
----- 8 -----
Judge Strikes Down Ga. Ban on Gay Marriage
By GREG BLUESTEIN, Associated Press Writer Tue May 16, 7:45 PM ET
Associated Press
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060516/ap_on_re_us/georgia_gay_marriage
ATLANTA - A judge has struck down Georgia's ban on same-sex marriages, saying a measure overwhelmingly approved by voters in 2004 violated a provision of the state constitution that limits ballot questions to a single subject.
The ruling by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Constance C. Russell had been eagerly awaited by gay-rights supporters who filed the court challenge in November 2004, soon after the constitutional ban was approved.
[More at URL]
----- 9 -----
Iraqi Ayatollah Ahmad Al-Baghdadi Talks of America's Annihilation and the Muslim Conquest of the World; Declares Support for Nuclear Bombs for Muslim and Arab Countries
MEMRI.org
May 18, 2006 No.1166
http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD116606
The following are excerpts from speeches and interviews with Iraqi Ayatollah Ahmad Husseini Al-Baghdadi, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on May 5, 2006, on Syrian TV on May 3, 2006, and on ANB TV on April 14, 2006.
"The Mujahid Iraqi People... Has Shattered the American Plan, Not Only in the Region, but Throughout the World"
Ayatollah Ahmad Husseini Al-Baghdadi: "Jihad in Islam, from the perspective of Islamic jurisprudence, is of two types: jihad initiated by the Muslims, which means raiding the world in order to spread the word that 'there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah' throughout the world. But this raid will not materialize in our era - the era of barbaric American capitalistic globalism - unless the Infallible, peace be upon him, is present.
[...]
"Whoever Marries Someone of the Same Sex Must Be Killed"
Ayatollah Ahmad Husseini Al-Baghdadi: "The second clause says no law may contradict the principles of democracy. Can you imagine millions demonstrating in Iraq, calling for same-sex marriage, like in Sweden, America, and Britain? Same-sex marriages means a marriage of a man with a man, or a woman with a woman. This is a terrible catastrophe, totally forbidden by Islam. Whoever marries someone of the same sex must be killed. Both must be killed as soon as possible and must be burned as well."
[More at URL]
----- 10 -----
Both Sides of the Marriage Issue Want Candidates to Debate It
People care about the issue and want to know where hopefuls stand.
Focus on the Family
from staff reports
May 16, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0040521.cfm
First lady Laura Bush has said the country needs to debate gay marriage, but she said she doesn't think it should be used as a campaign tool, because the issue "requires a lot of sensitivity." Groups on both sides, however, say making it an election issue should not be out of bounds.
[...]
TAKE ACTION:
Ask your U.S. senators to protect marriage.
If you subscribe to the CitizenLink Daily Update subscriber, click on the Take Action button in the e-mail to automatically be logged in to our Action Center. Then look for the item titled, Pass the Federal Marriage Protection Amendment.
Otherwise, click on this link. Be sure to either log in or create an account before you send your message.
----- 11 -----
California Marriage Initiative Won't Make it to This Year's Ballot
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
May 16, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0040524.cfm
A petition drive in California aimed at placing a constitutional amendment to protect marriage on November's ballot failed to gather enough signatures, 365Gay.com reported.
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
Action Alert - Write a Letter to the Editor About the Marriage Protection Amendment
Focus on the Family
Citizenlink
[Received in email; no URL]
With the U.S. Senate expected to vote in early June on the Marriage Protection Amendment, the time is now to tell our friends and neighbors why it is vital that we preserve in the Constitution the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Nothing less than the foundation of our society is at stake.
One of the best ways to get out the word about the need to pass the MPA -- not to mention one of the best ways to show your senators where constituents stand on the issue -- is by writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. We've created a special tool that will allow you to compose your own letter in just a minute or two, using some talking points we've pulled together.
To create your letter, just click here to give our letter-writing wizard ( http://www.family.org/cforum/images/lettergen/mpa/gen.html ) a whirl.
Please also take a moment to visit the CitizenLink Action Center ( http://vocusgr.vocus.com/GRSPACE2/dotnet/WebPublish/controller.aspx?SiteName=FOTF&Definition=Resources&XSL=Resources&SV_Section=Resources ) to learn more about what you can do to defend the institution upon which societies have been built for thousands of years.
Blessings,
Gary Schneeberger
Editor
CitizenLink
[More at URL]
----- 13 -----
Broadcast-Decency Bill Sponsor Promised Vote
Congress may finally increase fines for offensive programming.
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
May 17, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0040530.cfm
The Senate sponsor of legislation designed to crack down on broadcast indecency said today he's been given assurances his bill will receive a vote before the Senate recesses for Memorial Day.
But an inside-the-Beltway publication is reporting that the powerful chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee is waffling on the issue and may refuse to allow a vote on any bill.
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., told reporters he has been given assurances his Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act (S. 193) will soon get a vote.
[...]
TAKE ACTION:
Please contact your U.S. senators and ask them to support efforts to pass a broadcast decency enforcement bill, whether Sen. Brownback's S. 193 or Rep. Upton's tougher H.R. 310.
[More at URL]
----- 14 -----
States Look to Keep Children in Traditional Homes
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
May 17, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0040537.cfm
Efforts to pass laws to ensure adoptive children are placed in traditional homes — as opposed to being placed homosexual couples — are under way in 16 states, and in many cases the battle is just as heated as the one over gay marriage, USA Today reported.
Legislation that would keep homosexuals from qualifying to be an adoptive parent is under consideration in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia.
[More at URL]
----- 15 -----
Georgia Marriage Amendment Struck Under 'Single-Subject' Rule
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
May 17, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0040538.cfm
A state constitutional amendment to protect marriage that was overwhelmingly approved by Georgia voters in 2004 has been struck down because of a technicality, The Associated Press reported.
Fulton Superior Court Judge Constance Russell said the amendment violated the state constitution — which limits ballot questions to a single subject — because it asked voters to decide more than one issue.
[...]
Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue said in a statement Tuesday evening that he was let down by the decision.
"I am very disappointed by this decision to countermand the people of Georgia's voice in defining marriage in our state as a union between a man and a woman," he said. "The people of Georgia knew exactly what they were doing when an overwhelming 76 percent voted in support of this constitutional amendment."
[More at URL]
----- 16 -----
Stem-Cell Poll Results Dubious
Focus on the Family
from staff reports
May 17, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0040534.cfm
Survey indicating most Americans support embryonic stem-cell research fails to note that it requires the destruction of human life.
Seventy-two percent of Americans support embryonic stem-cell research, according to a new poll by the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research.
But opponents of the research say the poll is biased and accuse the biotech industry of deceiving the public.
[More at URL]
----- 17 -----
Sign a petition to increase the fine for deeply offensive and even shocking content on network television!
Break the Blockade on the Brownback Indecency Bill!
Family Research Council
May 17, 2006 - Wednesday
Forward to a Friend!
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=AL06E06&f=PG03I0
The rumors have the ring of truth: a small group of U.S. Senators who publicly say they oppose the broadcasting of sexually explicit, indecent television are working behind the scenes to kill Sen. Sam Brownback's bill (S. 193) to raise fines on the worst offenders. Let's be clear: we're not talking here about some risque jokes on late-night television or cable shows that individuals have paid to see.
[More at URL]
----- 18 -----
Georgia Judge Silences the People on Marriage
May 17, 2006 - Wednesday
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: J.P. Duffy or Bethanie Swendsen,
1-866-FRCNEWS
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PR06E09&f=PG03I03
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Georgia Superior Court Judge Constance C. Russel struck down the state's overwhelmingly popular marriage protection amendment. The court decision comes only two weeks before the U.S. Senate takes up the Federal Marriage Protection Amendment.
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement:
"Today's ruling demonstrates once again that marriage is threatened by activist judges who refused to recognize the established right of the voters and legislatures to protect marriage.
"We now look to the Georgia Supreme Court to reverse this baseless ruling and affirm its respect for the institution of marriage and the super majority support the people in Georgia have shown for protecting marriage. Hopefully, Georgia's high court will follow the example of Louisiana's Supreme Court which last year unanimously overturned a ruling by another activist court striking down that state's marriage amendment.
"On June 5, the U.S. Senate will have an opportunity to protect the democratic process when it takes up the Marriage Protection Amendment. An amendment to the U.S. Constitution is the only way to rein in activist judges who are determined to redefine marriage and mute the voice of the people. I urge Congress to send the Marriage Protection Amendment to the states for ratification so that the American people can check the power and ambition of these activist judges."
----- 19 -----
U.S. Senate To Vote On Homosexual Marriage June 6TH
The most important vote in the Senate this year! The future of our children is at stake.
American Family Association
Online as of May 17, 2007
http://www3.capwiz.com/afanet/8762656.html
On June 6th the U.S. Senate will vote on the constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
Time is short! It is critical that you contact your senators and ask them to vote for the Marriage Protection Amendment (MPA).
Once homosexual marriage is legal, our religious liberties will be stripped away. Even pro-homosexual marriage advocates agree with that statement. To understand how this will happen, please take time read Dr. Maggie Gallagher’s rather long and accurate article by clicking here. Print it out and give a copy to your pastor!
We expect Democratic senators to vote to kill the MPA. The public is not aware that the Democratic National Committee has given thousands of dollars to homosexual groups to help promote homosexual marriage.
[More at URL]
----- 20 -----
Christian MD: Dangerous Eugenics Research Being Funded With Taxpayer Dollars
By Mary Rettig
Agape Press/American Family Association
May 16, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/5/afa/162006c.asp
(AgapePress) - The executive director of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA) says taxpayer dollars are going to fund a dangerous area of scientific research. The National Institutes of Health has given a grant of nearly three-quarters of a million dollars to Professor Maxwell Mehlman, a scientist at Case Western University, to assist him in studying the genetic enhancements of human beings.
Dr. David Stevens of the CMDA says Mehlman is a known leader in the field of transhumanism, an area of study that the Christian doctor says has "creating a post-human future" as its goal. The quest of transhumanism, he explains, is to move into that future "by first connecting human beings to computers, essentially creating cyborgs -- part human, part computer."
[...]
Christian bioethicists have confronted the National Institutes of Health on this issue, Stevens notes. Meanwhile, the NIH has denied that it is funding efforts to make a smarter, stronger human race through genetic manipulation.
However, the more investigators have researched the matter the clearer it has become, the CMDA spokesman contends, that "that's exactly what's happening and that this funding has gone to this scientist who is one of the proponents and very involved in the transhumanist movement."
[More at URL]
----- 21 -----
Pro-Life Groups Renew Call to Pull Abortion Drug RU 486, Despite FDA Mtg
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
May 17, 2006
http://www.lifenews.com/nat2277.html
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Despite a joint FDA-CDC meeting last week looking into why the abortion drug RU 486 has killed seven women, pro-life advocates say they still want the dangerous abortion pill pulled from the market. Their renewed efforts come on a day when a Congressional subcommittee is looking into the problem further.
Deirdre McQuade, of the pro-life office at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said her group has renewed its call for Congress to approve Holly's Law, a measure named for Holly Patterson, a California teenager who died from a lethal infection brought on by the abortion drug.
[More at URL]
----- 22 -----
University Faces Possible Lawsuit Over Rift With Tennessee Baptists
By Jim Brown
American Family Association/Agape Press
May 17, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/5/afa/172006b.asp
(AgapePress) - After rejecting a proposal to end its 55-year relationship with Belmont University in Nashville, the Tennessee Baptist Convention may be suing the school over its decision to add non-Baptists to its governing Board of Trustees.
Officials with Belmont University have said broader representation on the Baptist-affiliated school's board would better reflect the wider Christian mission of the institution. The school officials offered to pay the Tennessee Baptist Convention $5 million to sever ties with the university.
However, opponents of Belmont's request say the convention could ask for the return of nearly $50 million -- all the money the state Baptists have ever given Belmont -- if the Tennessee Baptist Convention loses control over the selection of Belmont trustees. The Convention recently voted overwhelmingly to oust Belmont's 35 trustees.
[More at URL]
----- 23 -----
Activist: Sorry, Mrs. Bush -- Protecting Marriage Is a Campaign Issue
By Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
AFA/Agape Press
May 17, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/5/afa/172006c.asp
(AgapePress) - The president of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania (AFA of Pennsylvania) says federal and state amendments protecting traditional marriage should be a campaign issue, regardless of what First Lady Laura Bush says.
Last week on "Fox News Sunday," Mrs. Bush commented that although Americans do want to debate marriage amendments, the issue should be addressed with "a lot of sensitivity" and should not be used as a campaign tool. However, AFA of Pennsylvania president Diane Gramley feels the suggestion from the First Lady is not sound campaign advice -- especially for pro-family candidates.
Gramley feels it is tragic that Mrs. Bush does not see the importance of making the marriage amendment a campaign issue. Marriage is of essential significance to America's citizens, the Pennsylvania pro-family leader says, "because it is the foundation of the nation and of any society -- and that is one of the main issues that got the values voters out in 2004."
[More at URL]
----- 24 -----
Popularity, Danger of 'Social' Websites Warrants Legislation, Says Congressman
Bill's Sponsor: Children Need Protection from Online Sexual Predators
By Jim Brown and Jody Brown
American Family Association/Agape Press
May 17, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/5/afa/172006a.asp
(AgapePress) - A new bill in Congress seeks to protect students from sexual predators trying to contact children who use social network websites in schools and libraries.
Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick has introduced the Deleting Online Child Predators Act. The bill (HR 5319) would require schools and libraries to institute screening software that would prohibit children from accessing social networking sites like MySpace, Friendster, and Facebook. The Pennsylvania Republican contends the new technology behind such online communities has generated "a feeding ground" for child predators who he says use the sites "as just another way to do our children harm."
[More at URL]
----- 25 -----
THE DAWN OF A NEW CAMPAIGN FOR MORNING-AFTER PILL
By SARA STEWART
The New York Post
http://www.nypost.com/health/68539.htm
May 16, 2006 -- A controversial new birth-control ad campaign aims to take the "emergency" out of emergency contraception - at least when it comes to getting a prescription.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which represents nearly 50,000 physicians, recently announced the "Ask Me" campaign, which will feature a poster, primarily in doctors' waiting rooms and examining rooms, with a picture of a spilled coffee cup on a personal planner.
[...]
The main objective of the campaign - which also features bright red "Ask Me" buttons for doctors to wear - is to educate women about Plan B, a k a the "morning-after pill" - often confused with the abortion pill RU-486.
"Plan B is the same thing as contraception," says Dr. Rebekah Gee, an OB/GYN at Boston's Mass General and Brigham and Women's hospitals, who explains that the pill is a dose of the hormone progesterone that prevents implantation of a fertilized egg.
Right-to-life organizations, however, are concerned that emergency contraception will lead to promiscuity. According to a release on the Concerned Women for America web site, the campaign "promotes risky sexual ideology."
[More at URL]
----- 26 -----
Groups Condemn California Senate's Passage of Pro-Homosexual Education Bill
By Bill Fancher and Jenni Parker
AFA/Agape Press
May 15, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/5/152006b.asp
(AgapePress) - The governor of California could be all that stands in the way of a proposed new law that would endorse and promote the homosexual lifestyle in public schools statewide. The bill has already passed the California Senate and, if it gains Assembly approval as well, only a veto will be able to stop it.
The legislation known as SB 1437 requires California education officials to re-write textbooks to include "gay" themes and homosexual people, positively emphasizing their contributions and their place in history. It also bans any negative reference to homosexuals based on religious beliefs, which is why Bob Knight of the Culture and Family Institute sees the law as an attack on biblical values.
[More at URL]
----- 27 -----
Alberta MLAs kill conscience bill
Today’s Family News
Focus on the Family Canada
May 17, 2006
http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/life/stories/051706.html
Opposition MLAs in the Alberta legislature have effectively killed a bill that would have shielded Albertans from being fired from their jobs or sued because they disagree with same-sex marriage.
Introduced last month by Conservative MLA Ted Morton, Bill 208 was intended to complement a section of the federal law redefining marriage that gives limited protections to people of faith and religious institutions who could not in good conscience endorse the change. As critics pointed out when Parliament passed Bill C-38, many of the areas of protection cited are under provincial jurisdiction. With Bill 208, Alberta took the lead among other provinces in trying ensure adequate protection for freedom of conscience and religion.
Bill 208 would have exempted Alberta’s marriage commissioners from being required to marry a same-sex couple if doing so clashed with their religious or moral beliefs, CBC News reported. And it would have given parents the right to decide whether or not they wished their children to be exposed to any classroom discussion of homosexual relationships.
[More at URL]
WorldNetDaily's "Vox Day," who describes himself as a "Christian libertarian," says hell yes we can expel massive numbers of illegals - hell, it only took the Nazis seven years to kill six million Jews. YES REALLY. He says he was "misinterpreted" (pointer courtesy
elfs); [ETA: The original article has been edited to remove all the Nazi imagery. See the comments section below for details];Salon has an except from the Michelle Goldberg book, Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism;
I don't have any summary for this, so I'll just paste in the first paragraph and hope desperately that it's just astoundingly tone-deaf but well-intended medical advice: "New federal guidelines ask all females capable of conceiving a baby to treat themselves -- and to be treated by the health care system -- as pre-pregnant, regardless of whether they plan to get pregnant anytime soon." The Washington Post titled their article about it, "Forever Pregnant";
One woman's reaction to that (where I got the WaPo URL), talking about how her doctor is already putting any potential foetus's potential health ahead of her health by refusing the anti-seizure medications she would like to try - because said doctor doesn't trust her not to get pregnant, even though she has no interest whatsoever in carrying another child;
Fundamentalists demand more action from President Bush and Republican leaders in their anti-gay, anti-abortion, and "indecency" legislation efforts;
Missouri town bans unmarried parents from living in the same house;
State appeals judge strikes down Georgia's gay-marriage ban on the multiple-subjects rule - like a lot of states, they have a "single-subject" rule for their initiatives; they'll do it again next year, only I imagine it'll be two separate initiatives, one to ban marriage, one to ban civil unions;
Iraqi Ayatollah Ahmad Husseini Al-Baghdadi calls for the murder and burning of all gay men and lesbians;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM and news story wanting answers on marriage rights from candidates, and telling people to write in to support the anti-marriage-rights amendment;
California marriage ban fails to make ballot;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM to use their "letter-writing wizard" to shuffle their canned letter segments into "original" letters to the editor; this is their way of trying to get around bans on standardised letters; nobody, but nobody, is for it, but their letters still get through on a semi-regular basis in various little papers across the country;
Senator Brownback promises Focus on the Family that the Senate will vote on the Broadcast Indecency Act; includes ACTION ITEM to support either of two versions coming up for consideration;
Focus on the Family pushes proposed state bans on lesbian and gay foster parenting and adoption in 16 states; they have a list of states with bans in progress; the Roberts Supreme Court has already refused to hear an appeal on Florida's blanket ban, so assume any of these that pass will stand, too;
FotF version of the Georgia marriage ban story quotes the governor attacking the judges for their ruling, vowing a new amendment;
FotF attacks polls showing support for embryonic stem-cell research as "biased" for not including bullshit fundamentalist rhetoric as part of the questions;
Family Research Council ACTION ITEM pushes the "Broadcast Indecency Bill";
Family Research Council condemns Georgia judge who rules by the law and overturns the state marriage ban initiative because it included more than one subject in violation of state law; yes, they call him a judicial activist threatening marriage; it's important to note how the whole "judicial activism" thing is only applied when they dislike the ruling;
American Family Association ACTION ITEM calling for letters to Congress to support the anti-marriage-rights "Marriage Protection Amendment;" they're fully engaged in the Republican "assert that Democrats support gay marriage" message for 2006; if only it were true;
AFA/Agape Press attack genetics research in the form of "transhumanism";
LifeNews reports on more fundamentalist calls to pull RU-486 from the market;
Tennessee Baptist Convention threatens lawsuit against university over appointment of non-Baptist trustees;
AFA: Laura Bush is wrong, we must make opposing marriage for lesbian and gay people the primary issue of the campaign;
Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) introduces bill requiring schools and libraries to ban access to social networking sites like MySpace and Friendster; no word on whether Livejournal would be BAHLEETED! but I imagine it would;
New York Posts CWA admitting that their big objection to the morning-after pill is that people might have sex;
AFA/Agape Press condemn California education bill; CWA wonk Robert Knight is quoted extensively;
Alberta bill providing widespread protections to anti-marriage activists in marriage-related state jobs to refuse to do those jobs without punishment of any sort if queers were involved fails; Focus on the Family Canada reacts unhappily to the news.
----- 1 -----
Scout's admission of being Wiccan leads to turmoil
By Melanie Crownover
Special to The Town Talk
http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060509/NEWS01/605090308/1002
ANACOCO -- The camp is going well so far. Boy Scouts have gathered from around the area in khaki button-ups and red scarves, eager to earn their God and Country badge.
The leader in a room of about 20 Scouts decides to break the ice by showing how religiously diverse the gathering is.
By a showing of hands, he asks who belongs to the Baptist Church, the Catholic Church, the Methodist Church, continuing on until two boys are left who have not raised their hands.
One of the brothers is called out to tell the group what church he attends. He replies, "I'm Wiccan."
[...]
"The number one scout law is to do your duty to God and your country," Troop 71 Scout Master Gene Doherty said. "They met to discuss whether or not the boys could live up to that because of their religion."
The conclusion was that they could not.
Doherty called Army Cpt. Todd Buchheim, the boys' father and a former Eagle Scout stationed at Fort Polk, to inform him that the boys no longer were welcome in the troop. The Buchheims said Doherty told them that if Cody had lied about his faith, the boys could have remained with no problem.
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
Against a fence
Vox Day
Posted: May 15, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
[ETA: The original article has been edited to remove all the Nazi imagery. The first three paragraphs reprinted below are original, but have been rewritten. See the comments section below for details; he blames his editor, and has provided the complete original text elsewhere. So he's standing by his, um, original words, if you can find his blog and from there get the pointer.]
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50198
Dear Jorge plans to address the nation tonight, a speech wherein he will almost surely attempt to deceive citizens into believing that he does not wish the mass migration from Mexico to continue unabated. He will likely offer some negligible resources for law enforcement and border security – resources which will never materialize – in return for an amnesty program that will grant American citizenship to the Mexican nationals who have helped lower America's wage rates by 16 percent over the last 32 years.
And he will be lying, again, just as he lied when he said: "Massive deportation of the people here is unrealistic – it's just not going to work."
Not only will it work, but one can easily estimate how long it would take. If it took the Germans less than four years to rid themselves of 6 million Jews, many of whom spoke German and were fully integrated into German society, it couldn't possibly take more than eight years to deport 12 million illegal aliens, many of whom don't speak English and are not integrated into American society.
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
"Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism"
May 12, 2006
Salon
Across the United States, religious activists are organizing to establish an American theocracy. A frightening look inside the growing right-wing movement.
Editor's note: This is an excerpt from senior writer Michelle Goldberg's new book, "Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism."
By Michelle Goldberg
http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2006/05/12/goldberg/index_np.html
A teenage modern dance troupe dressed all in black took their places on the stage of the First Baptist Church of Pleasant Grove, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama. Two dancers, donning black overcoats, crossed their arms menacingly. As a Christian pop ballad swelled on the speakers, a boy wearing judicial robes walked out. Holding a Ten Commandments tablet that seemed to be made of cardboard, he was playing former Alabama Supreme Court justice Roy Moore. The trench-coated thugs approached him, miming a violent rebuke and forcing him to the other end of the stage, sans Commandments.
There, a cluster of dancers impersonating liberal activists waved signs with slogans like "No Moore!" and "Keep God Out!! No God in Court." The boy Moore danced a harangue, first lurching toward his tormentors and then cringing back in outrage before breaking through their line to lunge for his monument. But the dancers in trench coats -- agents of atheism -- got hold of it first and took it away, leaving him abject on the floor. As the song's uplifting chorus played -- "After you've done all you can, you just stand" -- a dancer in a white robe, playing either an angel or God himself, came forward and helped the Moore character to his feet.
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
Forever Pregnant
Guidelines: Treat Nearly All Women as Pre-Pregnant
By January W. Payne
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 16, 2006; Page HE01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/15/AR2006051500875.html?referrer=emailarticle
New federal guidelines ask all females capable of conceiving a baby to treat themselves -- and to be treated by the health care system -- as pre-pregnant, regardless of whether they plan to get pregnant anytime soon.
Among other things, this means all women between first menstrual period and menopause should take folic acid supplements, refrain from smoking, maintain a healthy weight and keep chronic conditions such as asthma and diabetes under control.
[More at URL]
----- 5 -----
Oh no you didn't.
scheherazade in blue jeans
May 16, 2006
http://shadesong.livejournal.com/2871261.html
Link via fiannaharpar:
New federal guidelines ask all females capable of conceiving a baby to treat themselves -- and to be treated by the health care system -- as pre-pregnant, regardless of whether they plan to get pregnant anytime soon.
Pre-pregnant.
[...]
I have been unable to obtain adequate medical care for my epilepsy because I am what they'd call pre-pregnant. As my neurologist puts it, I am a woman of child-bearing age. As such, they flat-out refuse to try me on any medicines other than the ones proven least likely to affect a fetus (read: the ones that are paying off my neurologist). Despite the fact that I have declared my belly a no-fetus zone.
My neurologist does not trust me to not get pregnant. My neurologist puts a potential fetus's potential health over my health.
And now the government wants to officially sanction that.
Oh HELL no.
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
Conservative Christians Criticize Republicans
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
The New York Times
Published: May 15, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/15/washington/15dobson.html?ei=5090&en=e08df3ea11f1db6d&ex=1305345600&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all
WASHINGTON, May 13 — Some of President Bush's most influential conservative Christian allies are becoming openly critical of the White House and Republicans in Congress, warning that they will withhold their support in the midterm elections unless Congress does more to oppose same-sex marriage, obscenity and abortion.
[...]
In the last several weeks, Dr. James C. Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family and one of the most influential Christian conservatives, has publicly accused Republican leaders of betraying the social conservatives who helped elect them in 2004. He has also warned in private meetings with about a dozen of the top Republicans in Washington that he may turn critic this fall unless the party delivers on conservative goals.
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
Town won't let unmarried parents live together
Wednesday, May 17, 2006; Posted: 11:41 a.m. EDT (15:41 GMT)
CNN
BLACK JACK, Missouri (AP) -- The City Council has rejected a measure allowing unmarried couples with multiple children to live together, and the mayor said those who fall into that category could soon face eviction.
Olivia Shelltrack and Fondrey Loving were denied an occupancy permit after moving into a home in this St. Louis suburb because they have three children and are not married.
[...]
Black Jack's special counsel, Sheldon Stock, declined to say whether the city will seek to remove Loving and Shelltrack from their home.
[More at URL]
----- 8 -----
Judge Strikes Down Ga. Ban on Gay Marriage
By GREG BLUESTEIN, Associated Press Writer Tue May 16, 7:45 PM ET
Associated Press
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060516/ap_on_re_us/georgia_gay_marriage
ATLANTA - A judge has struck down Georgia's ban on same-sex marriages, saying a measure overwhelmingly approved by voters in 2004 violated a provision of the state constitution that limits ballot questions to a single subject.
The ruling by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Constance C. Russell had been eagerly awaited by gay-rights supporters who filed the court challenge in November 2004, soon after the constitutional ban was approved.
[More at URL]
----- 9 -----
Iraqi Ayatollah Ahmad Al-Baghdadi Talks of America's Annihilation and the Muslim Conquest of the World; Declares Support for Nuclear Bombs for Muslim and Arab Countries
MEMRI.org
May 18, 2006 No.1166
http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD116606
The following are excerpts from speeches and interviews with Iraqi Ayatollah Ahmad Husseini Al-Baghdadi, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on May 5, 2006, on Syrian TV on May 3, 2006, and on ANB TV on April 14, 2006.
"The Mujahid Iraqi People... Has Shattered the American Plan, Not Only in the Region, but Throughout the World"
Ayatollah Ahmad Husseini Al-Baghdadi: "Jihad in Islam, from the perspective of Islamic jurisprudence, is of two types: jihad initiated by the Muslims, which means raiding the world in order to spread the word that 'there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah' throughout the world. But this raid will not materialize in our era - the era of barbaric American capitalistic globalism - unless the Infallible, peace be upon him, is present.
[...]
"Whoever Marries Someone of the Same Sex Must Be Killed"
Ayatollah Ahmad Husseini Al-Baghdadi: "The second clause says no law may contradict the principles of democracy. Can you imagine millions demonstrating in Iraq, calling for same-sex marriage, like in Sweden, America, and Britain? Same-sex marriages means a marriage of a man with a man, or a woman with a woman. This is a terrible catastrophe, totally forbidden by Islam. Whoever marries someone of the same sex must be killed. Both must be killed as soon as possible and must be burned as well."
[More at URL]
----- 10 -----
Both Sides of the Marriage Issue Want Candidates to Debate It
People care about the issue and want to know where hopefuls stand.
Focus on the Family
from staff reports
May 16, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0040521.cfm
First lady Laura Bush has said the country needs to debate gay marriage, but she said she doesn't think it should be used as a campaign tool, because the issue "requires a lot of sensitivity." Groups on both sides, however, say making it an election issue should not be out of bounds.
[...]
TAKE ACTION:
Ask your U.S. senators to protect marriage.
If you subscribe to the CitizenLink Daily Update subscriber, click on the Take Action button in the e-mail to automatically be logged in to our Action Center. Then look for the item titled, Pass the Federal Marriage Protection Amendment.
Otherwise, click on this link. Be sure to either log in or create an account before you send your message.
----- 11 -----
California Marriage Initiative Won't Make it to This Year's Ballot
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
May 16, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0040524.cfm
A petition drive in California aimed at placing a constitutional amendment to protect marriage on November's ballot failed to gather enough signatures, 365Gay.com reported.
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
Action Alert - Write a Letter to the Editor About the Marriage Protection Amendment
Focus on the Family
Citizenlink
[Received in email; no URL]
With the U.S. Senate expected to vote in early June on the Marriage Protection Amendment, the time is now to tell our friends and neighbors why it is vital that we preserve in the Constitution the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Nothing less than the foundation of our society is at stake.
One of the best ways to get out the word about the need to pass the MPA -- not to mention one of the best ways to show your senators where constituents stand on the issue -- is by writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. We've created a special tool that will allow you to compose your own letter in just a minute or two, using some talking points we've pulled together.
To create your letter, just click here to give our letter-writing wizard ( http://www.family.org/cforum/images/lettergen/mpa/gen.html ) a whirl.
Please also take a moment to visit the CitizenLink Action Center ( http://vocusgr.vocus.com/GRSPACE2/dotnet/WebPublish/controller.aspx?SiteName=FOTF&Definition=Resources&XSL=Resources&SV_Section=Resources ) to learn more about what you can do to defend the institution upon which societies have been built for thousands of years.
Blessings,
Gary Schneeberger
Editor
CitizenLink
[More at URL]
----- 13 -----
Broadcast-Decency Bill Sponsor Promised Vote
Congress may finally increase fines for offensive programming.
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
May 17, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0040530.cfm
The Senate sponsor of legislation designed to crack down on broadcast indecency said today he's been given assurances his bill will receive a vote before the Senate recesses for Memorial Day.
But an inside-the-Beltway publication is reporting that the powerful chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee is waffling on the issue and may refuse to allow a vote on any bill.
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., told reporters he has been given assurances his Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act (S. 193) will soon get a vote.
[...]
TAKE ACTION:
Please contact your U.S. senators and ask them to support efforts to pass a broadcast decency enforcement bill, whether Sen. Brownback's S. 193 or Rep. Upton's tougher H.R. 310.
[More at URL]
----- 14 -----
States Look to Keep Children in Traditional Homes
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
May 17, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0040537.cfm
Efforts to pass laws to ensure adoptive children are placed in traditional homes — as opposed to being placed homosexual couples — are under way in 16 states, and in many cases the battle is just as heated as the one over gay marriage, USA Today reported.
Legislation that would keep homosexuals from qualifying to be an adoptive parent is under consideration in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia.
[More at URL]
----- 15 -----
Georgia Marriage Amendment Struck Under 'Single-Subject' Rule
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
May 17, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0040538.cfm
A state constitutional amendment to protect marriage that was overwhelmingly approved by Georgia voters in 2004 has been struck down because of a technicality, The Associated Press reported.
Fulton Superior Court Judge Constance Russell said the amendment violated the state constitution — which limits ballot questions to a single subject — because it asked voters to decide more than one issue.
[...]
Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue said in a statement Tuesday evening that he was let down by the decision.
"I am very disappointed by this decision to countermand the people of Georgia's voice in defining marriage in our state as a union between a man and a woman," he said. "The people of Georgia knew exactly what they were doing when an overwhelming 76 percent voted in support of this constitutional amendment."
[More at URL]
----- 16 -----
Stem-Cell Poll Results Dubious
Focus on the Family
from staff reports
May 17, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0040534.cfm
Survey indicating most Americans support embryonic stem-cell research fails to note that it requires the destruction of human life.
Seventy-two percent of Americans support embryonic stem-cell research, according to a new poll by the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research.
But opponents of the research say the poll is biased and accuse the biotech industry of deceiving the public.
[More at URL]
----- 17 -----
Sign a petition to increase the fine for deeply offensive and even shocking content on network television!
Break the Blockade on the Brownback Indecency Bill!
Family Research Council
May 17, 2006 - Wednesday
Forward to a Friend!
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=AL06E06&f=PG03I0
The rumors have the ring of truth: a small group of U.S. Senators who publicly say they oppose the broadcasting of sexually explicit, indecent television are working behind the scenes to kill Sen. Sam Brownback's bill (S. 193) to raise fines on the worst offenders. Let's be clear: we're not talking here about some risque jokes on late-night television or cable shows that individuals have paid to see.
[More at URL]
----- 18 -----
Georgia Judge Silences the People on Marriage
May 17, 2006 - Wednesday
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: J.P. Duffy or Bethanie Swendsen,
1-866-FRCNEWS
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PR06E09&f=PG03I03
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Georgia Superior Court Judge Constance C. Russel struck down the state's overwhelmingly popular marriage protection amendment. The court decision comes only two weeks before the U.S. Senate takes up the Federal Marriage Protection Amendment.
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement:
"Today's ruling demonstrates once again that marriage is threatened by activist judges who refused to recognize the established right of the voters and legislatures to protect marriage.
"We now look to the Georgia Supreme Court to reverse this baseless ruling and affirm its respect for the institution of marriage and the super majority support the people in Georgia have shown for protecting marriage. Hopefully, Georgia's high court will follow the example of Louisiana's Supreme Court which last year unanimously overturned a ruling by another activist court striking down that state's marriage amendment.
"On June 5, the U.S. Senate will have an opportunity to protect the democratic process when it takes up the Marriage Protection Amendment. An amendment to the U.S. Constitution is the only way to rein in activist judges who are determined to redefine marriage and mute the voice of the people. I urge Congress to send the Marriage Protection Amendment to the states for ratification so that the American people can check the power and ambition of these activist judges."
----- 19 -----
U.S. Senate To Vote On Homosexual Marriage June 6TH
The most important vote in the Senate this year! The future of our children is at stake.
American Family Association
Online as of May 17, 2007
http://www3.capwiz.com/afanet/8762656.html
On June 6th the U.S. Senate will vote on the constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
Time is short! It is critical that you contact your senators and ask them to vote for the Marriage Protection Amendment (MPA).
Once homosexual marriage is legal, our religious liberties will be stripped away. Even pro-homosexual marriage advocates agree with that statement. To understand how this will happen, please take time read Dr. Maggie Gallagher’s rather long and accurate article by clicking here. Print it out and give a copy to your pastor!
We expect Democratic senators to vote to kill the MPA. The public is not aware that the Democratic National Committee has given thousands of dollars to homosexual groups to help promote homosexual marriage.
[More at URL]
----- 20 -----
Christian MD: Dangerous Eugenics Research Being Funded With Taxpayer Dollars
By Mary Rettig
Agape Press/American Family Association
May 16, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/5/afa/162006c.asp
(AgapePress) - The executive director of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA) says taxpayer dollars are going to fund a dangerous area of scientific research. The National Institutes of Health has given a grant of nearly three-quarters of a million dollars to Professor Maxwell Mehlman, a scientist at Case Western University, to assist him in studying the genetic enhancements of human beings.
Dr. David Stevens of the CMDA says Mehlman is a known leader in the field of transhumanism, an area of study that the Christian doctor says has "creating a post-human future" as its goal. The quest of transhumanism, he explains, is to move into that future "by first connecting human beings to computers, essentially creating cyborgs -- part human, part computer."
[...]
Christian bioethicists have confronted the National Institutes of Health on this issue, Stevens notes. Meanwhile, the NIH has denied that it is funding efforts to make a smarter, stronger human race through genetic manipulation.
However, the more investigators have researched the matter the clearer it has become, the CMDA spokesman contends, that "that's exactly what's happening and that this funding has gone to this scientist who is one of the proponents and very involved in the transhumanist movement."
[More at URL]
----- 21 -----
Pro-Life Groups Renew Call to Pull Abortion Drug RU 486, Despite FDA Mtg
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
May 17, 2006
http://www.lifenews.com/nat2277.html
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Despite a joint FDA-CDC meeting last week looking into why the abortion drug RU 486 has killed seven women, pro-life advocates say they still want the dangerous abortion pill pulled from the market. Their renewed efforts come on a day when a Congressional subcommittee is looking into the problem further.
Deirdre McQuade, of the pro-life office at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said her group has renewed its call for Congress to approve Holly's Law, a measure named for Holly Patterson, a California teenager who died from a lethal infection brought on by the abortion drug.
[More at URL]
----- 22 -----
University Faces Possible Lawsuit Over Rift With Tennessee Baptists
By Jim Brown
American Family Association/Agape Press
May 17, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/5/afa/172006b.asp
(AgapePress) - After rejecting a proposal to end its 55-year relationship with Belmont University in Nashville, the Tennessee Baptist Convention may be suing the school over its decision to add non-Baptists to its governing Board of Trustees.
Officials with Belmont University have said broader representation on the Baptist-affiliated school's board would better reflect the wider Christian mission of the institution. The school officials offered to pay the Tennessee Baptist Convention $5 million to sever ties with the university.
However, opponents of Belmont's request say the convention could ask for the return of nearly $50 million -- all the money the state Baptists have ever given Belmont -- if the Tennessee Baptist Convention loses control over the selection of Belmont trustees. The Convention recently voted overwhelmingly to oust Belmont's 35 trustees.
[More at URL]
----- 23 -----
Activist: Sorry, Mrs. Bush -- Protecting Marriage Is a Campaign Issue
By Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
AFA/Agape Press
May 17, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/5/afa/172006c.asp
(AgapePress) - The president of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania (AFA of Pennsylvania) says federal and state amendments protecting traditional marriage should be a campaign issue, regardless of what First Lady Laura Bush says.
Last week on "Fox News Sunday," Mrs. Bush commented that although Americans do want to debate marriage amendments, the issue should be addressed with "a lot of sensitivity" and should not be used as a campaign tool. However, AFA of Pennsylvania president Diane Gramley feels the suggestion from the First Lady is not sound campaign advice -- especially for pro-family candidates.
Gramley feels it is tragic that Mrs. Bush does not see the importance of making the marriage amendment a campaign issue. Marriage is of essential significance to America's citizens, the Pennsylvania pro-family leader says, "because it is the foundation of the nation and of any society -- and that is one of the main issues that got the values voters out in 2004."
[More at URL]
----- 24 -----
Popularity, Danger of 'Social' Websites Warrants Legislation, Says Congressman
Bill's Sponsor: Children Need Protection from Online Sexual Predators
By Jim Brown and Jody Brown
American Family Association/Agape Press
May 17, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/5/afa/172006a.asp
(AgapePress) - A new bill in Congress seeks to protect students from sexual predators trying to contact children who use social network websites in schools and libraries.
Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick has introduced the Deleting Online Child Predators Act. The bill (HR 5319) would require schools and libraries to institute screening software that would prohibit children from accessing social networking sites like MySpace, Friendster, and Facebook. The Pennsylvania Republican contends the new technology behind such online communities has generated "a feeding ground" for child predators who he says use the sites "as just another way to do our children harm."
[More at URL]
----- 25 -----
THE DAWN OF A NEW CAMPAIGN FOR MORNING-AFTER PILL
By SARA STEWART
The New York Post
http://www.nypost.com/health/68539.htm
May 16, 2006 -- A controversial new birth-control ad campaign aims to take the "emergency" out of emergency contraception - at least when it comes to getting a prescription.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which represents nearly 50,000 physicians, recently announced the "Ask Me" campaign, which will feature a poster, primarily in doctors' waiting rooms and examining rooms, with a picture of a spilled coffee cup on a personal planner.
[...]
The main objective of the campaign - which also features bright red "Ask Me" buttons for doctors to wear - is to educate women about Plan B, a k a the "morning-after pill" - often confused with the abortion pill RU-486.
"Plan B is the same thing as contraception," says Dr. Rebekah Gee, an OB/GYN at Boston's Mass General and Brigham and Women's hospitals, who explains that the pill is a dose of the hormone progesterone that prevents implantation of a fertilized egg.
Right-to-life organizations, however, are concerned that emergency contraception will lead to promiscuity. According to a release on the Concerned Women for America web site, the campaign "promotes risky sexual ideology."
[More at URL]
----- 26 -----
Groups Condemn California Senate's Passage of Pro-Homosexual Education Bill
By Bill Fancher and Jenni Parker
AFA/Agape Press
May 15, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/5/152006b.asp
(AgapePress) - The governor of California could be all that stands in the way of a proposed new law that would endorse and promote the homosexual lifestyle in public schools statewide. The bill has already passed the California Senate and, if it gains Assembly approval as well, only a veto will be able to stop it.
The legislation known as SB 1437 requires California education officials to re-write textbooks to include "gay" themes and homosexual people, positively emphasizing their contributions and their place in history. It also bans any negative reference to homosexuals based on religious beliefs, which is why Bob Knight of the Culture and Family Institute sees the law as an attack on biblical values.
[More at URL]
----- 27 -----
Alberta MLAs kill conscience bill
Today’s Family News
Focus on the Family Canada
May 17, 2006
http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/life/stories/051706.html
Opposition MLAs in the Alberta legislature have effectively killed a bill that would have shielded Albertans from being fired from their jobs or sued because they disagree with same-sex marriage.
Introduced last month by Conservative MLA Ted Morton, Bill 208 was intended to complement a section of the federal law redefining marriage that gives limited protections to people of faith and religious institutions who could not in good conscience endorse the change. As critics pointed out when Parliament passed Bill C-38, many of the areas of protection cited are under provincial jurisdiction. With Bill 208, Alberta took the lead among other provinces in trying ensure adequate protection for freedom of conscience and religion.
Bill 208 would have exempted Alberta’s marriage commissioners from being required to marry a same-sex couple if doing so clashed with their religious or moral beliefs, CBC News reported. And it would have given parents the right to decide whether or not they wished their children to be exposed to any classroom discussion of homosexual relationships.
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