Today's Cultural Warfare Update
Oct. 11th, 2006 10:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdThe war against GOP GBLT picks up, as the Family Research Council (which never does anything without Focus on the Family approval) and the Traditional Values Coalition both demand the GOP purge itself of t3h gay. As part of this, the TVC really rolls out the good old-fashioned 'fags are child rapists who want to rape your children' rhetoric, and Concerned Women for America's Robert Knight rolls out the "deadly lifestyle" rhetoric in support. It's nasty out there.
Oh, and also interestingly, Focus on the Family's latest internal promotion of the "ex-gay" movement is entirely theological, and has apparently given up any pretense of psychology or science, which it has heretofore previously maintained. This is consistent with creationism/intelligent design; "and then a miracle occurred" being a valid step in science, it can be a "valid step" in psychology too, which is how you get things like the below, and is why fighting the whole creationism-is-a-science lie is so important to everybody.
And now, today's news:
Fundamentalist favourite Senator Brownback (R-KS) puts a block on a judicial nomination because shedoesn't hate t3h queers presided in a commitment ceremony for a lesbian couple a few years ago;
In an earlier post, I talked about a feminist blogger who tried to get emergency contraception after her partner's condom broke, but was judged unworthy as she wasn't married or raped; the follow-up here is that she's pregnant, and, in response to her post and in email, is reportedly getting death threats;
Courtesy Andrew Sullivan, the Texas GOP has sent out a letter condemning a Democratic contender as an atheist, and more importantly, stating that no atheist can uphold "the laws an Constitution of Texas"; incidentally, said office contender says he's not an atheist, but the state party says he's lying and really is;
Andrew's on a roll, linking to a refutation of theocon claims that gay men are t3h child rapists - as usual, it's all about lying about other people's data;
***** Focus on the Family releases an "ex-gay" example DVD. That's not such a big deal by itself, but give me a second; this instance is the kind of thing that feels like a bit of a watershed. Here's the sitch: the fundamentalist line for a long time has been trying to pretend that the "ex-gay" movement has something to do with psychology and science. They've gotten fundamentalist with doctorates saying that there's no scientific evidence for sexuality beinganything other than pervy dupes of satan fixed, innate, or otherwise part of a person - unless, of course, you're straight, in which case it is. You know the deal. Anyway, to get to the point: Everything they're quoting here is theological conversion. The title of this "Love Won Out" DVD is "Testifying to God's Grace," and the entire article is about conversion to fundamentalist Christianity. This isn't even pretending to be about anything else. I think that's important;
Focus on the Family rails about Massachusetts's "exposure to homosexual propaganda in the classroom," which I'm pretty sure from other sources means "acknowledging that GBLT people can get married in the state and that some parents of children may be lesbian or gay"; they, of course, want it stopped. This is yet another example of the fundamentalist language filter: any mention of LBGT people which is not explicitly condemnational is 'promotion of homosexuality.'"
Focus on the Family publicises "Morality in Media's" upcoming "Protection from Pornography Week" action which includes "a model letter to the editor and sermon examples;"
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney continues to recruit the fundamentalist vote; he's sent his wife Anne Romney to introduce his video presentation to "Liberty Sunday," a big theoconservative political rally coming up on the 15th. And given the chance, Focus again pushes the idea that equality for GBLT people destroys religious liberty;
FotF note saying that the Supreme Court turned down an appeal to overturn Roe v. Wade that even they admit had no legal standing;
FotF story celebrates the success in pressuring clinics which include abortion services out of business, notes that there used to be a lot more than there are now ("There were more than 2,000 abortion clinics in America in the 1990s — today there are a fewer than 750");
FotF update on various court rulings regarding DOMA; the most interesting part here is Focus on the Family blaming Lawrence v. Texas for making queers all uppity; regular readers will remember that Lawrence v. Texas (2003) was the Supreme Court decision which ruled that states could no longer make GBLT people illegal by fiat - of course, the theoconservatives want it overturned so regularly take opportunities to blame it for things they oppose, as part of building the thematic "story" that Lawrence v. Texas is evil - c.f. Roe v. Wade;
FotF worries that "born-again Christians" may not be as reliably Republican this year, thanks to the Congressional scandals which they call "relatively bipartisan," which is about as close as they'll come to criticising the Republican party as a whole. I'm also amused that it's "Media coverage of scandals" causing the problem - not the scandals themselves, which they don't mention because, well, I think you can figure it out;
FotF story on a lesbian Rhode Island couple getting married in Massachusetts; they were allowed because there's no specific RI law banning same-sex marriage, which means that the 1913 law being used to stop residents of other states from getting married in Massachusetts isn't triggered. The Massachusetts Family Institute, of course, condemns the 'activist judges' for, um, following the law;
FotF promotes the anti-abortion student action "Day of Silent Solidarity," which basically photocopies the GBLT-rights oriented "Day of Silence" protest playbook, and is happy that the ADF intervened against a school which had tried to ban the action. This is pretty much the same set of action as "Day of Silence," but remember kids: when queers do it, it destroys religious liberty and disrupts learning, and when fundamentalists do it, it's free speech;
Focus on the Family roughly once a week tells its readership that it's not an option to be political; it's a Biblical Mandate. This is this week's edition, pushing a book on the topic; the inside front cover has quotes from noted theocons as as the Southern Baptist Convention's Richard Land ("Tom lays out a mandate for Christian activism that will grip the readers' minds and stir their souls") and the American Family Association's Donald Wildmon ("Christians are mandated by the Gospel to speak up and step out... this book will challenge any preconceived ideas you may have that Christianity and political involvement do not mix.");
Human Events story has a whole boatload of theoconservatives urging fundamentalist voters not to sit out the election and to stick with the Republican party; Paul Weyrich said that Hastert should resign(!) but got whipped back onto the party line the next day and retracted his statement;
Faith and Freedom Network posts its Washington State endorsement/voter's guides for four districts (17, 26, 44, 48);
The Canada Family Action Coalition is well onboard the "lesbian and gay marriage destroys religious freedom and free speech" American theocon bandwagon at this point;
Traditional Values Coalition, always ready with the newtype blood libel, says that being gay is the same as being a pedophile, and asserts, "Republicans need to make a simple choice between the innocent children and radical homosexuals who prey on them," demanding the ouster of all GBLT people from the Republican party; I'm not sure what the sickest part of this is, but I'm putting my money on Rev. Sheldon quoting a NAMBLA co-founder as an authoritative source;
TVC blames Democrats for the Foley scandal, also George Soros; again equates gay and lesbian people with child molesters; "Predatory behavior is one of the end results of homosexuality. Plain and simple... This scandal has clearly brought into focus what lies at the very baseline of homosexuality - that it has a predatory component that is toxic, dangerous, and psychologically damaging to children" - and there's plenty more where that came from;
Third TVC article complains about Washington Post columnist's negative report on the TVC, reasserting again that queers are mostly pedophiles;
American Family Association reports Operation Rescue complaining about how persecuted fundamentalists are in America today, claiming that theocons are targeted by the IRS for "your views against child killing or even homosexuality"; I don't know whether that phrasing is significant or not, but strictly speaking, it implies that somebody thinks gayfolk are even worse than abortion rights;
AFA: Theocon favourite Senator Brownback (R-KS) wants a pornography crackdown and a new commission to investigate, um, pr0n;
AFA and Family Research Council worry about the GOP's chances in the fall; urges theocon voters to stick with the party;
AFA news report: "the secular world is stepping up efforts to force pluralism and tolerance on Evangelicals," urges "Christians to study God's Word so they can be ready to defend the exclusive claims of Christ"; a second story quotes Concerned Women for America's Robert Knight talking about the "deadly lifestyle" of GBLT people in their successful efforts to get Governor Schwarzenegger to veto a set of bills in California, at least two of which appeared to be mostly about preventing GBLT students from harassment at school;
Family Research Council ACTION ITEM to tell them how "your religious freedoms have been infringed by the homosexual agenda." This is one of the many elements of the theocon agenda: if they don't get to impose their religious beliefs upon you, then you're violating their "religious freedoms." From a libertarian, traditional conservative, or simple your-fist-my-nose standpoint, this is, of course, incoherent. But it makes sense if you're convinced there's only one legitimate way to live and you have it. The same arguments, of course, were made against racial equality movements specifically, but that's why they also try to pretend that there's no relationship ever between the civil rights movement and the GBLT rights movement;
Family Research Council's Tony Perkins blames a "network of gay staffers" for the Foley scandal; FRC joins TVC in demanding a Republican purge of queers from the party. "The GOP will have to decide whether it wants to be the party that defends the traditional moral and family values that our nation was built upon and directed by for two centuries. Put another way, does the party want to represent values voters or Mark Foley and friends?";
FRC press release advertising Ann Romney, wife of Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, will be introducing a video of her husband addressing the theoconservative confab "Liberty Sunday" on the 15th. As of this press release, Mitt Romney is the only Republican officeholder actually speaking; all the headliners are either preachers or heads of theocon organisations such as the FRC, Focus on the Family, the AFA, and so on.
----- 1 -----
Senator defers nomination of Mich. judge over same-sex ceremony
By Sam Hananel and Ken Thomas, Associated Press | October 7, 2006
The Boston Globe
Long URL elided
WASHINGTON -- A judge's elevation to the federal bench could be derailed because she helped preside over a commitment ceremony for a lesbian couple four years ago.
Republican Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas has placed a hold on the nomination of Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Janet T. Neff, saying her presence at the 2002 Massachusetts ceremony raises questions about her judicial philosophy.
"It seems to speak about her view of judicial activism," Brownback said yesterday. "It's something I want to inquire of her further."
[More at URL]
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The hiatus will start after this post *smile*
Biting Beaver
Friday, October 06, 2006
http://bitingbeaver.blogspot.com/2006/10/hiatus-will-start-after-this-post.html
*sigh*. I haven't felt motivated to post for several days for obvious reasons. Indeed, when I put up a quick update this morning I had planned to go outside and do a bit of garden work to clear my mind. However, I decided to delay my trip so I could read a few of my favorite blogs.
Over at The Axe Forgets The Tree Remembers I read a post by "Z". It was a post in which she expressed frustration over how she hears fetuses being referred to in derogatory ways. Now, this post is not intended to attack Z, indeed, she makes a point that many would agree with, rather this post is intended as an explanation for the phenomenon that she has witnessed, at least on my part.
[...]
I am fucking angry as hell that around every corner I am faced with people who believe that the life of this fetus is worth more than MY life, or the lives of my children.
It becomes a question of how much shit can you take before you begin to actually hate the thing in your womb. Since the start of this I have been told repeatedly that I didn't deserve to live. I had a commenter tell me that if they ever met me they would rape me repeatedly before torturing me and murdering me in the most painful way they could (no, they didn't tell me exactly how they planned to do this, I guess that they wanted me to leave it up to my own imagination).
[More at URL]
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GOP Raises Religion in Court Race, Calling Democrat an Atheist
Mary Alice Robbins
Texas Lawyer
October 9, 2006
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1160125527178
Religion has entered the political fray in a race for an appellate court bench in east Texas.
The Austin-based Republican Party of Texas played the religion card in a Sept. 21 online newsletter. As alleged in the newsletter, Texarkana solo E. Ben Franks, Democratic nominee for a seat on the 6th Court of Appeals, "is reported to be a professed atheist" and apparently believes the Bible is a "collection of myths.'"
But Franks says he has never professed to be an atheist and is not a member of any atheist organization. Franks says no one with the Republican Party ever asked him whether he professes to be an atheist. However, he says he's not surprised by the allegation.
[...]
The Republican Party notes in its recent newsletter that Article 16, §1(a) of the Texas Constitution prescribes the oath of office for all elected or appointed officials. The officeholder swears to faithfully execute the duties of the office and, to the best of his or her ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States and of this state "so help me God."
"I can take the oath," Franks says.
However, the state Republican Party questions whether Franks will uphold the law, stating in the newsletter: "Should Franks be elected in November, one would have to conclude that he will hold true to his out of touch 'atheist' belief system and ignore the laws and Constitution of Texas."
[More at URL]
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Homosexuality and Child Sexual Abuse:
Science, Religion, and the Slippery Slope
by Mark E. Pietrzyk*
http://www.internationalorder.org/scandal_response.html
Executive Summary
In response to the scandal involving former Congressman Mark Foley, a number of conservative religious groups have claimed that homosexuals pose a substantially greater risk of committing sexual abuse against children than heterosexuals, and have issued papers citing a number of scientific studies to support these claims. However, when one examines the studies cited in these papers, one finds that the religious right has engaged in some serious distortion of the works of others. The scientists who authored the studies made no such claim about homosexuals posing a greater threat to children, and in fact in many cases argued the opposite.
In addition, many in the religious right have employed a version of the “slippery slope” argument, charging that the gay rights movement has led inevitably to tolerance for pedophilia by eroding all traditional norms of sexual behavior. However, the “slippery slope” argument is based on the false premise that the protection of children from sexual activity is a long-standing part of the Judeo-Christian ethic, which has only recently come under assault as a result of the gay rights movement. In fact, throughout most of history, the Judeo-Christian tradition tolerated and even approved of sexual relations between adult males and girls of twelve years of age or even younger. The contemporary taboo against sex between adults and minors developed only in the late nineteenth century, as societies became increasingly committed to the ideals of individual rights and personal autonomy, which led to concern about the possibility of coercion and exploitation in adult-minor relationships.
[More at URL]
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Love Won Out Testimonies Now on DVD
Hear stories of people who broke free from homosexuality.
by Stuart Shepard, managing editor
Focus on the Family
October 9, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0042259.cfm
For the first time, the testimonies of three key Love Won Out speakers are available on DVD. They each have been personally impacted in different ways by one of the most controversial issues of our time. Their stories of redemption and hope are light-years distant from the gay-activist rants the news media often echo without qualification.
Focus on the Family's Love Won Out conferences have touched thousands of lives over the past eight years with the message that change is possible for people who are unhappy with homosexuality.
[...]
For months I went in circles with the Lord. I argued with Him, begged Him, ignored Him, fled from Him and rebelled against Him. One night with tears streaming down my face, I cried out, "God, being gay is all I've ever known. I feel like I've been born this way; it feels normal to me. But You say its wrong -- that it is sin. I don't understand! Help me!"
[...]
The seeds planted in my life prior to knowing Christ ultimately produced only thorns and thistles -- a life of confusion, heartache and bondage to my flesh. Thankfully, the roots of those seeds have been pulled from my heart and the subsequent poisonous fruit has withered and died. In exchange, my Heavenly Father has planted seeds that, through Christ's love and the power of the Holy Spirit, have blossomed into a harvest of abundant fruit -- a life of peace, joy and freedom.
[More at URL]
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National Gay Groups Fight Parents in Massachusetts
Focus on the Family
October 9, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0042262.cfm
National gay-activist groups have joined a legal battle over whether Massachusetts parents have a right to shield their children from exposure to homosexual propaganda in the classroom, LifeSiteNews.com reported. The groups jointly filed a brief that attacks the parents’ right to file suit.
David Parker and two other parents filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in April against school officials who refused to notify him about classroom material promoting homosexuality at his son’s elementary school.
[More at URL]
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Campaigns Combating Pornography to Begin in October
Two campaigns against pornography get under way at the end of this month to increase public awareness of the dangers.
Focus on the Family
October 9, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0042263.cfm
Protection from Pornography Week and the White Ribbon Against Pornography (WRAP) Campaign begin Oct. 29.
According to Agape Press, Morality In Media offers resources on its Web site including ways to combat pornography during Protection from Pornography Week, information on the WRAP Campaign, a primer on obscenity laws, a model letter to the editor and sermon examples.
[More at URL]
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Massachusetts First Lady Joins Liberty Sunday Event
Focus on the Family
October 10, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0042271.cfm
Ann Romney, the wife of Gov. Mitt Romney, will join the line up of speakers for "Liberty Sunday: Defending Our First Freedom," scheduled to be simulcast via TV, radio and the Internet from Tremont Temple Baptist Church in Boston on Oct. 15.
Ann Romney will introduce a video presentation by her husband.
[More at URL]
----- 9 -----
U.S. Supreme Court Turns Down Key Abortion Case
Focus on the Family
October 10, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0042272.cfm
Members of the U.S. Supreme Court today turned down a request by the plaintiff in the 1973 Doe v. Bolton ruling to reopen the case that, together with Roe v. Wade, brought about abortion on demand.
Sandra Cano -- the "Doe" in Doe v. Bolton -- brought her case under a rule that allows those who have won a judgment to ask for the case to be reopened, if circumstances have changed substantially from when the decision was handed down and continued enforcement of the decision has become unjust.
[More at URL]
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Abortion Clinic Reborn as Pro-Life Center
Operation Rescue is creating a headquarters in an unlikely spot.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
October 10, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0042269.cfm
A former abortion clinic in Wichita, Kan., is reopening — as a pro-life center.
When Central Women’s Services in downtown Wichita closed, Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue, purchased it, gutted it and is turning it into a headquarters.
[,,,]
There were more than 2,000 abortion clinics in America in the 1990s — today there are a fewer than 750.
[More at URL]
----- 11 -----
Another Federal Victory for Marriage
At the state level, all eyes are on New Jersey
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
October 10, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0042270.cfm
The U.S. Supreme Court today declined to hear a challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) — the latest in a string of court decisions that have reinforced traditional marriage.
Mat Staver, president of Liberty Counsel, said the court effectively sided with U.S. District Judge Gary Taylor, who dismissed the case in 2005. It was filed by a same-sex couple seeking to overturn California's definition of marriage — by overturning the federal DOMA.
[...]
There have been about 50 lawsuits on same-sex marriage since 2003, when the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Lawrence v. Texas — a decision that [Focus on the Family "judicial analyst" Bruce] Hausknecht said encouraged homosexual activists to file litigation seeking to undermine marriage.
[...]
Hausknecht said all eyes are now on the state courts. Just last week, in the California, a state appellate court ruled that legal efforts to create same-sex marriage violate Proposition 22, an initiative protecting marriage, which voters overwhelmingly passed in 2000. That ruling is on its way to the state Supreme Court.
[...]
For Staver, the fact that judges in New Jersey — or anywhere else — could unearth a previously undiscovered constitutional right to gay marriage underscores the need for a federal marriage-protection amendment to place in the U.S. Constitution the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
"The success in the courtrooms must become enshrined in our state and federal constitutions," Staver added. "So that we will never have to wonder whether some judge will undermine marriage with the stroke of a pen."
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
Many Christians Undecided About Election Day
Media coverage of scandals may be having an impact.
from staff reports
October 11, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0042284.cfm
With the mid-term elections less than a month away, a growing number of born-again Christians are undecided about whom to back at the ballot box.
While you can typically count on born-again Christians to vote Republican, pollster John Zogby said that's not what he's seeing this time around. Many say they are simply undecided.
[...]
----- 13 -----
Massachusetts Judge OKs Same-Sex Wedding of Out-of-State Couple
Focus on the Family
October 11, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0042288.cfm
A superior-court judge ruled a lesbian couple from Rhode Island should be allowed to marry in Massachusetts, because their state does not specifically prohibit such unions, The Associated Press reported.
Wendy Becker and Mary Norton applied for a marriage license in Massachusetts but were denied the request based on a 1913 law prohibiting out-of-state residents from marrying, if the union would not be recognized in their home state.
Becker and Norton challenged the law, arguing that same-sex marriage is not specifically prohibited in Rhode Island.
Superior Court Judge Thomas Connolly sided with the couple, writing that he saw no evidence of a "constitutional amendment, statute or controlling appellate decision" that prohibited same-sex marriage in Rhode Island.
[...]
"The people of Rhode Island can say, 'Thank you,' to the courts of Massachusetts," he said, "for throwing this grenade their way."
[More at URL]
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Students' Pro-Life Speech Won't be Censored
Focus on the Family
October 11, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0042287.cfm
After the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) intervened, a Maryland high-school student who was banned from promoting a pro-life event on campus will be allowed to distribute and post material.
Hilary Humphrey and other pro-life students approached school officials for permission to publicize the "Day of Silent Solidarity" -- a student-led event designed to bring awareness to the issue of abortion. Officials at Northeast Senior High School denied the request, calling the topic too inflammatory.
[...]
"Students cannot be silenced simply because their speech is deemed to be controversial or unpopular," Raum said. "We are pleased the school chose to drop its unconstitutional ban on this type of student-led expression."
----- 15 -----
Why You Can't Stay Silent
A Biblical Mandate to Shape Our Culture
by Tom Minnery
Focus on the Family
http://www.family.org/resources/itempg.cfm?itemid=2741&refcd=CE06JCZL&tvar=no
Your Voice Needs To Be Heard
In Matthew 5, Jesus taught a simple parable comparing His believers to salt and light. What does this lesson mean to millions of Christians now? Tom Minnery, a Focus on the Family vice president, shares a compelling case from a biblical perspective on why Christians must actively address social issues within the culture.
[More at URL]
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Social Conservatives: 'Values Voters' Must Stand by GOP
by John Gizzi
Human Events
Posted Oct 09, 2006
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=17427
Social conservative leaders last week seemed united in their demand for a full investigation of the scandal surrounding disgraced former Rep. Mark Foley (R.-Fla.), and also in the belief that “Values Voters” should nonetheless support the GOP in the midterm elections.
[...]
One member of the committee did call on Hastert to go, but reversed himself a day later following a call from the speaker. Free Congress Foundation Chairman Paul Weyrich had told Human Events: “I think Hastert should do the right thing and resign. What people tell me over and over again is that no one in Washington ever takes responsibility. If Hastert resigned, he would help the party.” But Weyrich told reporters the next day that Hastert called him and insisted he didn’t receive clear warnings from fellow leaders or aides about Foley’s e-mails. Calling the speaker “one of the more honest people I know,” Weyrich said, “I can take his word, and as a result, I told him I’d back him on it.”
[...]
Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America, said, “Everyone should be judged by his or her own merits and not smeared by someone else’s scandal.”
The Rev. Don Wildmon, chairman of the American Family Association, said: “Should the voters sit out? I don’t think so. I would take the opposite view and think the voters need to turn out. You have to consider the options and the results of your actions. All of us are disgusted with this, but it may turn out to our benefit. I’m just not ready to say ‘sit it out’ because that’s precisely what the liberals want, and I think this whole thing has been orchestrated to accomplish this goal—the ‘values voters’ would simply say ‘to heck with it’ and ‘forget it’ and ‘I’m sitting this one out.’ We could lose some good people if we do that.”
[More at URL]
----- 17 -----
Washington General Election
Targeted Voter Guides
Faith and Freedom Network
Online as of 11 October 2006
http://www.faithandfreedom.us/v_guides.html
District 17 - Vancouver
District 26 - Kitsap County and Western Pierce County
District 44 - Snohomish County
District 48 - Bellevue and Kirkland
[More at URL]
----- 18 -----
Federal bill protecting religions to get rough ride: Similar legislation in Alberta has been stalled for months
Canada Family Action Coalition
http://www.familyaction.org/Articles/issues/freedoms/religious/federal-bill.htm
National Post
Oct. 5, 2006
By Kevin Libin
In a front page story by Mr.Libin the issue of the speculated Defense of Religions Act was reported. I am amazed at the anti-religious rhetoric that came from the speculation of such a federal Bill. Somme legal experts said it would violate the Charter. Some activists said it would allow gay bashing. Others cited it would turn back the marriage law and others turned to the old tirade that homophobes are behind this Bill. All these arguments are nonsense and all were crafted to silence people who oppose homosexual behavior. That is proof we need such a law. The Charter should protect those people who want to voice their opinion or belief, but it does not since judges tell us what they think the Charter says. Judges have given us reason to call for a new law.
[...]
A lesbian lawyer tried to argue that protections are already in the Charter to which I responded, "that might be the case in theory, said Brian Rushfeldt, executive director of the Canadian Family Action Coalition, a Calgary-based advocacy group. But in courtrooms, judges have ignored Charter protections for religious and speech freedoms in favor of gay rights, he said. "We've been getting judges in many cases in the last five years who say, 'Your freedoms aren't as important as somebody's rights,'" he said. He noted that some people might oppose the promotion of same-sex marriage for reasons that are more personal than religious. "I hope it's not just a religious freedom thing," Mr. Rushfeldt said of the possibility of federal legislation. "Because, really, the protection that needs to happen is much broader than just for religious people."
IT IS TIME for a new law in this nation of activists, judges and homosexuals alike - who want to silence ALL people who disagree with homosexual behavior.
-- Brian Rushfeldt
[More at URL]
----- 19 -----
Mark Foley Pederasty Scandal Reveals Stark Double Standard
By Rev. Louis P. Sheldon
Chairman, Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2883
October 11, 2006 - Disgraced Florida Republican Mark Foley’s sex scandal with congressional pages presents the Republican Party and Values Voters with historic teachable moments.
There are three significant lessons to be learned from the revelation that Foley was a closeted homosexual who was attracted to teenage boys.
First, the Republican Party needs to discuss how should it should deal with homosexuals inside the leadership of the Party Liberal Republicans constantly talk about the Republican Party being a “big tent open to everybody.”
As radical homosexuals have been welcomed into “the big tent,” it has become a less welcoming place for religious conservatives and a dark and dangerous place for children.
Today, Republicans need to take a long and hard look at what they have done by welcoming homosexuals into the GOP. Republicans need to make a simple choice between the innocent children and radical homosexuals who prey on them.
[...]
In 1998, David Thorstad, a founder of the North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) told a group of homosexuals in Mexico City that “Pederasty is the main form that male homosexuality has acquired throughout Western civilization – and not only in the West! Pederasty is inseparable from the high points of Western culture—ancient Greece and the Renaissance.”
The next time a homosexual activist claims on TV that homosexuality has no connection to pedophilia, remember David Thorstad’s statement and the definition of pederasty.
[More at URL]
----- 20 -----
Homosexual Activists Use Mark Foley Scandal For Political Gain
Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2881
October 9, 2006 – Recent reports in WorldNetDaily and Investor’s Business Daily are shedding new light on how homosexual activists, in cooperation with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, worked together to time the release of information about Rep. Mark Foley’s sexually-charged emails and instant messages to congressional pages.
The exposure of Foley as a closeted homosexual and his fantasies about young boys, was timed to do maximum damage to the Republican Party just weeks before the November election.
[...]
New reports are surfacing that a George Soros front group called the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, DC, had copies of Foley’s emails back in July and sent them to the FBI for an investigation. The FBI said there was insufficient grounds to investigate.
[...]
The Big Tent?
Liberal Republicans constantly talk about the Republican Party being a "big tent open to everybody."
As radical homosexuals have been welcomed into "the big tent," it has become a less welcoming place for religious conservatives and a dark and dangerous place for children.
Today Republicans need to take a long and hard look at what they have done by welcoming homosexuals into the GOP. Republicans need to make a simple choice between the innocent children and radical homosexuals who prey on them.
[...]
We can't promote this child abuse mentality and expect that our kids will turn out ok as adults. They won't. And we shouldn't continue to poison our children's psychological and physical development with myths and lies, disguised as tolerance and acceptance, when in fact there is help for people with same sex attraction.
Our kids are being force-fed psychological poison, at critical times in their development, and are being coerced by homosexual organizations that prey upon our kids in schools through curriculums, through national coming out days, through websites, through seminars that teach adults how to prey upon young boys without getting caught.
[...]
Pederasty Part Of Homosexual Lifestyle
To understand Rep. Mark Foley’s attraction to teenage boys, one must realize that pederasty, the act of a homosexual to engage in sex with a teenage male is part of the overall homosexual lifestyle. Media reports have incorrectly referred to Foley’s attractions to teens as pedophilia. Pedophilia is sexual attraction to pre-teenagers.
Foley’s attraction to teenage boys is not considered abnormal within the homosexual activist community. In fact, efforts are being made by homosexual groups around the world to lower or abolish the age of sexual consent. In addition, homosexual web sites keep track of the age of consent for children in different countries where they travel to have sex with kids: Age of Consent - Sexual Consent Ages From Around The World.
TVC Chairman Rev. Louis P. Sheldon has observed: “Pederasty is an accepted part of homosexuality around the world. Most homosexuals will tell you that they were brought into homosexuality by an older male. This is evident in the Catholic priest scandal. There were plenty of other Catholic priests for illicit sex, yet they targeted children for seduction and recruitment.
“How do we prevent such socially unacceptable acts in our culture against children? Everyone knows that to eliminate such behaviors, you must not feed it with positive support. Unfortunately, the politically correct view is to accept homosexuality. If you oppose homosexuality, you’re considered a bigot. Mr. Foley did not think pederasty was wrong because it was part of the overall homosexual lifestyle.
“Unfortunately, the taboo against sex with children continues to erode in our culture—aided by radical academics and by homosexual activist organizations.”
Homosexuals have long made it their objective of using the public school systems to recruit children into the homosexual lifestyle. TVC’s report, “Homosexuals Target Public School Children” outlines this objective. TVC’s report on the high rate of child molestations by homosexuals also provides chilling statistics on this national tragedy.
Read and distribute the document, “Homosexuality and Pedophilia” to see the close association between the North American Man-Boy Love Association and the homosexual movement. “Pedophilia Chic Reconsidered” describes the effort to normalize adult/child sex in the homosexual movement.
TVC’s report, “Exposed: Homosexual Molesters” documents, for example, that the New York Post documented in its July 30, 2001 edition that an investigation of child molestations by New York City public school teachers revealed that nearly 20% of all molestations were committed by homosexuals against children.
In 1987, Dr. Stephen Rubin of Whitman College did a ten-state study of child molestations. He found that 32% of the cases were homosexuals molesting children. [Ed. Note: see above for how they're lying about the study's contents to present this information.]
[More at URL]
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Washington Post Columnist Attacks TVC
Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2879
October 9, 2006 -- Eugene Robinson, a columnist for The Washington Post attacked the Traditional Values Coalition in the October 6 issue. Robinson claims that the GOP has attempted to demonize homosexuals and that TVC is one of the most rabid proponents of the belief that homosexuals recruit children into the lifestyle.
According to Robinson:
“One of the central tenets of anti-homosexual doctrine is the notion of ‘recruitment’ -- that adult gay people lure young people into homosexuality as a way of increasing their numbers. The most extreme anti-gay activists perceive a full-fledged conspiracy. The Traditional Values Coalition, a group whose homophobia can only be called rabid, goes so far as to claim that, after being enticed into sexual acts, the ‘young ”initiates” into the strange world of homosexuality are to be trained to reject the moral beliefs of their parents."
[...]
Robinson is misinformed about the nature of the homosexual movement and its goals as well as the research on same-sex attractions. His claim that homosexuality is more nature than nurture has never been proved. In fact, homosexual researchers continually come up empty when they attempt to prove that there is a biological cause for homosexual behaviors.
In addition, research and news reports over the past decades show clearly that homosexuals molest children at far higher rates than do heterosexuals.
[More at URL]
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Pro-Life Group Considers Suing Over 'Truth Truck' Drivers' Oklahoma Arrest
By Bill Fancher and Jenni Parker
American Family Association/Agape Press
October 10, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/10/afa/102006d.asp
(AgapePress) - An Operation Rescue "truth truck" and two drivers were taken into custody by Oklahoma City Police this past weekend for driving through a wealthy neighborhood where an abortionist lives. The two pro-life workers were placed under citizen's arrest by an influential neighbor of abortion doctor Nareshkumar Patel and were taken into police custody, jailed, and held overnight.
Operation Rescue's Truth Trucks are part of a campaign by the pro-life organization to raise awareness of the inhumane and brutal nature of abortion. These panel trucks, covered with graphic, billboard-sized, full-color images of aborted fetuses, have been driven across the U.S. and have often appeared in conjunction with various pro-life events and demonstrations.
[...]
Newman says it is getting difficult to be a pro-life advocate these days due to the hatred aimed at those expressing religious values. "It's getting very tough to express your views," he asserts, "particularly when they fly in the face of the prevailing political opinions of the day."
Nowadays, the Operation Rescue spokesman notes, "When you express your views against child killing or even homosexuality, you find yourself at odds with the IRS, the local law enforcement agencies, sometimes even federal law enforcement agencies." Nevertheless, he says his group will continue to conduct these kinds of pro-life events, "even though there is often persecution that accompanies them."
[More at URL]
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Brownback: Time to Crack Down on Porn Distributors
By Bill Fancher and Jody Brown
American Family Association/Agape Press
October 10, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/10/afa/102006e.asp
(AgapePress) - Senator Sam Brownback thinks the time has come to bear down on those who are distributing pornography throughout America, so he's calling for an investigative commission.
[More at URL]
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Bauer Less Than Optimistic About GOP's Post-November Majority Status
By Chad Groening
American Family Association/Agape Press
October 10, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/10/afa/102006g.asp
(AgapePress) - Pro-family activist Gary Bauer says it's a real "dicey" situation right now as to whether Republicans will be able to maintain their majority status in Congress this fall.
In the ongoing wake of the scandal surrounding former Republican Congressman Mark Foley, political pundits continue to speculate about the potential effect it could have upon conservatives heading to the polls next month -- if indeed they decide to vote at all. Pro-Democratic analysts predict their party will benefit from a backlash of voters who now question whether the GOP is as "values"-oriented as it claims, while pro-Republican observers are willing to concede their party may lose a few congressional seats because of the Foley matter but not enough to lose their majority status.
[...]
Simply put, says the American Values president, "there will be real-life implications, no matter how unhappy some people may be with the Republican Party, if the Senate and the House switch to the liberal side."
[More at URL]
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Commentary & News Briefs
October 11, 2006
American Family Association/Agape Press
Compiled by Jody Brown
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/10/afa/112006h.asp
[...]
...A Baptist preacher from Tennessee says Christians must be ready to defend the exclusive claims of Christ in today's secular humanist culture. During a recent Worldview Weekend conference in Collierville, Tennessee, Dr. Chuck Herring said the secular world is stepping up efforts to force pluralism and tolerance on Evangelicals. Herring encouraged Christians to study God's Word so they can be ready to defend the exclusive claims of Christ. He claimed that many Christians -- clergy and laity alike -- are "straddling the fence" when it comes to cultural issues. "They've got one foot in the world, and they're listening to the tolerance police, and they're caving in left and right," he said. "They've got the other foot in the 'kingdom of God,' and they're trying to straddle that fence. I'll tell you what, folks: it's time to get on one side of that fence or the other." Herring said the exclusivity of Jesus is defended by revelation. "The Bible that I'm holding in my hand is truth without any mixture of error," he told the gathering. "Paul wrote of the authority and the authenticity of the Bible in 2 Timothy 3:16. He said this: 'All scripture is inspired' -- God-breathed -- 'is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.'" Herring is pastor of First Baptist Church in Collierville. [Allie Martin]
...Getting involved in the debates of the day can make a difference -- even in places where liberal views dominate the landscape. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently vetoed the final two of three pro-homosexual education bills passed by the State Legislature. Bob Knight of the Institute on Culture and Family explains why the governor terminated the bills. "The governor was getting an enormous amount of input from citizens, from faxes and e-mails to calls," Knight explains, "[and] people were outraged at the sweeping homosexual agenda in the schools." The message from the public, he says, was essentially "don't mess with our kids." And he believes the governor heard the message loud and clear. "I don't know so much that he agrees with the parents," Knight continues, "but I think he's a good enough politician that when there's this much of an uproar and outrage, that he would ignore it at his own peril." The bills would have designated tax dollars to promote the homosexual lifestyle, mandated pro-homosexual lessons, and prohibited any negative comments about homosexuals or their deadly lifestyle. Knight says people can make a difference if they decide to take action. [Bill Fancher]
[More at URL]
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Liberty Sunday First Amendment Freedoms Watch Project
Tell us how your religious freedoms have been infringed by the homosexual agenda.
October 10, 2006 - Tuesday
Forward to a Friend!
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=AL06J03&f=PG03I03
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." So begins the Bill of Rights with the first amendment to our Constitution -- one that guarantees a God-given freedom. For over 200 years the light of the church has illuminated this freedom, but now a radical agenda seeks to extinguish that flame. The expansion of anti-discrimination laws, including family law, to include homosexuality inevitably constricts Americans' right to express and act on their religious beliefs.
FRC is tracking these incidents as they occur throughout the country. Now we need your help. We are compiling stories from across the nation on how the homosexual agenda has threatened religious liberty. You can help us show America that government sponsorship of the homosexual agenda is a threat to the freedoms we value the most.
Have you been forced to attend pro-homosexual "diversity" training at work? Have your children been subjected to pro-homosexual books or rhetoric in school? If your religious liberties have been affected in these or other ways, we want to hear from you. Send us your stories - the where, the when, and the what. With your permission, we will publish and publicize these incidents so that all will know these are not random events, but the inevitable result of a clash of basic beliefs that puts religious freedom on a course of extinction.
Then, join us as we address these issues at Liberty Sunday: Defending our First Freedom, a live simulcast this Sunday, October 15, 2006 from Boston, Massachusetts.
To submit a story to FRC's First Amendment Freedoms Watch Project, please fill out our online form at: http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=LK06J19.
[More at URL]
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Party of Whose Values?
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins
October 9, 2006 - Monday
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WU06J06
The ricochets of the Foley scandal continued to whistle overhead this weekend. As a guest on Fox News Sunday I again raised last week's report by CBS's Gloria Borger about anger on Capitol Hill that "'a network of gay staffers and gay members protect[ed] each other and did the Speaker a disservice'" in the Foley scandal. On Friday, an internet site quoted a "gay politico" observing that "[m]aybe now the social conservatives will realize one reason why their agenda is stalled on Capitol Hill." Sunday's New York Times revealed that a homosexual former Clerk of the House of Representatives, Jeff Trandahl, was "among the first to learn of Mr. Foley's" messages to pages. The Clerk's job is described as a "powerful post with oversight of hundreds of staffers and the page program." This raises yet another plausible question for values voters: has the social agenda of the GOP been stalled by homosexual members and or staffers? When we look over events of this Congress, we have to wonder. This was the first House to pass a pro-homosexual hate crimes bill. The marriage protection amendment was considered very late in the term with no progress toward passage. Despite overwhelming popular approval, the party seldom campaigns as the defender of marriage. The GOP will have to decide whether it wants to be the party that defends the traditional moral and family values that our nation was built upon and directed by for two centuries. Put another way, does the party want to represent values voters or Mark Foley and friends?
----- 28 -----
Massachusetts First Lady Joins Liberty Sunday Simulcast
October 10, 2006 - Tuesday
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: J.P. Duffy or Bethanie Swendsen, 866-FRC-NEWS
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PR06J03&f=PG03I03
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council is pleased to announce that Ann Romney, the First Lady of Massachusetts, will be joining the line-up of distinguished speakers at a live nationwide simulcast, Liberty Sunday- Defending Our First Freedom. The event will broadcast on October 15 from Tremont Temple Baptist Church in Boston, Massachusetts. Mrs. Romney will also introduce a video presentation by her husband, Governor Mitt Romney, which will air during the event.
This nationwide event comes from Boston in response to the legal battles over marriage taking place in Massachusetts. These battles are destined to have an impact not only on marriage, but also on the free speech and freedom of religion rights of all citizens. Prior to the event at a 3 pm press conference, FRC President Tony Perkins will reveal details of a special FIRST AMENDMENT FREEDOMS WATCH PROJECT.
[More at URL]
Oh, and also interestingly, Focus on the Family's latest internal promotion of the "ex-gay" movement is entirely theological, and has apparently given up any pretense of psychology or science, which it has heretofore previously maintained. This is consistent with creationism/intelligent design; "and then a miracle occurred" being a valid step in science, it can be a "valid step" in psychology too, which is how you get things like the below, and is why fighting the whole creationism-is-a-science lie is so important to everybody.
And now, today's news:
Fundamentalist favourite Senator Brownback (R-KS) puts a block on a judicial nomination because she
In an earlier post, I talked about a feminist blogger who tried to get emergency contraception after her partner's condom broke, but was judged unworthy as she wasn't married or raped; the follow-up here is that she's pregnant, and, in response to her post and in email, is reportedly getting death threats;
Courtesy Andrew Sullivan, the Texas GOP has sent out a letter condemning a Democratic contender as an atheist, and more importantly, stating that no atheist can uphold "the laws an Constitution of Texas"; incidentally, said office contender says he's not an atheist, but the state party says he's lying and really is;
Andrew's on a roll, linking to a refutation of theocon claims that gay men are t3h child rapists - as usual, it's all about lying about other people's data;
***** Focus on the Family releases an "ex-gay" example DVD. That's not such a big deal by itself, but give me a second; this instance is the kind of thing that feels like a bit of a watershed. Here's the sitch: the fundamentalist line for a long time has been trying to pretend that the "ex-gay" movement has something to do with psychology and science. They've gotten fundamentalist with doctorates saying that there's no scientific evidence for sexuality being
Focus on the Family rails about Massachusetts's "exposure to homosexual propaganda in the classroom," which I'm pretty sure from other sources means "acknowledging that GBLT people can get married in the state and that some parents of children may be lesbian or gay"; they, of course, want it stopped. This is yet another example of the fundamentalist language filter: any mention of LBGT people which is not explicitly condemnational is 'promotion of homosexuality.'"
Focus on the Family publicises "Morality in Media's" upcoming "Protection from Pornography Week" action which includes "a model letter to the editor and sermon examples;"
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney continues to recruit the fundamentalist vote; he's sent his wife Anne Romney to introduce his video presentation to "Liberty Sunday," a big theoconservative political rally coming up on the 15th. And given the chance, Focus again pushes the idea that equality for GBLT people destroys religious liberty;
FotF note saying that the Supreme Court turned down an appeal to overturn Roe v. Wade that even they admit had no legal standing;
FotF story celebrates the success in pressuring clinics which include abortion services out of business, notes that there used to be a lot more than there are now ("There were more than 2,000 abortion clinics in America in the 1990s — today there are a fewer than 750");
FotF update on various court rulings regarding DOMA; the most interesting part here is Focus on the Family blaming Lawrence v. Texas for making queers all uppity; regular readers will remember that Lawrence v. Texas (2003) was the Supreme Court decision which ruled that states could no longer make GBLT people illegal by fiat - of course, the theoconservatives want it overturned so regularly take opportunities to blame it for things they oppose, as part of building the thematic "story" that Lawrence v. Texas is evil - c.f. Roe v. Wade;
FotF worries that "born-again Christians" may not be as reliably Republican this year, thanks to the Congressional scandals which they call "relatively bipartisan," which is about as close as they'll come to criticising the Republican party as a whole. I'm also amused that it's "Media coverage of scandals" causing the problem - not the scandals themselves, which they don't mention because, well, I think you can figure it out;
FotF story on a lesbian Rhode Island couple getting married in Massachusetts; they were allowed because there's no specific RI law banning same-sex marriage, which means that the 1913 law being used to stop residents of other states from getting married in Massachusetts isn't triggered. The Massachusetts Family Institute, of course, condemns the 'activist judges' for, um, following the law;
FotF promotes the anti-abortion student action "Day of Silent Solidarity," which basically photocopies the GBLT-rights oriented "Day of Silence" protest playbook, and is happy that the ADF intervened against a school which had tried to ban the action. This is pretty much the same set of action as "Day of Silence," but remember kids: when queers do it, it destroys religious liberty and disrupts learning, and when fundamentalists do it, it's free speech;
Focus on the Family roughly once a week tells its readership that it's not an option to be political; it's a Biblical Mandate. This is this week's edition, pushing a book on the topic; the inside front cover has quotes from noted theocons as as the Southern Baptist Convention's Richard Land ("Tom lays out a mandate for Christian activism that will grip the readers' minds and stir their souls") and the American Family Association's Donald Wildmon ("Christians are mandated by the Gospel to speak up and step out... this book will challenge any preconceived ideas you may have that Christianity and political involvement do not mix.");
Human Events story has a whole boatload of theoconservatives urging fundamentalist voters not to sit out the election and to stick with the Republican party; Paul Weyrich said that Hastert should resign(!) but got whipped back onto the party line the next day and retracted his statement;
Faith and Freedom Network posts its Washington State endorsement/voter's guides for four districts (17, 26, 44, 48);
The Canada Family Action Coalition is well onboard the "lesbian and gay marriage destroys religious freedom and free speech" American theocon bandwagon at this point;
Traditional Values Coalition, always ready with the newtype blood libel, says that being gay is the same as being a pedophile, and asserts, "Republicans need to make a simple choice between the innocent children and radical homosexuals who prey on them," demanding the ouster of all GBLT people from the Republican party; I'm not sure what the sickest part of this is, but I'm putting my money on Rev. Sheldon quoting a NAMBLA co-founder as an authoritative source;
TVC blames Democrats for the Foley scandal, also George Soros; again equates gay and lesbian people with child molesters; "Predatory behavior is one of the end results of homosexuality. Plain and simple... This scandal has clearly brought into focus what lies at the very baseline of homosexuality - that it has a predatory component that is toxic, dangerous, and psychologically damaging to children" - and there's plenty more where that came from;
Third TVC article complains about Washington Post columnist's negative report on the TVC, reasserting again that queers are mostly pedophiles;
American Family Association reports Operation Rescue complaining about how persecuted fundamentalists are in America today, claiming that theocons are targeted by the IRS for "your views against child killing or even homosexuality"; I don't know whether that phrasing is significant or not, but strictly speaking, it implies that somebody thinks gayfolk are even worse than abortion rights;
AFA: Theocon favourite Senator Brownback (R-KS) wants a pornography crackdown and a new commission to investigate, um, pr0n;
AFA and Family Research Council worry about the GOP's chances in the fall; urges theocon voters to stick with the party;
AFA news report: "the secular world is stepping up efforts to force pluralism and tolerance on Evangelicals," urges "Christians to study God's Word so they can be ready to defend the exclusive claims of Christ"; a second story quotes Concerned Women for America's Robert Knight talking about the "deadly lifestyle" of GBLT people in their successful efforts to get Governor Schwarzenegger to veto a set of bills in California, at least two of which appeared to be mostly about preventing GBLT students from harassment at school;
Family Research Council ACTION ITEM to tell them how "your religious freedoms have been infringed by the homosexual agenda." This is one of the many elements of the theocon agenda: if they don't get to impose their religious beliefs upon you, then you're violating their "religious freedoms." From a libertarian, traditional conservative, or simple your-fist-my-nose standpoint, this is, of course, incoherent. But it makes sense if you're convinced there's only one legitimate way to live and you have it. The same arguments, of course, were made against racial equality movements specifically, but that's why they also try to pretend that there's no relationship ever between the civil rights movement and the GBLT rights movement;
Family Research Council's Tony Perkins blames a "network of gay staffers" for the Foley scandal; FRC joins TVC in demanding a Republican purge of queers from the party. "The GOP will have to decide whether it wants to be the party that defends the traditional moral and family values that our nation was built upon and directed by for two centuries. Put another way, does the party want to represent values voters or Mark Foley and friends?";
FRC press release advertising Ann Romney, wife of Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, will be introducing a video of her husband addressing the theoconservative confab "Liberty Sunday" on the 15th. As of this press release, Mitt Romney is the only Republican officeholder actually speaking; all the headliners are either preachers or heads of theocon organisations such as the FRC, Focus on the Family, the AFA, and so on.
----- 1 -----
Senator defers nomination of Mich. judge over same-sex ceremony
By Sam Hananel and Ken Thomas, Associated Press | October 7, 2006
The Boston Globe
Long URL elided
WASHINGTON -- A judge's elevation to the federal bench could be derailed because she helped preside over a commitment ceremony for a lesbian couple four years ago.
Republican Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas has placed a hold on the nomination of Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Janet T. Neff, saying her presence at the 2002 Massachusetts ceremony raises questions about her judicial philosophy.
"It seems to speak about her view of judicial activism," Brownback said yesterday. "It's something I want to inquire of her further."
[More at URL]
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The hiatus will start after this post *smile*
Biting Beaver
Friday, October 06, 2006
http://bitingbeaver.blogspot.com/2006/10/hiatus-will-start-after-this-post.html
*sigh*. I haven't felt motivated to post for several days for obvious reasons. Indeed, when I put up a quick update this morning I had planned to go outside and do a bit of garden work to clear my mind. However, I decided to delay my trip so I could read a few of my favorite blogs.
Over at The Axe Forgets The Tree Remembers I read a post by "Z". It was a post in which she expressed frustration over how she hears fetuses being referred to in derogatory ways. Now, this post is not intended to attack Z, indeed, she makes a point that many would agree with, rather this post is intended as an explanation for the phenomenon that she has witnessed, at least on my part.
[...]
I am fucking angry as hell that around every corner I am faced with people who believe that the life of this fetus is worth more than MY life, or the lives of my children.
It becomes a question of how much shit can you take before you begin to actually hate the thing in your womb. Since the start of this I have been told repeatedly that I didn't deserve to live. I had a commenter tell me that if they ever met me they would rape me repeatedly before torturing me and murdering me in the most painful way they could (no, they didn't tell me exactly how they planned to do this, I guess that they wanted me to leave it up to my own imagination).
[More at URL]
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GOP Raises Religion in Court Race, Calling Democrat an Atheist
Mary Alice Robbins
Texas Lawyer
October 9, 2006
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1160125527178
Religion has entered the political fray in a race for an appellate court bench in east Texas.
The Austin-based Republican Party of Texas played the religion card in a Sept. 21 online newsletter. As alleged in the newsletter, Texarkana solo E. Ben Franks, Democratic nominee for a seat on the 6th Court of Appeals, "is reported to be a professed atheist" and apparently believes the Bible is a "collection of myths.'"
But Franks says he has never professed to be an atheist and is not a member of any atheist organization. Franks says no one with the Republican Party ever asked him whether he professes to be an atheist. However, he says he's not surprised by the allegation.
[...]
The Republican Party notes in its recent newsletter that Article 16, §1(a) of the Texas Constitution prescribes the oath of office for all elected or appointed officials. The officeholder swears to faithfully execute the duties of the office and, to the best of his or her ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States and of this state "so help me God."
"I can take the oath," Franks says.
However, the state Republican Party questions whether Franks will uphold the law, stating in the newsletter: "Should Franks be elected in November, one would have to conclude that he will hold true to his out of touch 'atheist' belief system and ignore the laws and Constitution of Texas."
[More at URL]
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Homosexuality and Child Sexual Abuse:
Science, Religion, and the Slippery Slope
by Mark E. Pietrzyk*
http://www.internationalorder.org/scandal_response.html
Executive Summary
In response to the scandal involving former Congressman Mark Foley, a number of conservative religious groups have claimed that homosexuals pose a substantially greater risk of committing sexual abuse against children than heterosexuals, and have issued papers citing a number of scientific studies to support these claims. However, when one examines the studies cited in these papers, one finds that the religious right has engaged in some serious distortion of the works of others. The scientists who authored the studies made no such claim about homosexuals posing a greater threat to children, and in fact in many cases argued the opposite.
In addition, many in the religious right have employed a version of the “slippery slope” argument, charging that the gay rights movement has led inevitably to tolerance for pedophilia by eroding all traditional norms of sexual behavior. However, the “slippery slope” argument is based on the false premise that the protection of children from sexual activity is a long-standing part of the Judeo-Christian ethic, which has only recently come under assault as a result of the gay rights movement. In fact, throughout most of history, the Judeo-Christian tradition tolerated and even approved of sexual relations between adult males and girls of twelve years of age or even younger. The contemporary taboo against sex between adults and minors developed only in the late nineteenth century, as societies became increasingly committed to the ideals of individual rights and personal autonomy, which led to concern about the possibility of coercion and exploitation in adult-minor relationships.
[More at URL]
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Love Won Out Testimonies Now on DVD
Hear stories of people who broke free from homosexuality.
by Stuart Shepard, managing editor
Focus on the Family
October 9, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0042259.cfm
For the first time, the testimonies of three key Love Won Out speakers are available on DVD. They each have been personally impacted in different ways by one of the most controversial issues of our time. Their stories of redemption and hope are light-years distant from the gay-activist rants the news media often echo without qualification.
Focus on the Family's Love Won Out conferences have touched thousands of lives over the past eight years with the message that change is possible for people who are unhappy with homosexuality.
[...]
For months I went in circles with the Lord. I argued with Him, begged Him, ignored Him, fled from Him and rebelled against Him. One night with tears streaming down my face, I cried out, "God, being gay is all I've ever known. I feel like I've been born this way; it feels normal to me. But You say its wrong -- that it is sin. I don't understand! Help me!"
[...]
The seeds planted in my life prior to knowing Christ ultimately produced only thorns and thistles -- a life of confusion, heartache and bondage to my flesh. Thankfully, the roots of those seeds have been pulled from my heart and the subsequent poisonous fruit has withered and died. In exchange, my Heavenly Father has planted seeds that, through Christ's love and the power of the Holy Spirit, have blossomed into a harvest of abundant fruit -- a life of peace, joy and freedom.
[More at URL]
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National Gay Groups Fight Parents in Massachusetts
Focus on the Family
October 9, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0042262.cfm
National gay-activist groups have joined a legal battle over whether Massachusetts parents have a right to shield their children from exposure to homosexual propaganda in the classroom, LifeSiteNews.com reported. The groups jointly filed a brief that attacks the parents’ right to file suit.
David Parker and two other parents filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in April against school officials who refused to notify him about classroom material promoting homosexuality at his son’s elementary school.
[More at URL]
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Campaigns Combating Pornography to Begin in October
Two campaigns against pornography get under way at the end of this month to increase public awareness of the dangers.
Focus on the Family
October 9, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0042263.cfm
Protection from Pornography Week and the White Ribbon Against Pornography (WRAP) Campaign begin Oct. 29.
According to Agape Press, Morality In Media offers resources on its Web site including ways to combat pornography during Protection from Pornography Week, information on the WRAP Campaign, a primer on obscenity laws, a model letter to the editor and sermon examples.
[More at URL]
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Massachusetts First Lady Joins Liberty Sunday Event
Focus on the Family
October 10, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0042271.cfm
Ann Romney, the wife of Gov. Mitt Romney, will join the line up of speakers for "Liberty Sunday: Defending Our First Freedom," scheduled to be simulcast via TV, radio and the Internet from Tremont Temple Baptist Church in Boston on Oct. 15.
Ann Romney will introduce a video presentation by her husband.
[More at URL]
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U.S. Supreme Court Turns Down Key Abortion Case
Focus on the Family
October 10, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0042272.cfm
Members of the U.S. Supreme Court today turned down a request by the plaintiff in the 1973 Doe v. Bolton ruling to reopen the case that, together with Roe v. Wade, brought about abortion on demand.
Sandra Cano -- the "Doe" in Doe v. Bolton -- brought her case under a rule that allows those who have won a judgment to ask for the case to be reopened, if circumstances have changed substantially from when the decision was handed down and continued enforcement of the decision has become unjust.
[More at URL]
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Abortion Clinic Reborn as Pro-Life Center
Operation Rescue is creating a headquarters in an unlikely spot.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
October 10, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0042269.cfm
A former abortion clinic in Wichita, Kan., is reopening — as a pro-life center.
When Central Women’s Services in downtown Wichita closed, Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue, purchased it, gutted it and is turning it into a headquarters.
[,,,]
There were more than 2,000 abortion clinics in America in the 1990s — today there are a fewer than 750.
[More at URL]
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Another Federal Victory for Marriage
At the state level, all eyes are on New Jersey
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
October 10, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0042270.cfm
The U.S. Supreme Court today declined to hear a challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) — the latest in a string of court decisions that have reinforced traditional marriage.
Mat Staver, president of Liberty Counsel, said the court effectively sided with U.S. District Judge Gary Taylor, who dismissed the case in 2005. It was filed by a same-sex couple seeking to overturn California's definition of marriage — by overturning the federal DOMA.
[...]
There have been about 50 lawsuits on same-sex marriage since 2003, when the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Lawrence v. Texas — a decision that [Focus on the Family "judicial analyst" Bruce] Hausknecht said encouraged homosexual activists to file litigation seeking to undermine marriage.
[...]
Hausknecht said all eyes are now on the state courts. Just last week, in the California, a state appellate court ruled that legal efforts to create same-sex marriage violate Proposition 22, an initiative protecting marriage, which voters overwhelmingly passed in 2000. That ruling is on its way to the state Supreme Court.
[...]
For Staver, the fact that judges in New Jersey — or anywhere else — could unearth a previously undiscovered constitutional right to gay marriage underscores the need for a federal marriage-protection amendment to place in the U.S. Constitution the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
"The success in the courtrooms must become enshrined in our state and federal constitutions," Staver added. "So that we will never have to wonder whether some judge will undermine marriage with the stroke of a pen."
[More at URL]
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Many Christians Undecided About Election Day
Media coverage of scandals may be having an impact.
from staff reports
October 11, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0042284.cfm
With the mid-term elections less than a month away, a growing number of born-again Christians are undecided about whom to back at the ballot box.
While you can typically count on born-again Christians to vote Republican, pollster John Zogby said that's not what he's seeing this time around. Many say they are simply undecided.
[...]
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Massachusetts Judge OKs Same-Sex Wedding of Out-of-State Couple
Focus on the Family
October 11, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0042288.cfm
A superior-court judge ruled a lesbian couple from Rhode Island should be allowed to marry in Massachusetts, because their state does not specifically prohibit such unions, The Associated Press reported.
Wendy Becker and Mary Norton applied for a marriage license in Massachusetts but were denied the request based on a 1913 law prohibiting out-of-state residents from marrying, if the union would not be recognized in their home state.
Becker and Norton challenged the law, arguing that same-sex marriage is not specifically prohibited in Rhode Island.
Superior Court Judge Thomas Connolly sided with the couple, writing that he saw no evidence of a "constitutional amendment, statute or controlling appellate decision" that prohibited same-sex marriage in Rhode Island.
[...]
"The people of Rhode Island can say, 'Thank you,' to the courts of Massachusetts," he said, "for throwing this grenade their way."
[More at URL]
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Students' Pro-Life Speech Won't be Censored
Focus on the Family
October 11, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0042287.cfm
After the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) intervened, a Maryland high-school student who was banned from promoting a pro-life event on campus will be allowed to distribute and post material.
Hilary Humphrey and other pro-life students approached school officials for permission to publicize the "Day of Silent Solidarity" -- a student-led event designed to bring awareness to the issue of abortion. Officials at Northeast Senior High School denied the request, calling the topic too inflammatory.
[...]
"Students cannot be silenced simply because their speech is deemed to be controversial or unpopular," Raum said. "We are pleased the school chose to drop its unconstitutional ban on this type of student-led expression."
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Why You Can't Stay Silent
A Biblical Mandate to Shape Our Culture
by Tom Minnery
Focus on the Family
http://www.family.org/resources/itempg.cfm?itemid=2741&refcd=CE06JCZL&tvar=no
Your Voice Needs To Be Heard
In Matthew 5, Jesus taught a simple parable comparing His believers to salt and light. What does this lesson mean to millions of Christians now? Tom Minnery, a Focus on the Family vice president, shares a compelling case from a biblical perspective on why Christians must actively address social issues within the culture.
[More at URL]
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Social Conservatives: 'Values Voters' Must Stand by GOP
by John Gizzi
Human Events
Posted Oct 09, 2006
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=17427
Social conservative leaders last week seemed united in their demand for a full investigation of the scandal surrounding disgraced former Rep. Mark Foley (R.-Fla.), and also in the belief that “Values Voters” should nonetheless support the GOP in the midterm elections.
[...]
One member of the committee did call on Hastert to go, but reversed himself a day later following a call from the speaker. Free Congress Foundation Chairman Paul Weyrich had told Human Events: “I think Hastert should do the right thing and resign. What people tell me over and over again is that no one in Washington ever takes responsibility. If Hastert resigned, he would help the party.” But Weyrich told reporters the next day that Hastert called him and insisted he didn’t receive clear warnings from fellow leaders or aides about Foley’s e-mails. Calling the speaker “one of the more honest people I know,” Weyrich said, “I can take his word, and as a result, I told him I’d back him on it.”
[...]
Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America, said, “Everyone should be judged by his or her own merits and not smeared by someone else’s scandal.”
The Rev. Don Wildmon, chairman of the American Family Association, said: “Should the voters sit out? I don’t think so. I would take the opposite view and think the voters need to turn out. You have to consider the options and the results of your actions. All of us are disgusted with this, but it may turn out to our benefit. I’m just not ready to say ‘sit it out’ because that’s precisely what the liberals want, and I think this whole thing has been orchestrated to accomplish this goal—the ‘values voters’ would simply say ‘to heck with it’ and ‘forget it’ and ‘I’m sitting this one out.’ We could lose some good people if we do that.”
[More at URL]
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Washington General Election
Targeted Voter Guides
Faith and Freedom Network
Online as of 11 October 2006
http://www.faithandfreedom.us/v_guides.html
District 17 - Vancouver
District 26 - Kitsap County and Western Pierce County
District 44 - Snohomish County
District 48 - Bellevue and Kirkland
[More at URL]
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Federal bill protecting religions to get rough ride: Similar legislation in Alberta has been stalled for months
Canada Family Action Coalition
http://www.familyaction.org/Articles/issues/freedoms/religious/federal-bill.htm
National Post
Oct. 5, 2006
By Kevin Libin
In a front page story by Mr.Libin the issue of the speculated Defense of Religions Act was reported. I am amazed at the anti-religious rhetoric that came from the speculation of such a federal Bill. Somme legal experts said it would violate the Charter. Some activists said it would allow gay bashing. Others cited it would turn back the marriage law and others turned to the old tirade that homophobes are behind this Bill. All these arguments are nonsense and all were crafted to silence people who oppose homosexual behavior. That is proof we need such a law. The Charter should protect those people who want to voice their opinion or belief, but it does not since judges tell us what they think the Charter says. Judges have given us reason to call for a new law.
[...]
A lesbian lawyer tried to argue that protections are already in the Charter to which I responded, "that might be the case in theory, said Brian Rushfeldt, executive director of the Canadian Family Action Coalition, a Calgary-based advocacy group. But in courtrooms, judges have ignored Charter protections for religious and speech freedoms in favor of gay rights, he said. "We've been getting judges in many cases in the last five years who say, 'Your freedoms aren't as important as somebody's rights,'" he said. He noted that some people might oppose the promotion of same-sex marriage for reasons that are more personal than religious. "I hope it's not just a religious freedom thing," Mr. Rushfeldt said of the possibility of federal legislation. "Because, really, the protection that needs to happen is much broader than just for religious people."
IT IS TIME for a new law in this nation of activists, judges and homosexuals alike - who want to silence ALL people who disagree with homosexual behavior.
-- Brian Rushfeldt
[More at URL]
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Mark Foley Pederasty Scandal Reveals Stark Double Standard
By Rev. Louis P. Sheldon
Chairman, Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2883
October 11, 2006 - Disgraced Florida Republican Mark Foley’s sex scandal with congressional pages presents the Republican Party and Values Voters with historic teachable moments.
There are three significant lessons to be learned from the revelation that Foley was a closeted homosexual who was attracted to teenage boys.
First, the Republican Party needs to discuss how should it should deal with homosexuals inside the leadership of the Party Liberal Republicans constantly talk about the Republican Party being a “big tent open to everybody.”
As radical homosexuals have been welcomed into “the big tent,” it has become a less welcoming place for religious conservatives and a dark and dangerous place for children.
Today, Republicans need to take a long and hard look at what they have done by welcoming homosexuals into the GOP. Republicans need to make a simple choice between the innocent children and radical homosexuals who prey on them.
[...]
In 1998, David Thorstad, a founder of the North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) told a group of homosexuals in Mexico City that “Pederasty is the main form that male homosexuality has acquired throughout Western civilization – and not only in the West! Pederasty is inseparable from the high points of Western culture—ancient Greece and the Renaissance.”
The next time a homosexual activist claims on TV that homosexuality has no connection to pedophilia, remember David Thorstad’s statement and the definition of pederasty.
[More at URL]
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Homosexual Activists Use Mark Foley Scandal For Political Gain
Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2881
October 9, 2006 – Recent reports in WorldNetDaily and Investor’s Business Daily are shedding new light on how homosexual activists, in cooperation with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, worked together to time the release of information about Rep. Mark Foley’s sexually-charged emails and instant messages to congressional pages.
The exposure of Foley as a closeted homosexual and his fantasies about young boys, was timed to do maximum damage to the Republican Party just weeks before the November election.
[...]
New reports are surfacing that a George Soros front group called the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, DC, had copies of Foley’s emails back in July and sent them to the FBI for an investigation. The FBI said there was insufficient grounds to investigate.
[...]
The Big Tent?
Liberal Republicans constantly talk about the Republican Party being a "big tent open to everybody."
As radical homosexuals have been welcomed into "the big tent," it has become a less welcoming place for religious conservatives and a dark and dangerous place for children.
Today Republicans need to take a long and hard look at what they have done by welcoming homosexuals into the GOP. Republicans need to make a simple choice between the innocent children and radical homosexuals who prey on them.
[...]
We can't promote this child abuse mentality and expect that our kids will turn out ok as adults. They won't. And we shouldn't continue to poison our children's psychological and physical development with myths and lies, disguised as tolerance and acceptance, when in fact there is help for people with same sex attraction.
Our kids are being force-fed psychological poison, at critical times in their development, and are being coerced by homosexual organizations that prey upon our kids in schools through curriculums, through national coming out days, through websites, through seminars that teach adults how to prey upon young boys without getting caught.
[...]
Pederasty Part Of Homosexual Lifestyle
To understand Rep. Mark Foley’s attraction to teenage boys, one must realize that pederasty, the act of a homosexual to engage in sex with a teenage male is part of the overall homosexual lifestyle. Media reports have incorrectly referred to Foley’s attractions to teens as pedophilia. Pedophilia is sexual attraction to pre-teenagers.
Foley’s attraction to teenage boys is not considered abnormal within the homosexual activist community. In fact, efforts are being made by homosexual groups around the world to lower or abolish the age of sexual consent. In addition, homosexual web sites keep track of the age of consent for children in different countries where they travel to have sex with kids: Age of Consent - Sexual Consent Ages From Around The World.
TVC Chairman Rev. Louis P. Sheldon has observed: “Pederasty is an accepted part of homosexuality around the world. Most homosexuals will tell you that they were brought into homosexuality by an older male. This is evident in the Catholic priest scandal. There were plenty of other Catholic priests for illicit sex, yet they targeted children for seduction and recruitment.
“How do we prevent such socially unacceptable acts in our culture against children? Everyone knows that to eliminate such behaviors, you must not feed it with positive support. Unfortunately, the politically correct view is to accept homosexuality. If you oppose homosexuality, you’re considered a bigot. Mr. Foley did not think pederasty was wrong because it was part of the overall homosexual lifestyle.
“Unfortunately, the taboo against sex with children continues to erode in our culture—aided by radical academics and by homosexual activist organizations.”
Homosexuals have long made it their objective of using the public school systems to recruit children into the homosexual lifestyle. TVC’s report, “Homosexuals Target Public School Children” outlines this objective. TVC’s report on the high rate of child molestations by homosexuals also provides chilling statistics on this national tragedy.
Read and distribute the document, “Homosexuality and Pedophilia” to see the close association between the North American Man-Boy Love Association and the homosexual movement. “Pedophilia Chic Reconsidered” describes the effort to normalize adult/child sex in the homosexual movement.
TVC’s report, “Exposed: Homosexual Molesters” documents, for example, that the New York Post documented in its July 30, 2001 edition that an investigation of child molestations by New York City public school teachers revealed that nearly 20% of all molestations were committed by homosexuals against children.
In 1987, Dr. Stephen Rubin of Whitman College did a ten-state study of child molestations. He found that 32% of the cases were homosexuals molesting children. [Ed. Note: see above for how they're lying about the study's contents to present this information.]
[More at URL]
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Washington Post Columnist Attacks TVC
Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2879
October 9, 2006 -- Eugene Robinson, a columnist for The Washington Post attacked the Traditional Values Coalition in the October 6 issue. Robinson claims that the GOP has attempted to demonize homosexuals and that TVC is one of the most rabid proponents of the belief that homosexuals recruit children into the lifestyle.
According to Robinson:
“One of the central tenets of anti-homosexual doctrine is the notion of ‘recruitment’ -- that adult gay people lure young people into homosexuality as a way of increasing their numbers. The most extreme anti-gay activists perceive a full-fledged conspiracy. The Traditional Values Coalition, a group whose homophobia can only be called rabid, goes so far as to claim that, after being enticed into sexual acts, the ‘young ”initiates” into the strange world of homosexuality are to be trained to reject the moral beliefs of their parents."
[...]
Robinson is misinformed about the nature of the homosexual movement and its goals as well as the research on same-sex attractions. His claim that homosexuality is more nature than nurture has never been proved. In fact, homosexual researchers continually come up empty when they attempt to prove that there is a biological cause for homosexual behaviors.
In addition, research and news reports over the past decades show clearly that homosexuals molest children at far higher rates than do heterosexuals.
[More at URL]
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Pro-Life Group Considers Suing Over 'Truth Truck' Drivers' Oklahoma Arrest
By Bill Fancher and Jenni Parker
American Family Association/Agape Press
October 10, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/10/afa/102006d.asp
(AgapePress) - An Operation Rescue "truth truck" and two drivers were taken into custody by Oklahoma City Police this past weekend for driving through a wealthy neighborhood where an abortionist lives. The two pro-life workers were placed under citizen's arrest by an influential neighbor of abortion doctor Nareshkumar Patel and were taken into police custody, jailed, and held overnight.
Operation Rescue's Truth Trucks are part of a campaign by the pro-life organization to raise awareness of the inhumane and brutal nature of abortion. These panel trucks, covered with graphic, billboard-sized, full-color images of aborted fetuses, have been driven across the U.S. and have often appeared in conjunction with various pro-life events and demonstrations.
[...]
Newman says it is getting difficult to be a pro-life advocate these days due to the hatred aimed at those expressing religious values. "It's getting very tough to express your views," he asserts, "particularly when they fly in the face of the prevailing political opinions of the day."
Nowadays, the Operation Rescue spokesman notes, "When you express your views against child killing or even homosexuality, you find yourself at odds with the IRS, the local law enforcement agencies, sometimes even federal law enforcement agencies." Nevertheless, he says his group will continue to conduct these kinds of pro-life events, "even though there is often persecution that accompanies them."
[More at URL]
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Brownback: Time to Crack Down on Porn Distributors
By Bill Fancher and Jody Brown
American Family Association/Agape Press
October 10, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/10/afa/102006e.asp
(AgapePress) - Senator Sam Brownback thinks the time has come to bear down on those who are distributing pornography throughout America, so he's calling for an investigative commission.
[More at URL]
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Bauer Less Than Optimistic About GOP's Post-November Majority Status
By Chad Groening
American Family Association/Agape Press
October 10, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/10/afa/102006g.asp
(AgapePress) - Pro-family activist Gary Bauer says it's a real "dicey" situation right now as to whether Republicans will be able to maintain their majority status in Congress this fall.
In the ongoing wake of the scandal surrounding former Republican Congressman Mark Foley, political pundits continue to speculate about the potential effect it could have upon conservatives heading to the polls next month -- if indeed they decide to vote at all. Pro-Democratic analysts predict their party will benefit from a backlash of voters who now question whether the GOP is as "values"-oriented as it claims, while pro-Republican observers are willing to concede their party may lose a few congressional seats because of the Foley matter but not enough to lose their majority status.
[...]
Simply put, says the American Values president, "there will be real-life implications, no matter how unhappy some people may be with the Republican Party, if the Senate and the House switch to the liberal side."
[More at URL]
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Commentary & News Briefs
October 11, 2006
American Family Association/Agape Press
Compiled by Jody Brown
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/10/afa/112006h.asp
[...]
...A Baptist preacher from Tennessee says Christians must be ready to defend the exclusive claims of Christ in today's secular humanist culture. During a recent Worldview Weekend conference in Collierville, Tennessee, Dr. Chuck Herring said the secular world is stepping up efforts to force pluralism and tolerance on Evangelicals. Herring encouraged Christians to study God's Word so they can be ready to defend the exclusive claims of Christ. He claimed that many Christians -- clergy and laity alike -- are "straddling the fence" when it comes to cultural issues. "They've got one foot in the world, and they're listening to the tolerance police, and they're caving in left and right," he said. "They've got the other foot in the 'kingdom of God,' and they're trying to straddle that fence. I'll tell you what, folks: it's time to get on one side of that fence or the other." Herring said the exclusivity of Jesus is defended by revelation. "The Bible that I'm holding in my hand is truth without any mixture of error," he told the gathering. "Paul wrote of the authority and the authenticity of the Bible in 2 Timothy 3:16. He said this: 'All scripture is inspired' -- God-breathed -- 'is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.'" Herring is pastor of First Baptist Church in Collierville. [Allie Martin]
...Getting involved in the debates of the day can make a difference -- even in places where liberal views dominate the landscape. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently vetoed the final two of three pro-homosexual education bills passed by the State Legislature. Bob Knight of the Institute on Culture and Family explains why the governor terminated the bills. "The governor was getting an enormous amount of input from citizens, from faxes and e-mails to calls," Knight explains, "[and] people were outraged at the sweeping homosexual agenda in the schools." The message from the public, he says, was essentially "don't mess with our kids." And he believes the governor heard the message loud and clear. "I don't know so much that he agrees with the parents," Knight continues, "but I think he's a good enough politician that when there's this much of an uproar and outrage, that he would ignore it at his own peril." The bills would have designated tax dollars to promote the homosexual lifestyle, mandated pro-homosexual lessons, and prohibited any negative comments about homosexuals or their deadly lifestyle. Knight says people can make a difference if they decide to take action. [Bill Fancher]
[More at URL]
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Liberty Sunday First Amendment Freedoms Watch Project
Tell us how your religious freedoms have been infringed by the homosexual agenda.
October 10, 2006 - Tuesday
Forward to a Friend!
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=AL06J03&f=PG03I03
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." So begins the Bill of Rights with the first amendment to our Constitution -- one that guarantees a God-given freedom. For over 200 years the light of the church has illuminated this freedom, but now a radical agenda seeks to extinguish that flame. The expansion of anti-discrimination laws, including family law, to include homosexuality inevitably constricts Americans' right to express and act on their religious beliefs.
FRC is tracking these incidents as they occur throughout the country. Now we need your help. We are compiling stories from across the nation on how the homosexual agenda has threatened religious liberty. You can help us show America that government sponsorship of the homosexual agenda is a threat to the freedoms we value the most.
Have you been forced to attend pro-homosexual "diversity" training at work? Have your children been subjected to pro-homosexual books or rhetoric in school? If your religious liberties have been affected in these or other ways, we want to hear from you. Send us your stories - the where, the when, and the what. With your permission, we will publish and publicize these incidents so that all will know these are not random events, but the inevitable result of a clash of basic beliefs that puts religious freedom on a course of extinction.
Then, join us as we address these issues at Liberty Sunday: Defending our First Freedom, a live simulcast this Sunday, October 15, 2006 from Boston, Massachusetts.
To submit a story to FRC's First Amendment Freedoms Watch Project, please fill out our online form at: http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=LK06J19.
[More at URL]
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Party of Whose Values?
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins
October 9, 2006 - Monday
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WU06J06
The ricochets of the Foley scandal continued to whistle overhead this weekend. As a guest on Fox News Sunday I again raised last week's report by CBS's Gloria Borger about anger on Capitol Hill that "'a network of gay staffers and gay members protect[ed] each other and did the Speaker a disservice'" in the Foley scandal. On Friday, an internet site quoted a "gay politico" observing that "[m]aybe now the social conservatives will realize one reason why their agenda is stalled on Capitol Hill." Sunday's New York Times revealed that a homosexual former Clerk of the House of Representatives, Jeff Trandahl, was "among the first to learn of Mr. Foley's" messages to pages. The Clerk's job is described as a "powerful post with oversight of hundreds of staffers and the page program." This raises yet another plausible question for values voters: has the social agenda of the GOP been stalled by homosexual members and or staffers? When we look over events of this Congress, we have to wonder. This was the first House to pass a pro-homosexual hate crimes bill. The marriage protection amendment was considered very late in the term with no progress toward passage. Despite overwhelming popular approval, the party seldom campaigns as the defender of marriage. The GOP will have to decide whether it wants to be the party that defends the traditional moral and family values that our nation was built upon and directed by for two centuries. Put another way, does the party want to represent values voters or Mark Foley and friends?
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Massachusetts First Lady Joins Liberty Sunday Simulcast
October 10, 2006 - Tuesday
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: J.P. Duffy or Bethanie Swendsen, 866-FRC-NEWS
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PR06J03&f=PG03I03
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council is pleased to announce that Ann Romney, the First Lady of Massachusetts, will be joining the line-up of distinguished speakers at a live nationwide simulcast, Liberty Sunday- Defending Our First Freedom. The event will broadcast on October 15 from Tremont Temple Baptist Church in Boston, Massachusetts. Mrs. Romney will also introduce a video presentation by her husband, Governor Mitt Romney, which will air during the event.
This nationwide event comes from Boston in response to the legal battles over marriage taking place in Massachusetts. These battles are destined to have an impact not only on marriage, but also on the free speech and freedom of religion rights of all citizens. Prior to the event at a 3 pm press conference, FRC President Tony Perkins will reveal details of a special FIRST AMENDMENT FREEDOMS WATCH PROJECT.
[More at URL]
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Date: 2006-10-13 12:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-13 03:44 am (UTC)