Today's Cultural Warfare Update
Sep. 19th, 2006 11:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdI've been warning about this since the mid-90s, when I started tracking this stuff; the fundamentalist movement is now veering sharply towards opposing all forms of birth control, and yes, they mean it. Check the starred items below; even traditionally more normal conservative publications like National Review are starting to give web space and press time to anti-contraception activists.
Focus on the Family email ACTION ITEM: Keep Madonna's "Crucifiction" video off the air;
Focus on the Family: preventing non-profits (specifically churches) from engaging in partisan political activity without losing their tax-free status is an attempt "to Silence Pastors and Churches" - amusingly, these were back to back in one Focus on the Family email update;
Focus on the Family reports that Illinois Supreme Court to take action regarding a state parental-notification abortion law;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM to demand passage of an amended Defense Authorisation Bill which would eliminate non-sectarian requirements of pastors in mandatory military events; where this comes from is the religious harassment that became a serious ongoing problem at the Air Force Academy; this is part of their general attempt to reverse the new rules and allow proselytization at mandatory military events again;
FotF is pleased that the new FDA head's nomination (Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach) has been blocked by Jim DeMint (R-SC); DeMint says he won't let Eschenbach's nomination go forward without a flat statement from Dr. Exchenbach announces that he will pull RU-486 from the market; compare and contrast this to the endless ranting about opposition to Bush judicial nominees;
Blogger in rural Ohio writes about being denied access to emergency contraception because she's not married; removing this kind of Moral Judgment Of You is a part of why many people want to make it available over the counter, and why the theoconservative movement wants it banned outright, so they can make that Moral Judgement Of You;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM to defeat a citizen's initiative to overturn South Dakota's comprehensive abortion ban;
Focus on the Family condemns gay parents going to PTA meetings as couples, declares "such activism doesn't belong in school;" meanwhile, their national school efforts continue apace;
Focus on the Family: Conservatives Out-Birthing Liberals; you've seen this for a long time in Palestine and Israeli conflicts, "we'll out-breed them and take over"; the theoconservative movement has been moving towards this for a while here, too;
Concerned Women for America ACTION ITEM to support PERA, calls PERA the "best opportunity" for the theoconservative movement this session of congress; PERA is the bill that changes Federal law so that losers in religious discrimination laws don't to pay legal fees; they're calling it an "anti-bullying bill";
CWA applauds reintroduction of an anti-abortion bill in Congress;
CWA promotes anti-marriage-rights DVD, "What God Has Joined Together," put together at Patrick Henry University (a leading evangelical school noted particularly as of late for sending more interns to the Bush white house than any other college); it's intended to bolster Virginia's anti-GLBT state constitutional amendment coming up this fall;
CWA ACTION ITEM for international calls to the chief of police of Jerusalem - intent is to demand that the police ban the city's GBLT pride march; it was already denied permit once; includes talk with Rabbi Yehuda Levin, spokesman for the Union of Orthodox Rabbis and Jews for Morality - he's American - who says that allowing a GBLT parade and tourism in Israel will "homosexualise" the middle east, inflame the Arab world ("the homosexualisation of the middle east, via Israel, which could really offend the world Arab community, who could say that America and Israel are exporting the homosexual culture to the middle east, and this could be a significant security problem for Jews world wide, an even Americans."), offend god, end civilisation; he talks about "the end times," and so on;
Agape Press complains about ineffectiveness of GOP leadership for not confirming every Bush judicial nominee; Jan LaRue (CWA) claims that not confirming Bush's nominees supports terrorism against the United States, particularly nuclear terrorism;
***** National Review runs column condemning emergency contraception (Plan B) by Jennifer Roback Morse, PhD. Economics, who is apparently an anti-contraception activist - or at least is a headline speaker at the Pro-Life Action League's "Contraception Is Not The Answer" conference this fall;
***** Pro-Life Action League's description of the "Contraception Is Not The Answer" Conference (September 22-23, 2006) describes contraception as a failure, claiming it "ushered in widespread promiscuity, divorce, sexually transmitted diseases, single parent households and abortion" and says it will "show that contraception is, indeed, the taproot of abortion";
Families Northwest event one: the "Fall Dinner;" they're less loud about it than most, but they are firmly anti-abortion rights and work with louder, more political groups; they've been quiet for a while but are picking up again; they're also running a cruise ship (?) down to Mexico for a week, with stops at a variety of typical destinations and a variety of speakers and talks;
Families Northwest press release supporting ruling that anti-marriage law in Washington State is not unconstitutional;
Families Northwest's chair, Jeff Kemp, writes happily about the Supreme Court upholding Washington State's, says they are "playing offense, not defense";
Canada Family Action Coalition says it's "time to fight the good fightback" and fight to end GBLT rights and fight Muslims;
Gay men try to enlist in the marines as protest action in Shreveport, Louisiana; refuse to leave, are arrested;
American Airlines stewardess and pilot threatens gay honeymooning couple with terrorism-based flight diversion for touching (more extensive description in article);
American Family Association's Agape Press has several anti-GBLT articles, also includes a neat article where Ohio's Ken Blackwell will spend much of his campaign attacking his divinity-degree opponent as anti-Christian (and a left-wing extremist), particularly for his opposition to mandatory prayer in public schools;
AFA/Agape Press reluctantly goes along with Federal court ruling against Missouri teacher-lead public-school prayer;
Five-point Calvinism making inroads in Southern Baptist Convention minister ranks as the race to who-can-be-most-extreme continues;
CWA wonk Warren Throckmorton says gender dysphoria / gender identity disorder being recognised by schools is an attempt by "homosexual" groups to "promote their own political agenda";
AFA/Agape Press story on Maryland sex ed. programme; they want GBLT-related material entirely out except for some statements about the "ex-gay" movement;
American Family Association ACTION ITEM to send one million pieces of email to NBC to demand they not show Madonna's "crucifixion" video; also to send mail to local affiliates with the same message;
defendMarriage.ca ACTION ITEM against "Little Black Book" which they call "Same Sex Indoctrination."
----- 1 -----
Madonna's 'Crucifixion' to Air for November Sweeps
Pop singer Madonna will appear on an oversized mirror-covered cross while wearing a sparkly crown of thorns on an NBC special in November.
Focus on the Family
September 19, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
Kevin Reilly, the network's entertainment president, cleared the controversial rendition of her song, "Live to Tell."
"We viewed it," he told Access Hollywood, "and didn't see it as being inappropriate."
You can view the cross stunt on YouTube.com , then decide for yourself whether it's inappropriate for a major network to mock a central event of the Christian faith as part of a ratings-month stunt.
TAKE ACTION:
Let Kevin Reilly know that mocking the crucifixion of Christ for the sake of controversy-driven publicity and ratings is offensive to Christians all around the world.
You can e-mail him here: kevin.reilly@nbcuni.com
Or call him at: (818) 840-6046 and (818) 840-6022.
His fax number is: (818) 840-6630
(NOTE: Referral to Web sites not produced by Focus on the Family is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of the sites' content.)
----- 2 -----
Group Seeks to Silence Pastors and Churches
Religious-liberty attorneys say congregations have a civic duty to take part in political process.
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
September 19, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0042023.cfm
Religious-rights lawyers are accusing Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, of trying to bully pastors and churches from entering into the political process.
On Monday, Lynn launched a national campaign to alert churches to the "dangers" of what he called "partisan politicking." He told reporters at the National Press Club he will be sending letters to more than 117,000 churches, synagogues and mosques in 11 states warning them not to use the pulpit to espouse support for any political candidate.
"Dragging churches into partisan politics is just plain wrong," Lynn said. "It violates tax law, it damages the integrity of religion and it harms our democracy."
[...]
"I think what Dr. Dobson is doing, what others have done, is exactly correct," Sekulow said. "They want churches mobilized to exercise their constitutional obligation to vote, which is a biblical mandate - to be engaged in the culture. What Dr. Dobson and others are doing is fostering that in the right way."
[More at URL]
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Illinois High Court Revives Parental-Notification Law
After a decade of inaction, justices announce plans to rule.
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
Focus on the Familiy
September 19, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0042022.cfm
The Illinois Supreme Court has announced it will finally take action that could lead to the enforcement of a pro-life law that has languished for 10 years.
The Parental Notice of Abortion Act, passed by the Illinois Legislature in 1995, makes it illegal for a girl under 18 to get an abortion without notifying a parent at least 48 hours in advance. But a federal court ruled the law unenforceable until the rules for a waiver were established. The high court never took action on setting these rules.
Peter LaBarbera, a spokesman for the Illinois Family Institute (IFI), said the Illinois Supreme Court is the only top state court that has refused to issue such rules. He said because the there is no enforceable parental-involvement law, girls from surrounding states travel to Illinois to avoid such laws in their home states.
"We are like the abortion capital of the Midwest," he said. "People are violating their own state laws to come here."
[More at URL]
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Military Spending Bill Held Up By Chaplain Prayer Provision
Focus on the Family
September 19, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0042021.cfm
The Pentagon budget bill has stalled in the U.S. House - held up by a provision that would allow military chaplains to use the name of Jesus in prayer at nondenominational military events, The New York Times reported.
Prayer is not restricted at worship services because attendance is voluntary. But often chaplains are called upon to impart prayer during mandatory functions such as changes of command, banquets and speeches. It is in these instances that they are mandated to offer nonsectarian prayer.
[...]
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 the CitizenLink Action Center.
If you are a CitizenLink Daily Update subscriber, click on the blue "Take Action" button in the e-mail to be automatically logged in to our Action Center. Otherwise, click on this link.
[More at URL]
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Senate Vote on FDA Chief Becomes Abortion Focal Point
Republican senator puts hold on nomination over RU-486.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
September 19, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0042017.cfm
Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, the acting Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner whom President Bush has nominated to be the permanent head, is scheduled to get an up-or-down vote this week in the Senate. But after several unsuccessful meetings with the nominee, Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., placed a hold on the nomination until von Eschenbach expresses opposition to RU-486, also known as the abortion pill.
[...]
The Rev. Thomas Euteneuer, president of Human Life International, said it shows why DeMint's hold is so significant.
"The debate has gone far beyond the surgical abortion debate. It's now going into the chemical abortion debate. This is a challenge for all of us to hold strong to our principle and make sure that we defend all life from the moment of conception," he said. "I'm just glad to see somebody standing up and taking this kind of leadership. It's sadly lacking."
[More at URL]
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Morality clauses, EC, and broken condoms
Den of the Biting Beaver
September 18, 2006
http://bitingbeaver.blogspot.com/2006/09/morality-clauses-ec-and-broken-condoms.html
I'm stunned. I'm utterly, completely stunned. I'm shaky and anxious and shocked beyond belief. I live in rural Ohio and I have been denied EC.
[More at URL]
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Help Save South Dakota's Abortion Ban
Voters in the Mt. Rushmore State will pass judgment on law protecting the preborn.
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
September 18, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0042005.cfm
A top pro-life member of the U.S. Senate says South Dakota's historic abortion ban is in danger of being nullified this fall when voters go to the polls.
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., is calling on all pro-family Americans to direct their attention to an initiative on South Dakota's November ballot seeking repeal of the state's abortion ban legislation - a measure he called "the best move yet to stop the horror of abortion."
[...]
Volk said the latest opinion polls show it to be a one-point contest.
[...]
Even if the abortion ban does pass muster and escape the abortionists' assault, Paulton said the law will likely face a court challenge.
Volk, meanwhile, said his group is working to get out the vote and mobilize pastors.
"We have about 50 days left before the vote," he said. "We believe that if our pastors preach the truth, with the respect that they have, the people attending those congregations will step up to the plate and say, 'You know what, I need to vote.' "
[...]
One complication, South Dakota has three important measures on this year's ballot - all competing for attention: the abortion-ban initiative, a marriage amendment and an effort to repeal video lottery.
TAKE ACTION:
To learn more about the legislation and the campaign - especially if you are interested in volunteering your time or resources, visit the South Dakota Family Policy Council Web site.
[More at URL]
----- 8 -----
Gay Parents Encouraged to Be Activists at School
Group instructs them to combat "intolerant attitudes."
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
September 18, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0042003.cfm
Gay-activist group Family Pride has produced a pamphlet to guide homosexual parents in introducing themselves to their children's schools.
"Building Family Equality in the Classroom" suggests parents attend the first PTA meeting together and introduce themselves as a couple.
Barbara McPherson, legislative affairs coordinator for the California Family Council, told Family News in Focus such activism doesn't belong in school.
[More at URL]
----- 9 -----
Conservatives Out-Birthing Liberals
Focus on the Family
September 18, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0042006.cfm
Conservatives are having more children than liberals, and that means their numbers are growing, The San Francisco Chronicle reported.
According to the 2004 General Social Survey, a random sample of 100 liberal adults found that they had 147 children; 100 conservatives had 208 children. The difference between the two is 41 percent.
[...]
"Liberals have got a big 'baby problem,' " he said, "and it risks being the death of them."
[More at URL]
----- 10 -----
PERA Viewed as Best Opportunity for Pro-Family Victory
Ashley Horne
Concerned Women for America
September 19, 2006
http://www.cwalac.org/article_372.shtml
The Public Expression of Religion Act (H.R. 2679) introduced by Rep. John Hostettler (R-Indiana), will likely get a floor vote sometime next week in the House of Representatives. A vote on this bill is the best opportunity for a significant pro-family victory prior to Congress recessing for the campaign season in just three short weeks. The Senate has not yet acted on its version of PERA (S. 3696), sponsored by Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas).
[...]
"In essence, this is really a ‘stop the bullying' bill. The ACLU and other groups have shaken down public officials and private groups and benefited greatly in legal fees," said Bob Knight, director of CWA's Culture and Family Institute.
[...]
CWA urges supporters to contact their representatives and ask them to vote YES when PERA (H.R. 2679) comes to the floor for a vote next week. This is our final chance to gain a pro-family victory before Congress goes back into recess for the campaign season. Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121
[More at URL]
----- 11 -----
CWA Applauds Reintroduction of Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act
Concerned Women for America
9/19/2006
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/11527/MEDIA/life/index.htm
Washington, D.C. − Concerned Women for America (CWA) applauds Rep. Chris Smith (R-New Jersey) for reintroducing H.R. 356, The Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act. This life-saving legislation requires abortionists to notify their patients that an unborn child as young as 20 weeks old experiences pain during the abortion procedure.
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
"What God Has Joined Together" DVD Available (4:50)
Concerned Women for America
9/19/2006
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/11519/CWA/family/index.htm
The battle to save traditional marriage continues in Virginia, where a student at Patrick Henry College has produced a moving DVD on the importance of passing the marriage amendment to the Virginia Constitution. Patricia Phillips, Director of CWA of Virginia has more on this DVD and other resources available. Click here to listen.
These resources are available at http://states.cwfa.org/states/details.asp?organization=va, or you can look up "Virginia" in the state directory on the national homepage, www.cwfa.org.
["The battle for marriage in the state of Virginia." Note that marriage is already illegal, as are domestic partner benefits (by private companies), and some property/contract rights for queers. Phillips: "It's a very strong amendment that defines marriage... it also defines that the state will not recognise any other type of arrangement that looks like marriage," meaning it bans domestic partnerships, civil unions, and anything even remotely like it; the typical goal is that if marriage includes a benefit - any benefit - GBLT people can't have it. Production was done for free (donated duplication, etc); no cost for the DVD. CWA of Virginia web site has information about it. Points people to CWA Virginia website, asks for volunteers, such as lobbying for it at church.
----- 12 -----
Homosexuals Demand Parade through Jerusalem (8:47)
Concerned Women for America
9/18/2006
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/11522/CWA/misc/index.htm
The WorldPride event held this summer in Jerusalem is over, but homosexual activists are still pushing to hold the postponed parade, this time just before the Jewish High Holy days of Rosh Hashanah. Rabbi Yehuda Levin, spokesman for the Union of Orthodox Rabbis and Jews for Morality, says calls are needed to Jerusalem's Chief of Police, Ilan Franco, asking him to again hold off this public display. Click here to listen.
You can call Chief Franco at 011-972-2539-1100 or you can fax him at 011-972-2539-1466.
[Again, this is only a partial; my hands are still hurting. Quoted material is verbatim, however. Martha Kleider; Rabbi Yehuda Levin, spokesman, Jews for Morality; "I'm sorry to say that in the middle of the war tho' it was largely unnoticed by the world media, the homosexuals insisted on holding their week-long convention... they did have several hundred people attend a whole series of events..." Condemns GBLT people for trying to hold the parade. Currently there's a case up about this before the Israeli Supreme Court, who Rabbi Levin calls "to the left of Mao Zedong... very very leftist" (Mao Tse-Tung, depending upon transliteration system) chief of police says the parade would cause "social unrest." Last attempt, 500 American Christians phoned the Israeli police chief, Rabbi Levin calls the calls "tremendously effective," asks for "the American Christian community" to bombard the police chief with phone calls demanding the parade be banned. Gives phone numbers. "Christians worldwide are offended and oppose the homosexual parade in Jerusalem." "We're fighting against the homosexualisation of the holy land." "Ongoing attempts to make Israel a world capital year-round for homosexual tourism." Isaac Hertzog condemned for "inviting world homosexuals... to come 365 days a year to visit Israel and make this an international homosexual tourism centre." Talks about "the homosexualisation of the middle east, vis Israel, which could really offend the world Arab community, who could say that America and Israel are exporting the homosexual culture to the middle east, and this could be a significant security problem for Jews world wide, an even Americans."
Kleider calls a parade "a slap in the face of the lord." Then back to Rabbi Levin. Claims ancient enemies of Israel were involved in "homosexual attacks" on Jews. Claims that allowing GBLT people to exist dooms civilisations. Claims "that in these end times" that "institutionalized homosexuality is one of the most, if not the most serious problem in a moral sense that is confronting various civilisations." Condemns Prime Minister's daughter for being a lesbian and getting married in Canada. "We're all in this boat called the world together, and when somebody drills a hole in this boat... and we as American - Jews and Christians alike - have to do a spiritual mea culpia for allowing this immorality to be fostered in America, and to reach such a stage where it's now exported to the holy land." Calls upon Americans to "oppose the homosexualisation of the middle east, of the holy land... help[ing] to stop these kind of outrages."]
[Much more in .mp3 at URL]
----- 13 -----
GOP's Lackluster Performance on Judicial Nominations Draws Criticism
By Bill Fancher
September 18, 2006
AFA/Agape Press
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/9/182006f.asp
(AgapePress) - The Senate has failed to act on four more of President Bush's judicial nominees -- and one critic is blaming the GOP leaders.
The four nominees to the U.S. Court of Appeals -- William G. Myers III (Ninth Circuit), N. Randy Smith (Ninth Circuit), William James Haynes (Fourth Circuit), and Terrance W. Boyle (Fourth Circuit) -- were hoping to be confirmed to their respective posts last week by the U.S. Senate. But senators failed to establish a quorum at Thursday morning's executive meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee, so no vote took place.
[...]
The CWA spokeswoman is convinced America cannot win the war on terrorism without first winning the Democrat-led war on judges. "If we are going to defeat terrorism, we have to [confirm] judges that respect our Constitution rather than wrapping it around foreign terrorists who intend to bury it with us," she says.
LaRue, who is chief counsel for the Washington, DC-based policy group, believes by its inaction, the Senate Republican leadership is sending a dangerous message. "If Osama bin Laden watched [their] efforts to win the war over judges and equated it with their commitment to win the real war, he'd swap his cave for condo in Kabul or Karachi and start broadcasting live from his sundeck," she says.
"Those who won't stand up to empty suits can't expect to be taken seriously by a maniacal Jihadist who would use a real 'nuclear option' if he had it," she adds.
[More at URL]
----- 14 -----
Plan B Is a Bad Plan
With bad news to come.
By Jennifer Roback Morse
September 14, 2006 6:29 AM
National Review Online
Long URL elided
The dispute over the morning-after pill has hinged on the politics of FDA approval and the science of abortion. Did the FDA withhold approval just to placate Bush's conservative base? Is Plan B really "emergency contraception" or it is really a very early abortion? Now that the morning-after pill has been approved for over-the-counter use, we need to ask ourselves how it will affect the spread of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs). I predict the morning-after pill will induce a new round of increases in sexually transmitted diseases.
[...]
- Jennifer Roback Morse is the author of Smart Sex: Finding Life-long Love in a Hook-up World. She will be a speaker at the Pro-Life Action League's conference, "Contraception is Not the Answer," in Chicago, September 23 and 24.
[More at URL]
----- 15 -----
Contraception Is Not the Answer
National Conference, 09.22-23.2006
Pro-Life Action League
http://www.prolifeaction.org/cinta/index.htm
In the mid-twentieth century, the industrialized world embraced contraception as the way to eradicate poverty, lower the birth rate and guarantee freedom for women.
But contraception ushered in widespread promiscuity, divorce, sexually transmitted diseases, single parent households and abortion. While abortion was hailed as a triumph for women's rights and the solution to "failed" contraception, it brought a host of its own problems, including post-abortion trauma, sterility, and an increased risk of breast cancer.
[...]
"Contraception Is Not the Answer" presents a fascinating program of eight speakers on the various ways in which contraception has impacted society—its effect on women, on men, on marriage, on the culture—and will show that contraception is, indeed, the taproot of abortion.
[More at URL]
----- 16 -----
10th Annual Families Northwest Fall Dinner
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Meydenbauer Center, Bellevue, Washington
http://www.familiesnorthwest.org/fnw.aspx?pid=107
Believe in Marriage
Join us for an evening of inspiration and entertainment with those who build up marriage and family. We will be raising funds and energy to fuel the Northwest Marriage & Family Movement.
Time:
Dinner - 7:00 pm
Keynote Speaker:
Dan Wilson
Retired Catcher, Seattle Mariners
Co-Chairs:
Matt and Sarah Hasselbeck
Quarterback, Seattle Seahawks
Lorenzo and Leona Romar
Head Coach, Husky Basketball
----- 17 -----
Washington News
Washington Supreme Court Rules: Defense of Marriage Act Does Not Violate State Constitution (press release)
Families Northwest
July 26, 2006
http://www.familiesnorthwest.org/fnw.aspx?pid=115
Olympia, July 26, 2006 -- This morning, the Washington Supreme Court issued a decision in Andersen v. King County, a consolidated case regarding Washington's Defense of Marriage Act.
The Court's lead opinion was authored by Justice Barbara Madsen, holding the Washington Defense of Marriage Act does not violate the Washington State Constitution. This decision overturns trial court decisions in King and Thurston Superior Courts in this case.
[More at URL]
----- 18 -----
A Marriage Decision Update from Jeff Kemp
Families Northwest
[Undated - online as of 19 September 2006]
http://www.familiesnorthwest.org/fnw.aspx?pid=341
Dear friends,
Yesterday the Washington State Supreme Court ruled to uphold the 1998 DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) and the definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman. This is clearly a pro-marriage decision, not an anti-gay decision. It is an affirmation of the unique and essential idea of marriage in our society.
I am grateful, relieved, and humbled by this sound decision. Yet I take no glee, as I feel for those who are disappointed.
The ruling is not only monumental for our state, but also for our nation. The court strongly supported the reasoning in the DOMA that tied marriage between a man and a woman to procreation, parenting, and better outcomes for children. This issue has been returned to the correct forum and gained a very strong precedent. Although it was a close 5-4 decision, the court's majority finding was clear about representative democracy and the authority of the legislature. It did not find same-sex couples to be a suspect class of specially protected citizens. It did not reduce marriage by calling it a "right."
However, the trends to take marriage lightly or to undermine and redefine it will not cease. We must look to the future.
The protection of marriage is not the whole of it. Families Northwest is based on playing offense, not defense, and on offering solutions, not fighting errors. Our work addresses problems that preceded and exacerbate the same-sex marriage redefinition issue – divorce, non-marriage, and cohabitation. Our message, our resources, and our groundbreaking community strategies focus on the hope and help we can offer to marriage, parenting, and reducing divorce. Adults need this. Kids need and deserve this.
[More at URL]
----- 19 -----
Time to fight the good fightback
Christians are fed up with the assault on their religion from political correctness and Islam
The Daily Telegraph
Sept. 10, 2006
By Olga Craig
Reprinted by the Canada Family Action Coalition
Long URL elided
It could have been construed as a rallying call: a warning to committed Christians that they should heighten their awareness, open their eyes and stiffen their spines. And it was perfectly appropriate that it should have been delivered from the pulpit. Last Sunday morning, in a west London church, a Roman Catholic priest gave a thought-provoking sermon. It was a gentle reminder to his congregation that they should - figuratively speaking - fight for their Christian faith.
[More at URL]
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Gay Activists Arrested During Sit-In at Marine Recruiting Station
KTBS 3
September 12, 2006
http://www.ktbs.com/news/local/3898771.html
Three people who staged a protest to draw attention to the military's policy not to accept openly gay members were arrested in Shreveport today after they occupied a Marine recruiting station and refused to leave.
The arrests came after two openly gay people tried to enlist in the Marines. A recruiter at the Mansfield Road station -- citing the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy -- told them they couldn't join after volunteering information they were gay.
[More at URL]
----- 21 -----
AIR KISS
Issue of 2006-09-25
Posted 2006-09-18
The New Yorker
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/articles/060925ta_talk_collins
American Airlines Flight 45—departing Charles d Gaulle at 10:40 A.M., arriving J.F.K. at one each afternoon—is a tourist's delight: timed just right to avoid late checkout, leaving time for one last Kir Royale at Les Deux Magots. On August 22nd, the coach cabin was packed with vacationing New Yorkers. Ralph Jackson (21A) and David Leisner (21B) were returning from two weeks in France, while Huffa Frobes-Cross (21F) had stopped over in Paris on his way back from South Africa. Assigned to seats 20A and 20B were George Tsikhiseli, a television journalist, and his writer boyfriend, Stephan Varnier. "We've been together only four months," Tsikhiseli said last week. "So it felt like a honeymoon."
[...]
Shortly after takeoff, Varnier nodded off, leaning his head on Tsikhiseli. A stewardess came over to their row. "The purser wants you to stop that," she said.
"I opened my eyes and was, like, ‘Stop what?' " Varnier recalled the other day.
"The touching and the kissing," the stewardess said, before walking away.
Tsikhiseli and Varnier were taken aback. "He would rest his head on my shoulder or the other way around. We'd kiss—not kiss kiss, just mwah," Tsikhiseli recalled, making a smacking sound.
[...]
A little later, the purser appeared at Row 20. She was, by all accounts, calm and professional; to the men's surprise, she said that she knew nothing about the incident and had not instructed the stewardess to tell Tsikhiseli and Varnier to stop touching each other.
"Which stewardess was it?" she asked.
One of the men pointed out the stewardess—a woman with, as Jackson put it, "Texas hair, like from the nineteen-sixties." According to Leisner, the purser rolled her eyes and said, "Oh, say no more. I know."
The purser asked the men to describe what they'd been doing, and she acknowledged that their behavior had not been inappropriate. Tsikhiseli then asked if the stewardess would have made the request if the kissers had been a man and a woman. Suddenly, Leisner said, the purser "became very rigid." Contradicting what she'd told them before, she stiffly said, "Kissing is inappropriate behavior on an airplane." She then said that she was busy with the meal service and promised to come back.
[...]
Maybe an hour later, the purser approached Tsikhiseli and said that the captain wanted to talk to him. Tsikhiseli went up to the galley and gave the captain his business card. The captain told Tsikhiseli that if they didn't stop arguing with the crew he would indeed divert the plane. "I want you to go back to your seat and behave the rest of the flight, and we'll see you in New York," he said. Tsikhiseli returned to coach.
[...]
But a customer-service representative named Terri, reached last week on the telephone, offered the opinion that kissing on airplanes is indeed permissible. "Oh, yeah! Sure. I've seen couples who are on honeymoons," she said. "They just don't want you to go into the bathroom together."
[More at URL]
----- 22 -----
Commentary & News Briefs
September 19, 2006
Compiled by Jenni Parker
American Family Association/Agape Press
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/9/afa/192006h.asp
[...]
...Ohio's Republican gubernatorial candidate is accusing his Democratic opponent of touting himself as a former Methodist minister while having an anti-Christian voting record in Congress. Ted Strickland's senatorial campaign website quotes scripture and is replete with references to his service as a minister. Indeed, Strickland's resume includes a master of divinity degree from Asbury Methodist Theological Seminary in Kentucky; however, Republican Ken Blackwell questions Strickland's faith commitment. "When asked directly by the Dayton Daily News what church he attended, he said, 'I don't attend a local church,'" Blackwell says. "And they asked him how frequently do you attend church, and he said rarely or occasionally." But according to Blackwell, this is an example of consistent behavior with Congressman Strickland. "He has tried to position himself as one thing in the state of Ohio, but his voting record shows him to be the left-wing extremist that I think he really is," the Republican candidate observes. Also, he points out, Strickland has been a leading advocate for removing displays of the Ten Commandments from public buildings and has voted against public prayer in schools. Such positions, Blackwell contends, are hardly what one would expect from someone who served as a Christian minister. [Chad Groening]
[...]
...Homosexual activists are making some demands of Israel's highest court in efforts to promote their deadly lifestyle in the Holy City. At a recent summer festival in Jerusalem, homosexuals were denied the right to have a parade in the streets, but they have been besieging the government ever since with their demands. Jewish Orthodox Rabbi Yehuda Levin says the homosexual activists "want to make Jerusalem the 'gay tourism capital of the world'" and have now gone before the Israeli Supreme Court, "demanding that they have the right to hold a march in the Holy City of Jerusalem on the very eve, on the very advent of the high holy days." If granted permission to hold their parade, the event could take place as early as next week. The homosexual activists were denied the opportunity to stage their parade during their recent summer festival in Jerusalem, after Chief of Police Elan Franco received some 500 communications and telephone calls from American Christians, urging that the "gay pride" event be prohibited. Levin says Franco was "really surprised" by the inundation of Christian protests. The Orthodox rabbi is asking U.S. Christians to spend a dollar and about one minute to call Franco and ask him to deny permission for the homosexual parade once again. [Bill Fancher]
[More at URL]
----- 23 -----
Attorney: Constitution Concurs With Missouri Ruling Against Teacher-Led Prayers
By Jim Brown
September 15, 2006
American Family Association/Agape Press
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/9/afa/182006c.asp
(AgapePress) - A pro-family attorney specializing in constitutional law says he's not surprised a federal judge has ordered a Missouri school to end school-initiated or sponsored prayer or other religious activities.
Judge Henry Autrey's ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of a woman and her two children, who attend Doniphan (Missouri) Elementary School. The lawsuit targeted two mandatory school assemblies that began with teachers leading prayer.
Mike DePrimo, senior litigation counsel with the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy, says Autrey's ruling is consistent with more than four decades of U.S. Supreme Court case law going back to 1963.
[More at URL]
----- 24 -----
10 percent of SBC pastors call themselves 5-point Calvinists
Sep 18, 2006
By Libby Lovelace
Baptist Press
http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=23993
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--While LifeWay Research found the number of Southern Baptist pastors embracing five-point Calvinism to be relatively small, it is undeniable that the conversations on Calvinism within the Southern Baptist Convention have brought renewed interest to the theological system.
Proponents of Calvinism, or Reformed theology, view it as a healthy return to early Southern Baptist heritage. Others see Calvinism as a negative trend and fear it is threatening to take over the SBC. In its inaugural survey, LifeWay Research sought to document the prevalence -– or lack thereof –- of Calvinism within the SBC.
[More at URL]
----- 25 -----
Psychologist Says Gender-Dysphoric Kids Need Case-by-Case Intervention
Christian PhD Claims Professional Conflicts, Pro-Homosexual Politics Fuel Gender Confusion Controversy
By Jim Brown
September 18, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/9/afa/182006d.asp
(AgapePress) - Reports say a growing number of public and private elementary schools are allowing young boys to enroll as girls and vice versa. One five-year-old boy who is said to be rejecting his biological gender was enrolled by his family in Broward County Schools and is being called the youngest transgender child in the U.S.
A recent San Francisco Chronicle article featured two Oakland, California, elementary schools that are developing new ways to accommodate students who are said to be exhibiting "gender dysphoria," which is described as confusion or discomfort about one's birth gender.
However, noted mental health counselor Dr. Warren Throckmorton of Grove City College in Pennsylvania believes children who feel they are the wrong gender require individualized, case-by-case intervention. In some cases, he suggests, reported incidences of gender dysphoria indicate as much about the mental health community as they do about the actual problem.
[More at URL]
----- 26 -----
Maryland County's Sex-Ed Material Not Yet Out of the Woods
CAUTION...This story contains terms that some may find offensive
By Jim Brown
American Family Association/Agape Press
September 19, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/9/afa/192006c.asp
(AgapePress) - A group that sued Maryland's largest school system over its controversial sex-education curriculum is applauding some proposed changes to the new curriculum and raising concerns about others.
Last year a federal judge issued an order blocking implementation of the Montgomery County, Maryland, sex-ed program. Michelle Turner is president of Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, one of the two groups that filed a successful lawsuit alleging the program denigrated conservative religious beliefs about homosexuality and contained misinformation about health risks posed by condom use.
[...]
According to Turner, liberal groups are still pushing for condom-based, homosexuality-affirming sex-ed in the classroom. For example, groups like the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and "Teach the Facts" want the county's new sex-education program to include discussion of anal and oral sex, she says. But if the changes advocated by those two groups are adopted, the citizens group leader contends the district may be in violation of the terms of last year's court-ordered settlement.
"It all depends on whether or not they are introducing homosexuality and homosexual acts and the homosexual lifestyle without telling students that it is possible to leave the lifestyle -- and that there are agencies and organizations that can assist with that," she says.
[More at URL]
----- 27 -----
NBC, Madonna Set To Mock The Crucifixion of Christ
Help send one million emails asking NBC to show Christians the same respect they show other religions.
American Family Association
Online as of 19 September 2006
http://www.afa.net/Petitions/IssueDetail.asp?id=215
Following the lead of Rosie O'Donnell and ABC, NBC has decided to join in the bashing of Christians by airing a Madonna special in November. A specific date has not been released.
In the show, Madonna, wearing a fake crown of thorns, descends on a suspended mirrored, disco ball-type cross. When some Christian leaders complained about the mockery, NBC ignored their concerns.
[More at URL]
----- 28 -----
defendMarriage.ca
Front page
Online as of 19 September 2006
http://www.familyaction.org/defendmarriage/
Last year, in defiance of public opinion, the government passed a law redefining marriage. Because educators are now required to teach the new law to all students, they are looking for curriculum to teach children same-sex relations. The material developed with assistance from the government is called "The Little Black".
The Little Black Book - Pornographic Propaganda Paid for by Taxpayer Dollars
This past year the federal, provincial and municipal governments provided St. Stephen's House in Toronto with funding of $7.8 million. One of the "educational" projects undertaken by this organization was the production and distribution of "The Little Black Book - A Book on Healthy Sexuality". This book purports to be a guide to personal and sexual development for teenage girls. In reality, it is a shockingly pornographic and deeply offensive piece of political and cultural propaganda.
[More at URL]
Focus on the Family email ACTION ITEM: Keep Madonna's "Crucifiction" video off the air;
Focus on the Family: preventing non-profits (specifically churches) from engaging in partisan political activity without losing their tax-free status is an attempt "to Silence Pastors and Churches" - amusingly, these were back to back in one Focus on the Family email update;
Focus on the Family reports that Illinois Supreme Court to take action regarding a state parental-notification abortion law;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM to demand passage of an amended Defense Authorisation Bill which would eliminate non-sectarian requirements of pastors in mandatory military events; where this comes from is the religious harassment that became a serious ongoing problem at the Air Force Academy; this is part of their general attempt to reverse the new rules and allow proselytization at mandatory military events again;
FotF is pleased that the new FDA head's nomination (Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach) has been blocked by Jim DeMint (R-SC); DeMint says he won't let Eschenbach's nomination go forward without a flat statement from Dr. Exchenbach announces that he will pull RU-486 from the market; compare and contrast this to the endless ranting about opposition to Bush judicial nominees;
Blogger in rural Ohio writes about being denied access to emergency contraception because she's not married; removing this kind of Moral Judgment Of You is a part of why many people want to make it available over the counter, and why the theoconservative movement wants it banned outright, so they can make that Moral Judgement Of You;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM to defeat a citizen's initiative to overturn South Dakota's comprehensive abortion ban;
Focus on the Family condemns gay parents going to PTA meetings as couples, declares "such activism doesn't belong in school;" meanwhile, their national school efforts continue apace;
Focus on the Family: Conservatives Out-Birthing Liberals; you've seen this for a long time in Palestine and Israeli conflicts, "we'll out-breed them and take over"; the theoconservative movement has been moving towards this for a while here, too;
Concerned Women for America ACTION ITEM to support PERA, calls PERA the "best opportunity" for the theoconservative movement this session of congress; PERA is the bill that changes Federal law so that losers in religious discrimination laws don't to pay legal fees; they're calling it an "anti-bullying bill";
CWA applauds reintroduction of an anti-abortion bill in Congress;
CWA promotes anti-marriage-rights DVD, "What God Has Joined Together," put together at Patrick Henry University (a leading evangelical school noted particularly as of late for sending more interns to the Bush white house than any other college); it's intended to bolster Virginia's anti-GLBT state constitutional amendment coming up this fall;
CWA ACTION ITEM for international calls to the chief of police of Jerusalem - intent is to demand that the police ban the city's GBLT pride march; it was already denied permit once; includes talk with Rabbi Yehuda Levin, spokesman for the Union of Orthodox Rabbis and Jews for Morality - he's American - who says that allowing a GBLT parade and tourism in Israel will "homosexualise" the middle east, inflame the Arab world ("the homosexualisation of the middle east, via Israel, which could really offend the world Arab community, who could say that America and Israel are exporting the homosexual culture to the middle east, and this could be a significant security problem for Jews world wide, an even Americans."), offend god, end civilisation; he talks about "the end times," and so on;
Agape Press complains about ineffectiveness of GOP leadership for not confirming every Bush judicial nominee; Jan LaRue (CWA) claims that not confirming Bush's nominees supports terrorism against the United States, particularly nuclear terrorism;
***** National Review runs column condemning emergency contraception (Plan B) by Jennifer Roback Morse, PhD. Economics, who is apparently an anti-contraception activist - or at least is a headline speaker at the Pro-Life Action League's "Contraception Is Not The Answer" conference this fall;
***** Pro-Life Action League's description of the "Contraception Is Not The Answer" Conference (September 22-23, 2006) describes contraception as a failure, claiming it "ushered in widespread promiscuity, divorce, sexually transmitted diseases, single parent households and abortion" and says it will "show that contraception is, indeed, the taproot of abortion";
Families Northwest event one: the "Fall Dinner;" they're less loud about it than most, but they are firmly anti-abortion rights and work with louder, more political groups; they've been quiet for a while but are picking up again; they're also running a cruise ship (?) down to Mexico for a week, with stops at a variety of typical destinations and a variety of speakers and talks;
Families Northwest press release supporting ruling that anti-marriage law in Washington State is not unconstitutional;
Families Northwest's chair, Jeff Kemp, writes happily about the Supreme Court upholding Washington State's, says they are "playing offense, not defense";
Canada Family Action Coalition says it's "time to fight the good fightback" and fight to end GBLT rights and fight Muslims;
Gay men try to enlist in the marines as protest action in Shreveport, Louisiana; refuse to leave, are arrested;
American Airlines stewardess and pilot threatens gay honeymooning couple with terrorism-based flight diversion for touching (more extensive description in article);
American Family Association's Agape Press has several anti-GBLT articles, also includes a neat article where Ohio's Ken Blackwell will spend much of his campaign attacking his divinity-degree opponent as anti-Christian (and a left-wing extremist), particularly for his opposition to mandatory prayer in public schools;
AFA/Agape Press reluctantly goes along with Federal court ruling against Missouri teacher-lead public-school prayer;
Five-point Calvinism making inroads in Southern Baptist Convention minister ranks as the race to who-can-be-most-extreme continues;
CWA wonk Warren Throckmorton says gender dysphoria / gender identity disorder being recognised by schools is an attempt by "homosexual" groups to "promote their own political agenda";
AFA/Agape Press story on Maryland sex ed. programme; they want GBLT-related material entirely out except for some statements about the "ex-gay" movement;
American Family Association ACTION ITEM to send one million pieces of email to NBC to demand they not show Madonna's "crucifixion" video; also to send mail to local affiliates with the same message;
defendMarriage.ca ACTION ITEM against "Little Black Book" which they call "Same Sex Indoctrination."
----- 1 -----
Madonna's 'Crucifixion' to Air for November Sweeps
Pop singer Madonna will appear on an oversized mirror-covered cross while wearing a sparkly crown of thorns on an NBC special in November.
Focus on the Family
September 19, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
Kevin Reilly, the network's entertainment president, cleared the controversial rendition of her song, "Live to Tell."
"We viewed it," he told Access Hollywood, "and didn't see it as being inappropriate."
You can view the cross stunt on YouTube.com , then decide for yourself whether it's inappropriate for a major network to mock a central event of the Christian faith as part of a ratings-month stunt.
TAKE ACTION:
Let Kevin Reilly know that mocking the crucifixion of Christ for the sake of controversy-driven publicity and ratings is offensive to Christians all around the world.
You can e-mail him here: kevin.reilly@nbcuni.com
Or call him at: (818) 840-6046 and (818) 840-6022.
His fax number is: (818) 840-6630
(NOTE: Referral to Web sites not produced by Focus on the Family is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of the sites' content.)
----- 2 -----
Group Seeks to Silence Pastors and Churches
Religious-liberty attorneys say congregations have a civic duty to take part in political process.
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
September 19, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0042023.cfm
Religious-rights lawyers are accusing Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, of trying to bully pastors and churches from entering into the political process.
On Monday, Lynn launched a national campaign to alert churches to the "dangers" of what he called "partisan politicking." He told reporters at the National Press Club he will be sending letters to more than 117,000 churches, synagogues and mosques in 11 states warning them not to use the pulpit to espouse support for any political candidate.
"Dragging churches into partisan politics is just plain wrong," Lynn said. "It violates tax law, it damages the integrity of religion and it harms our democracy."
[...]
"I think what Dr. Dobson is doing, what others have done, is exactly correct," Sekulow said. "They want churches mobilized to exercise their constitutional obligation to vote, which is a biblical mandate - to be engaged in the culture. What Dr. Dobson and others are doing is fostering that in the right way."
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
Illinois High Court Revives Parental-Notification Law
After a decade of inaction, justices announce plans to rule.
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
Focus on the Familiy
September 19, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0042022.cfm
The Illinois Supreme Court has announced it will finally take action that could lead to the enforcement of a pro-life law that has languished for 10 years.
The Parental Notice of Abortion Act, passed by the Illinois Legislature in 1995, makes it illegal for a girl under 18 to get an abortion without notifying a parent at least 48 hours in advance. But a federal court ruled the law unenforceable until the rules for a waiver were established. The high court never took action on setting these rules.
Peter LaBarbera, a spokesman for the Illinois Family Institute (IFI), said the Illinois Supreme Court is the only top state court that has refused to issue such rules. He said because the there is no enforceable parental-involvement law, girls from surrounding states travel to Illinois to avoid such laws in their home states.
"We are like the abortion capital of the Midwest," he said. "People are violating their own state laws to come here."
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
Military Spending Bill Held Up By Chaplain Prayer Provision
Focus on the Family
September 19, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0042021.cfm
The Pentagon budget bill has stalled in the U.S. House - held up by a provision that would allow military chaplains to use the name of Jesus in prayer at nondenominational military events, The New York Times reported.
Prayer is not restricted at worship services because attendance is voluntary. But often chaplains are called upon to impart prayer during mandatory functions such as changes of command, banquets and speeches. It is in these instances that they are mandated to offer nonsectarian prayer.
[...]
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 the CitizenLink Action Center.
If you are a CitizenLink Daily Update subscriber, click on the blue "Take Action" button in the e-mail to be automatically logged in to our Action Center. Otherwise, click on this link.
[More at URL]
----- 5 -----
Senate Vote on FDA Chief Becomes Abortion Focal Point
Republican senator puts hold on nomination over RU-486.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
September 19, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0042017.cfm
Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, the acting Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner whom President Bush has nominated to be the permanent head, is scheduled to get an up-or-down vote this week in the Senate. But after several unsuccessful meetings with the nominee, Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., placed a hold on the nomination until von Eschenbach expresses opposition to RU-486, also known as the abortion pill.
[...]
The Rev. Thomas Euteneuer, president of Human Life International, said it shows why DeMint's hold is so significant.
"The debate has gone far beyond the surgical abortion debate. It's now going into the chemical abortion debate. This is a challenge for all of us to hold strong to our principle and make sure that we defend all life from the moment of conception," he said. "I'm just glad to see somebody standing up and taking this kind of leadership. It's sadly lacking."
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
Morality clauses, EC, and broken condoms
Den of the Biting Beaver
September 18, 2006
http://bitingbeaver.blogspot.com/2006/09/morality-clauses-ec-and-broken-condoms.html
I'm stunned. I'm utterly, completely stunned. I'm shaky and anxious and shocked beyond belief. I live in rural Ohio and I have been denied EC.
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
Help Save South Dakota's Abortion Ban
Voters in the Mt. Rushmore State will pass judgment on law protecting the preborn.
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
September 18, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0042005.cfm
A top pro-life member of the U.S. Senate says South Dakota's historic abortion ban is in danger of being nullified this fall when voters go to the polls.
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., is calling on all pro-family Americans to direct their attention to an initiative on South Dakota's November ballot seeking repeal of the state's abortion ban legislation - a measure he called "the best move yet to stop the horror of abortion."
[...]
Volk said the latest opinion polls show it to be a one-point contest.
[...]
Even if the abortion ban does pass muster and escape the abortionists' assault, Paulton said the law will likely face a court challenge.
Volk, meanwhile, said his group is working to get out the vote and mobilize pastors.
"We have about 50 days left before the vote," he said. "We believe that if our pastors preach the truth, with the respect that they have, the people attending those congregations will step up to the plate and say, 'You know what, I need to vote.' "
[...]
One complication, South Dakota has three important measures on this year's ballot - all competing for attention: the abortion-ban initiative, a marriage amendment and an effort to repeal video lottery.
TAKE ACTION:
To learn more about the legislation and the campaign - especially if you are interested in volunteering your time or resources, visit the South Dakota Family Policy Council Web site.
[More at URL]
----- 8 -----
Gay Parents Encouraged to Be Activists at School
Group instructs them to combat "intolerant attitudes."
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
September 18, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0042003.cfm
Gay-activist group Family Pride has produced a pamphlet to guide homosexual parents in introducing themselves to their children's schools.
"Building Family Equality in the Classroom" suggests parents attend the first PTA meeting together and introduce themselves as a couple.
Barbara McPherson, legislative affairs coordinator for the California Family Council, told Family News in Focus such activism doesn't belong in school.
[More at URL]
----- 9 -----
Conservatives Out-Birthing Liberals
Focus on the Family
September 18, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0042006.cfm
Conservatives are having more children than liberals, and that means their numbers are growing, The San Francisco Chronicle reported.
According to the 2004 General Social Survey, a random sample of 100 liberal adults found that they had 147 children; 100 conservatives had 208 children. The difference between the two is 41 percent.
[...]
"Liberals have got a big 'baby problem,' " he said, "and it risks being the death of them."
[More at URL]
----- 10 -----
PERA Viewed as Best Opportunity for Pro-Family Victory
Ashley Horne
Concerned Women for America
September 19, 2006
http://www.cwalac.org/article_372.shtml
The Public Expression of Religion Act (H.R. 2679) introduced by Rep. John Hostettler (R-Indiana), will likely get a floor vote sometime next week in the House of Representatives. A vote on this bill is the best opportunity for a significant pro-family victory prior to Congress recessing for the campaign season in just three short weeks. The Senate has not yet acted on its version of PERA (S. 3696), sponsored by Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas).
[...]
"In essence, this is really a ‘stop the bullying' bill. The ACLU and other groups have shaken down public officials and private groups and benefited greatly in legal fees," said Bob Knight, director of CWA's Culture and Family Institute.
[...]
CWA urges supporters to contact their representatives and ask them to vote YES when PERA (H.R. 2679) comes to the floor for a vote next week. This is our final chance to gain a pro-family victory before Congress goes back into recess for the campaign season. Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121
[More at URL]
----- 11 -----
CWA Applauds Reintroduction of Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act
Concerned Women for America
9/19/2006
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/11527/MEDIA/life/index.htm
Washington, D.C. − Concerned Women for America (CWA) applauds Rep. Chris Smith (R-New Jersey) for reintroducing H.R. 356, The Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act. This life-saving legislation requires abortionists to notify their patients that an unborn child as young as 20 weeks old experiences pain during the abortion procedure.
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
"What God Has Joined Together" DVD Available (4:50)
Concerned Women for America
9/19/2006
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/11519/CWA/family/index.htm
The battle to save traditional marriage continues in Virginia, where a student at Patrick Henry College has produced a moving DVD on the importance of passing the marriage amendment to the Virginia Constitution. Patricia Phillips, Director of CWA of Virginia has more on this DVD and other resources available. Click here to listen.
These resources are available at http://states.cwfa.org/states/details.asp?organization=va, or you can look up "Virginia" in the state directory on the national homepage, www.cwfa.org.
["The battle for marriage in the state of Virginia." Note that marriage is already illegal, as are domestic partner benefits (by private companies), and some property/contract rights for queers. Phillips: "It's a very strong amendment that defines marriage... it also defines that the state will not recognise any other type of arrangement that looks like marriage," meaning it bans domestic partnerships, civil unions, and anything even remotely like it; the typical goal is that if marriage includes a benefit - any benefit - GBLT people can't have it. Production was done for free (donated duplication, etc); no cost for the DVD. CWA of Virginia web site has information about it. Points people to CWA Virginia website, asks for volunteers, such as lobbying for it at church.
----- 12 -----
Homosexuals Demand Parade through Jerusalem (8:47)
Concerned Women for America
9/18/2006
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/11522/CWA/misc/index.htm
The WorldPride event held this summer in Jerusalem is over, but homosexual activists are still pushing to hold the postponed parade, this time just before the Jewish High Holy days of Rosh Hashanah. Rabbi Yehuda Levin, spokesman for the Union of Orthodox Rabbis and Jews for Morality, says calls are needed to Jerusalem's Chief of Police, Ilan Franco, asking him to again hold off this public display. Click here to listen.
You can call Chief Franco at 011-972-2539-1100 or you can fax him at 011-972-2539-1466.
[Again, this is only a partial; my hands are still hurting. Quoted material is verbatim, however. Martha Kleider; Rabbi Yehuda Levin, spokesman, Jews for Morality; "I'm sorry to say that in the middle of the war tho' it was largely unnoticed by the world media, the homosexuals insisted on holding their week-long convention... they did have several hundred people attend a whole series of events..." Condemns GBLT people for trying to hold the parade. Currently there's a case up about this before the Israeli Supreme Court, who Rabbi Levin calls "to the left of Mao Zedong... very very leftist" (Mao Tse-Tung, depending upon transliteration system) chief of police says the parade would cause "social unrest." Last attempt, 500 American Christians phoned the Israeli police chief, Rabbi Levin calls the calls "tremendously effective," asks for "the American Christian community" to bombard the police chief with phone calls demanding the parade be banned. Gives phone numbers. "Christians worldwide are offended and oppose the homosexual parade in Jerusalem." "We're fighting against the homosexualisation of the holy land." "Ongoing attempts to make Israel a world capital year-round for homosexual tourism." Isaac Hertzog condemned for "inviting world homosexuals... to come 365 days a year to visit Israel and make this an international homosexual tourism centre." Talks about "the homosexualisation of the middle east, vis Israel, which could really offend the world Arab community, who could say that America and Israel are exporting the homosexual culture to the middle east, and this could be a significant security problem for Jews world wide, an even Americans."
Kleider calls a parade "a slap in the face of the lord." Then back to Rabbi Levin. Claims ancient enemies of Israel were involved in "homosexual attacks" on Jews. Claims that allowing GBLT people to exist dooms civilisations. Claims "that in these end times" that "institutionalized homosexuality is one of the most, if not the most serious problem in a moral sense that is confronting various civilisations." Condemns Prime Minister's daughter for being a lesbian and getting married in Canada. "We're all in this boat called the world together, and when somebody drills a hole in this boat... and we as American - Jews and Christians alike - have to do a spiritual mea culpia for allowing this immorality to be fostered in America, and to reach such a stage where it's now exported to the holy land." Calls upon Americans to "oppose the homosexualisation of the middle east, of the holy land... help[ing] to stop these kind of outrages."]
[Much more in .mp3 at URL]
----- 13 -----
GOP's Lackluster Performance on Judicial Nominations Draws Criticism
By Bill Fancher
September 18, 2006
AFA/Agape Press
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/9/182006f.asp
(AgapePress) - The Senate has failed to act on four more of President Bush's judicial nominees -- and one critic is blaming the GOP leaders.
The four nominees to the U.S. Court of Appeals -- William G. Myers III (Ninth Circuit), N. Randy Smith (Ninth Circuit), William James Haynes (Fourth Circuit), and Terrance W. Boyle (Fourth Circuit) -- were hoping to be confirmed to their respective posts last week by the U.S. Senate. But senators failed to establish a quorum at Thursday morning's executive meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee, so no vote took place.
[...]
The CWA spokeswoman is convinced America cannot win the war on terrorism without first winning the Democrat-led war on judges. "If we are going to defeat terrorism, we have to [confirm] judges that respect our Constitution rather than wrapping it around foreign terrorists who intend to bury it with us," she says.
LaRue, who is chief counsel for the Washington, DC-based policy group, believes by its inaction, the Senate Republican leadership is sending a dangerous message. "If Osama bin Laden watched [their] efforts to win the war over judges and equated it with their commitment to win the real war, he'd swap his cave for condo in Kabul or Karachi and start broadcasting live from his sundeck," she says.
"Those who won't stand up to empty suits can't expect to be taken seriously by a maniacal Jihadist who would use a real 'nuclear option' if he had it," she adds.
[More at URL]
----- 14 -----
Plan B Is a Bad Plan
With bad news to come.
By Jennifer Roback Morse
September 14, 2006 6:29 AM
National Review Online
Long URL elided
The dispute over the morning-after pill has hinged on the politics of FDA approval and the science of abortion. Did the FDA withhold approval just to placate Bush's conservative base? Is Plan B really "emergency contraception" or it is really a very early abortion? Now that the morning-after pill has been approved for over-the-counter use, we need to ask ourselves how it will affect the spread of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs). I predict the morning-after pill will induce a new round of increases in sexually transmitted diseases.
[...]
- Jennifer Roback Morse is the author of Smart Sex: Finding Life-long Love in a Hook-up World. She will be a speaker at the Pro-Life Action League's conference, "Contraception is Not the Answer," in Chicago, September 23 and 24.
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Contraception Is Not the Answer
National Conference, 09.22-23.2006
Pro-Life Action League
http://www.prolifeaction.org/cinta/index.htm
In the mid-twentieth century, the industrialized world embraced contraception as the way to eradicate poverty, lower the birth rate and guarantee freedom for women.
But contraception ushered in widespread promiscuity, divorce, sexually transmitted diseases, single parent households and abortion. While abortion was hailed as a triumph for women's rights and the solution to "failed" contraception, it brought a host of its own problems, including post-abortion trauma, sterility, and an increased risk of breast cancer.
[...]
"Contraception Is Not the Answer" presents a fascinating program of eight speakers on the various ways in which contraception has impacted society—its effect on women, on men, on marriage, on the culture—and will show that contraception is, indeed, the taproot of abortion.
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10th Annual Families Northwest Fall Dinner
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Meydenbauer Center, Bellevue, Washington
http://www.familiesnorthwest.org/fnw.aspx?pid=107
Believe in Marriage
Join us for an evening of inspiration and entertainment with those who build up marriage and family. We will be raising funds and energy to fuel the Northwest Marriage & Family Movement.
Time:
Dinner - 7:00 pm
Keynote Speaker:
Dan Wilson
Retired Catcher, Seattle Mariners
Co-Chairs:
Matt and Sarah Hasselbeck
Quarterback, Seattle Seahawks
Lorenzo and Leona Romar
Head Coach, Husky Basketball
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Washington News
Washington Supreme Court Rules: Defense of Marriage Act Does Not Violate State Constitution (press release)
Families Northwest
July 26, 2006
http://www.familiesnorthwest.org/fnw.aspx?pid=115
Olympia, July 26, 2006 -- This morning, the Washington Supreme Court issued a decision in Andersen v. King County, a consolidated case regarding Washington's Defense of Marriage Act.
The Court's lead opinion was authored by Justice Barbara Madsen, holding the Washington Defense of Marriage Act does not violate the Washington State Constitution. This decision overturns trial court decisions in King and Thurston Superior Courts in this case.
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A Marriage Decision Update from Jeff Kemp
Families Northwest
[Undated - online as of 19 September 2006]
http://www.familiesnorthwest.org/fnw.aspx?pid=341
Dear friends,
Yesterday the Washington State Supreme Court ruled to uphold the 1998 DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) and the definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman. This is clearly a pro-marriage decision, not an anti-gay decision. It is an affirmation of the unique and essential idea of marriage in our society.
I am grateful, relieved, and humbled by this sound decision. Yet I take no glee, as I feel for those who are disappointed.
The ruling is not only monumental for our state, but also for our nation. The court strongly supported the reasoning in the DOMA that tied marriage between a man and a woman to procreation, parenting, and better outcomes for children. This issue has been returned to the correct forum and gained a very strong precedent. Although it was a close 5-4 decision, the court's majority finding was clear about representative democracy and the authority of the legislature. It did not find same-sex couples to be a suspect class of specially protected citizens. It did not reduce marriage by calling it a "right."
However, the trends to take marriage lightly or to undermine and redefine it will not cease. We must look to the future.
The protection of marriage is not the whole of it. Families Northwest is based on playing offense, not defense, and on offering solutions, not fighting errors. Our work addresses problems that preceded and exacerbate the same-sex marriage redefinition issue – divorce, non-marriage, and cohabitation. Our message, our resources, and our groundbreaking community strategies focus on the hope and help we can offer to marriage, parenting, and reducing divorce. Adults need this. Kids need and deserve this.
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Time to fight the good fightback
Christians are fed up with the assault on their religion from political correctness and Islam
The Daily Telegraph
Sept. 10, 2006
By Olga Craig
Reprinted by the Canada Family Action Coalition
Long URL elided
It could have been construed as a rallying call: a warning to committed Christians that they should heighten their awareness, open their eyes and stiffen their spines. And it was perfectly appropriate that it should have been delivered from the pulpit. Last Sunday morning, in a west London church, a Roman Catholic priest gave a thought-provoking sermon. It was a gentle reminder to his congregation that they should - figuratively speaking - fight for their Christian faith.
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Gay Activists Arrested During Sit-In at Marine Recruiting Station
KTBS 3
September 12, 2006
http://www.ktbs.com/news/local/3898771.html
Three people who staged a protest to draw attention to the military's policy not to accept openly gay members were arrested in Shreveport today after they occupied a Marine recruiting station and refused to leave.
The arrests came after two openly gay people tried to enlist in the Marines. A recruiter at the Mansfield Road station -- citing the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy -- told them they couldn't join after volunteering information they were gay.
[More at URL]
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AIR KISS
Issue of 2006-09-25
Posted 2006-09-18
The New Yorker
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/articles/060925ta_talk_collins
American Airlines Flight 45—departing Charles d Gaulle at 10:40 A.M., arriving J.F.K. at one each afternoon—is a tourist's delight: timed just right to avoid late checkout, leaving time for one last Kir Royale at Les Deux Magots. On August 22nd, the coach cabin was packed with vacationing New Yorkers. Ralph Jackson (21A) and David Leisner (21B) were returning from two weeks in France, while Huffa Frobes-Cross (21F) had stopped over in Paris on his way back from South Africa. Assigned to seats 20A and 20B were George Tsikhiseli, a television journalist, and his writer boyfriend, Stephan Varnier. "We've been together only four months," Tsikhiseli said last week. "So it felt like a honeymoon."
[...]
Shortly after takeoff, Varnier nodded off, leaning his head on Tsikhiseli. A stewardess came over to their row. "The purser wants you to stop that," she said.
"I opened my eyes and was, like, ‘Stop what?' " Varnier recalled the other day.
"The touching and the kissing," the stewardess said, before walking away.
Tsikhiseli and Varnier were taken aback. "He would rest his head on my shoulder or the other way around. We'd kiss—not kiss kiss, just mwah," Tsikhiseli recalled, making a smacking sound.
[...]
A little later, the purser appeared at Row 20. She was, by all accounts, calm and professional; to the men's surprise, she said that she knew nothing about the incident and had not instructed the stewardess to tell Tsikhiseli and Varnier to stop touching each other.
"Which stewardess was it?" she asked.
One of the men pointed out the stewardess—a woman with, as Jackson put it, "Texas hair, like from the nineteen-sixties." According to Leisner, the purser rolled her eyes and said, "Oh, say no more. I know."
The purser asked the men to describe what they'd been doing, and she acknowledged that their behavior had not been inappropriate. Tsikhiseli then asked if the stewardess would have made the request if the kissers had been a man and a woman. Suddenly, Leisner said, the purser "became very rigid." Contradicting what she'd told them before, she stiffly said, "Kissing is inappropriate behavior on an airplane." She then said that she was busy with the meal service and promised to come back.
[...]
Maybe an hour later, the purser approached Tsikhiseli and said that the captain wanted to talk to him. Tsikhiseli went up to the galley and gave the captain his business card. The captain told Tsikhiseli that if they didn't stop arguing with the crew he would indeed divert the plane. "I want you to go back to your seat and behave the rest of the flight, and we'll see you in New York," he said. Tsikhiseli returned to coach.
[...]
But a customer-service representative named Terri, reached last week on the telephone, offered the opinion that kissing on airplanes is indeed permissible. "Oh, yeah! Sure. I've seen couples who are on honeymoons," she said. "They just don't want you to go into the bathroom together."
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Commentary & News Briefs
September 19, 2006
Compiled by Jenni Parker
American Family Association/Agape Press
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/9/afa/192006h.asp
[...]
...Ohio's Republican gubernatorial candidate is accusing his Democratic opponent of touting himself as a former Methodist minister while having an anti-Christian voting record in Congress. Ted Strickland's senatorial campaign website quotes scripture and is replete with references to his service as a minister. Indeed, Strickland's resume includes a master of divinity degree from Asbury Methodist Theological Seminary in Kentucky; however, Republican Ken Blackwell questions Strickland's faith commitment. "When asked directly by the Dayton Daily News what church he attended, he said, 'I don't attend a local church,'" Blackwell says. "And they asked him how frequently do you attend church, and he said rarely or occasionally." But according to Blackwell, this is an example of consistent behavior with Congressman Strickland. "He has tried to position himself as one thing in the state of Ohio, but his voting record shows him to be the left-wing extremist that I think he really is," the Republican candidate observes. Also, he points out, Strickland has been a leading advocate for removing displays of the Ten Commandments from public buildings and has voted against public prayer in schools. Such positions, Blackwell contends, are hardly what one would expect from someone who served as a Christian minister. [Chad Groening]
[...]
...Homosexual activists are making some demands of Israel's highest court in efforts to promote their deadly lifestyle in the Holy City. At a recent summer festival in Jerusalem, homosexuals were denied the right to have a parade in the streets, but they have been besieging the government ever since with their demands. Jewish Orthodox Rabbi Yehuda Levin says the homosexual activists "want to make Jerusalem the 'gay tourism capital of the world'" and have now gone before the Israeli Supreme Court, "demanding that they have the right to hold a march in the Holy City of Jerusalem on the very eve, on the very advent of the high holy days." If granted permission to hold their parade, the event could take place as early as next week. The homosexual activists were denied the opportunity to stage their parade during their recent summer festival in Jerusalem, after Chief of Police Elan Franco received some 500 communications and telephone calls from American Christians, urging that the "gay pride" event be prohibited. Levin says Franco was "really surprised" by the inundation of Christian protests. The Orthodox rabbi is asking U.S. Christians to spend a dollar and about one minute to call Franco and ask him to deny permission for the homosexual parade once again. [Bill Fancher]
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Attorney: Constitution Concurs With Missouri Ruling Against Teacher-Led Prayers
By Jim Brown
September 15, 2006
American Family Association/Agape Press
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/9/afa/182006c.asp
(AgapePress) - A pro-family attorney specializing in constitutional law says he's not surprised a federal judge has ordered a Missouri school to end school-initiated or sponsored prayer or other religious activities.
Judge Henry Autrey's ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of a woman and her two children, who attend Doniphan (Missouri) Elementary School. The lawsuit targeted two mandatory school assemblies that began with teachers leading prayer.
Mike DePrimo, senior litigation counsel with the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy, says Autrey's ruling is consistent with more than four decades of U.S. Supreme Court case law going back to 1963.
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10 percent of SBC pastors call themselves 5-point Calvinists
Sep 18, 2006
By Libby Lovelace
Baptist Press
http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=23993
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--While LifeWay Research found the number of Southern Baptist pastors embracing five-point Calvinism to be relatively small, it is undeniable that the conversations on Calvinism within the Southern Baptist Convention have brought renewed interest to the theological system.
Proponents of Calvinism, or Reformed theology, view it as a healthy return to early Southern Baptist heritage. Others see Calvinism as a negative trend and fear it is threatening to take over the SBC. In its inaugural survey, LifeWay Research sought to document the prevalence -– or lack thereof –- of Calvinism within the SBC.
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Psychologist Says Gender-Dysphoric Kids Need Case-by-Case Intervention
Christian PhD Claims Professional Conflicts, Pro-Homosexual Politics Fuel Gender Confusion Controversy
By Jim Brown
September 18, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/9/afa/182006d.asp
(AgapePress) - Reports say a growing number of public and private elementary schools are allowing young boys to enroll as girls and vice versa. One five-year-old boy who is said to be rejecting his biological gender was enrolled by his family in Broward County Schools and is being called the youngest transgender child in the U.S.
A recent San Francisco Chronicle article featured two Oakland, California, elementary schools that are developing new ways to accommodate students who are said to be exhibiting "gender dysphoria," which is described as confusion or discomfort about one's birth gender.
However, noted mental health counselor Dr. Warren Throckmorton of Grove City College in Pennsylvania believes children who feel they are the wrong gender require individualized, case-by-case intervention. In some cases, he suggests, reported incidences of gender dysphoria indicate as much about the mental health community as they do about the actual problem.
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Maryland County's Sex-Ed Material Not Yet Out of the Woods
CAUTION...This story contains terms that some may find offensive
By Jim Brown
American Family Association/Agape Press
September 19, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/9/afa/192006c.asp
(AgapePress) - A group that sued Maryland's largest school system over its controversial sex-education curriculum is applauding some proposed changes to the new curriculum and raising concerns about others.
Last year a federal judge issued an order blocking implementation of the Montgomery County, Maryland, sex-ed program. Michelle Turner is president of Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, one of the two groups that filed a successful lawsuit alleging the program denigrated conservative religious beliefs about homosexuality and contained misinformation about health risks posed by condom use.
[...]
According to Turner, liberal groups are still pushing for condom-based, homosexuality-affirming sex-ed in the classroom. For example, groups like the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and "Teach the Facts" want the county's new sex-education program to include discussion of anal and oral sex, she says. But if the changes advocated by those two groups are adopted, the citizens group leader contends the district may be in violation of the terms of last year's court-ordered settlement.
"It all depends on whether or not they are introducing homosexuality and homosexual acts and the homosexual lifestyle without telling students that it is possible to leave the lifestyle -- and that there are agencies and organizations that can assist with that," she says.
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NBC, Madonna Set To Mock The Crucifixion of Christ
Help send one million emails asking NBC to show Christians the same respect they show other religions.
American Family Association
Online as of 19 September 2006
http://www.afa.net/Petitions/IssueDetail.asp?id=215
Following the lead of Rosie O'Donnell and ABC, NBC has decided to join in the bashing of Christians by airing a Madonna special in November. A specific date has not been released.
In the show, Madonna, wearing a fake crown of thorns, descends on a suspended mirrored, disco ball-type cross. When some Christian leaders complained about the mockery, NBC ignored their concerns.
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defendMarriage.ca
Front page
Online as of 19 September 2006
http://www.familyaction.org/defendmarriage/
Last year, in defiance of public opinion, the government passed a law redefining marriage. Because educators are now required to teach the new law to all students, they are looking for curriculum to teach children same-sex relations. The material developed with assistance from the government is called "The Little Black".
The Little Black Book - Pornographic Propaganda Paid for by Taxpayer Dollars
This past year the federal, provincial and municipal governments provided St. Stephen's House in Toronto with funding of $7.8 million. One of the "educational" projects undertaken by this organization was the production and distribution of "The Little Black Book - A Book on Healthy Sexuality". This book purports to be a guide to personal and sexual development for teenage girls. In reality, it is a shockingly pornographic and deeply offensive piece of political and cultural propaganda.
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