Today's Cultural Warfare Update
Nov. 28th, 2006 10:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdFinally doing one of these; there's a whole nother entry like this coming up tomorrow, or should be. This one has some special virulence in it, though - don't assume these are in order of importance, because they're not.
And now, today's news.
Mitt Romney - theoconservative candidate for the Republican nomination for President in 2008 - goes to court to force the legislature to put an anti-marriage amendment on the ballot in 2008, after they declined to do so. Interestingly, Focus on the Family brings up the "zomg he's a Mormon" issue on their own;
Fundamentalist leadership starts tearing into Barak Obama in response to him trying to talk to religious conservatives; seen courtesy Andrew Sullivan;
Dennis Prager says that incoming Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN) should not be allowed to take his oath on the Koran, and that he must take it on the Bible; he is, according to a variety of sources, wrong about that - there's no law saying what you have to swear on, despite what Mr. Prager says; Prager calls not swearing on the Bible an attack on American civilisation;
RespectLifeUSA is starting an anti-contraception billboard campaign;
Supreme Court refuses to hear lawsuit by fundamentalist family - they wanted to use state vouchers for religious schools; Focus on the Family criticises the refusal;
Focus on the Family news article on New Jersey and Maryland marriage rights issues; they're trying to avoid legalised marriage rights in Maryland by pushing a "Equal Benefits Act" which would be a subset of rights and could be used by any two people; mind you, the rest of the time these things are called "counterfeit marriage," but when it's the best you've got, suddenly it's the reasonable and equal solution;
FotF report on efforts to make it harder to get abortions in Alabama via a new route; requiring physicians get more certifications - the more, the better;
Focus on the Family article slamming Newsweek claims that the Bible considers homosexuality and the murder of children in child sacrifice to be equal;
ABC soap opera to have a transgendered character - FotF is not impressed; mind you - and this is a personal word - since a soap opera (Days of our Lives) was the first TV show to ever give me nightmares, I'm not impressed either, but it's for different reasons;
FotF: Polygamists are borrowing from "the same-sex marriage playbook";
Indiana legislature to consider a Constitutional amendment banning marriage and domestic partnerships/civil unions in all forms;
FotF attacks the idea of church/state separation again - I just like the headline, really; "Dr. Dobson Helps Larry King Understand 'Separation of Church and State,'" mostly by claiming there shouldn't be any;
Planned new Christian Coalition head hits the eject button when told that he couldn't spread the Christian Coalition message past anti-abortion and anti-gay activities; he'd wanted to focus more on other issues but was told no, so decided not to take over after all;
An example of the kind of proselysation the fundamentalist movement actually wants in schools;
The Thomas Moore Society files a wrongful death lawsuit against a fertility clinic which accidentally disposed of four frozen embryos without permission; the key point here is that they're suing specifically for wrongful death;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM against Alaska benefits for same-sex state employee couples; they want to stop the benefits from ever being put into place;
FotF supports anti-contraception/nonmartial-sex-causes-brain-damage Bush appointee to Health and Human Services family-planning head position;
FotF: Arizona voters voted down a state Constitutional marriage ban because they were mislead by gay activists;
Focus on the Family: Wal-Mart to "reconsider" support of National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce; includes ACTION ITEM to thank Wal-Mart and urge they drop support for any GBLT groups; they've satisfied the American Family Association, so you can assume they won't be dealing with GBLT business groups anymore;
Anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund sues Ohio university for offering same-sex DP benefits;
ABC appeals Janet Jackson "Wardrobe Malfunction" half-million dollar fine;
USA Today runs a column by a pastor worried that the anti-gay focus of evangelical Christianity may discredit Christianity in a way not seen since Galieo; many of the comments at the end of the column are really virulent;
Catholic bishops meet, say GBLT people must be closeted, straight-acting, and abstinent (not their words, but it cuts to the chase); the Baptists in South Carolina are moving to expel any GBLT-friendly Baptist church from the Baptist State Convention, and to start up investigations into and trials against congregations seen as too "gay-friendly"; Presbyterians are trying a minister for being involved in a lesbian couple's marriage ceremony. What's really interesting about the Baptist action in particular is that they admit that being anti-gay is now a litmus test. If you aren't anti-queer, you aren't really Christian.
----- 1 -----
Romney Files Suit to Support Marriage Amendment
Legislature continues to ignore the will of the people.
by Pete Winn, associate editor
11-28-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000003236.cfm
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney made good on a pledge he made before Thanksgiving to press lawmakers in his state to vote on placing a marriage amendment on the 2008 state ballot.
Romney joined a lawsuit Friday alongside 10 of the signers of the original citizen's petition seeking the amendment to define marriage as one man and one woman.
Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, said the suit seeks to force the Legislature to do its duty. Bay State lawmakers voted 109-87 on Nov. 9 to recess a Constitutional Convention without taking a vote on the marriage amendment.
[...]
Minnery, meanwhile, said it is really too early in the process to know how evangelicals might approach a Romney candidacy.
"He has a huge obstacle to overcome," Minnery said, "and that is the immensely deep theological differences between Christians and Mormons. It depends on what he says about that as to whether evangelicals would vote for him."
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
Obama's Wooing Of Evangelicals Runs Into Fierce Resistance
TPM Cafe
By Eric Kleefeld
http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2006/nov/28/christian_right_leaders_bash_obama_warren_appearance
Barack Obama's efforts to reach out to evanglical Christians in preparation for his possible Presidential campaign is running into very stiff resistance from the Christian right. As the Chicago Tribune reported recently, Obama is set to attend a huge evangelical gathering in California on Dec. 1, at the invitation of megachurch Pastor Rick Warren, the evangelical superstar who wrote The Purpose-Driven Life. Analysts have interpreted Obama's scheduled appearance as a sign he's working much harder than Dems ordinarily do to win over Evangelicals.
But the appearance is now provoking an intense backlash from leaders of the Christian right. They are calling on Warren to disinvite Obama from the event because of his liberal positions, especially abortion rights — or as one of those leaders put it, Obama's support of "the murder of babies in the womb."
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
America, Not Keith Ellison, decides what book a congressman takes his oath on
By Dennis Prager
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Long URL elided
Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the first Muslim elected to the United States Congress, has announced that he will not take his oath of office on the Bible, but on the bible of Islam, the Koran.
He should not be allowed to do so -- not because of any American hostility to the Koran, but because the act undermines American civilization.
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
Yellow Snapdragons
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Ridiculous
http://yellowsnapdragons.blogspot.com/2006/11/ridiculous.html
These billboards are all over Tulsa.
[Picture at URL]
----- 5 -----
U.S. Supreme Court Turns Away School-Voucher Case
Parents sought to use vouchers for religious-school tuition.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
11-28-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000003235.cfm
The U.S. Supreme Court's refusal Monday to hear a school-voucher case out of Maine leaves a confusing patchwork of laws around the country.
Eight families from rural communities without high schools sought to use vouchers to send their kids to religious schools, but a state court ruled that an impermissible mixing of church and state. All the children involved in the suit have since graduated.
Their attorney, Dick Komer of the Institute for Justice, called the high court's refusal the "end of the road."
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
Same-Sex Unions Pending in New Jersey, Maryland
Focus on the Family
11-28-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003233.cfm
While New Jersey lawmakers debate the best way to address a court order to provide benefits to same-sex couples, Maryland's Supreme Court is preparing to hear arguments concerning a lower-court ruling that struck down the state's marriage law.
The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in October that the state must either allow same-sex couples to marry or create civil unions that offer the same rights and benefits.
Republican Sen. Gerald Cardinale introduced a constitutional amendment that would preserve marriage -- defining it as the union of one man and one woman.
"It is almost an obscenity that the Supreme Court would seize unto itself the power to order the Legislature to create legislation," he told The Star-Ledger. "That is unheard of in New Jersey.
"That kind of activism requires a reply," he added. "This is not a government of appointed justices."
Len Deo, president of the New Jersey Family Policy Council, said his organization is prepared to introduce a separate bill, called the Equal Benefits Act, that would protect the definition of marriage, but would also provide civil benefits not based on sexual orientation.
"There are many families who cannot have access to the benefits of marriage because their living arrangements are outside the realm of marriage," he said. "For example, two elderly women who are domiciled together, or perhaps a grandparent and grandchild."
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
Abortionists Fight Proposed Rule Change Governing Clinics
Focus on the Family
11-28-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003231.cfm
Alabama abortion providers and pro-life advocates, at a public hearing in Montgomery on Monday, debated the need to tighten clinic regulations, The Birmingham News reported.
The hearing, held by the Alabama Department of Public Health, discussed proposed new regulations that would mandate physicians be board certified in obstetrics and gynecology in order to perform abortions.
[More at URL]
----- 8 -----
Newsweek Tells Evangelicals What to Do
The media hit on a new tactic.
by Don Feder
Focus on the Family
11-27-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/clcommentary/A000003203.cfm
After decades of excoriating evangelical Christians as bigoted morons, foaming-at-the-mouth fanatics and vile hypocrites -- both sexually-obsessed and sexually-repressed (part Elmer Gantry, part Elmer Fudd) -- the media have hit on a new tactic.
The cover story (“America’s God Complex – Like George W. Bush, The Religious Right Is At The Crossroads”) in the Nov. 13 Newsweek explains that evangelicals aren’t really that bad – it’s just that the poor fools have been duped by the Republican Party, their energies (which should be devoted to more worthwhile endeavors) diverted to sordid politics.
[...]
Leaders like Dobson, Falwell and Robertson have “lost their focus on the spirit of Jesus and have separated the world into black and white,” Hamilton declares. “I can’t see Jesus standing with signs at an anti-gay rally.”
Nor can one picture Jesus standing with a sign at a pro-life demonstration, an anti-pornography rally or a rally against global warming.
There weren’t many leather bars in Jesus’ day. In 1st century Judea, “gay rights” was a non-issue. There also weren’t rallies against child sacrifice or ritual prostitution – which the Bible puts in the same category as conduct of the San Fran persuasion.
[...]
Since their political awakening in the mid-1970s, while evangelicals worked to end the scourge of abortion and stay the steady march of social decay (the Sodomizing of American culture), they have simultaneously raised billions to fight famine in Africa, build homes for the poor, rehabilitate addicts and provide aid to the most destitute among us.
[Lots more at URL]
----- 9 -----
Soap Opera to Introduce Transgendered Character
Focus on the Family
11-27-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003218.cfm
ABC's All My Children is about to introduce the story of a transgendered character on the way from being a man to being a "woman."
According to The Associated Press, rock star Zarf will fall in love with a lesbian character later this week, leading to the gender confusion.
[More at URL]
----- 10 -----
Polygamists Borrow from Same-Sex Marriage Playbook
The same legal strategies are increasingly being employed.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
11-27-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000003201.cfm
Adopting a strategy from the same-sex marriage playbook, polygamists are attempting to move into the mainstream by deemphasizing their religious beliefs and focusing on personal freedoms. The goal is to decriminalize plural marriages.
Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School, told Family News in Focus he does not support polygamy in practice, but added, "I believe that the criminalization of polygamy is wrong."
[More at URL]
----- 11 -----
Indiana Lawmakers to Consider Marriage Amendment
Focus on the Family
11-27-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003220.cfm
The Democratic majority in the Indiana House of Representatives has announced it will bring forward SJR 07 -- a proposed constitutional amendment to protect marriage from redefinition. If the measure passes, voters will see the amendment on the 2008 ballot, the Indiana Daily Student reported.
Incoming Speaker of the House Patrick Bauer, a Democrat from South Bend, said his intention of bringing the bill to the floor is to see its defeat, but the amendment earned overwhelming approval from both chambers in 2005.
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
Dr. Dobson Helps Larry King Understand 'Separation of Church and State'
Focus founder correctly points out it's not anywhere in a foundational document.
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
11-27-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000003215.cfm
In an interview turned history lesson, Dr. James Dobson, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family, helped talk-show host Larry King understand -- over his protests -- that "separation of church and state" is not found in the U.S. Constitution.
During last week's hour-long conversation on Larry King Live, King quizzed Dr. Dobson on myriad topics including O.J. Simpson's rejected book, the fall of evangelical leader Ted Haggard and Michael J. Fox's TV ad for embryonic stem-cell research. But when the discussion turned to attempts to redefine marriage -- the TV host made it an issue of separation of church and state.
KING: Why is it a state institution rather than a religious institution? Why is the state involved?
DOBSON: Well, it's both. It is both.
KING: But we have a separation of church and state.
DOBSON: Beg your pardon?
KING: We have a separation of church and state.
DOBSON: Who says?
KING: You don't believe in separation of church and state?
DOBSON: Not the way you mean it. The separation of church and state is not in the Constitution. No, it's not. That is not in the Constitution.
[More at URL]
[Editor's note: The meme they're propagating here is that because the phrase "separation of church and state" doesn't appear in the document, there's not actually any such thing. This is a combination of bullshit, memetic story-making, and big-lie propaganda, and is related to the assertion being spread in similar circles that the 14th amendment only applies to racial issues. This is mostly because the leadership knows full well that the 1st amendment has this affect, and that the 14th amendment spread these protections to the state. The idea appears to be that if they can get people to think that the 14th amendment actually only applies to race, then they can get more state involvement in religion at the state level.]
----- 13 -----
Longwood pastor quits as coalition president
The Rev. Joel Hunter was set to take the reins of the national Christian Coalition.
Willoughby Mariano | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted November 23, 2006
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/seminole/orl-coalition2306nov23,0,5647938.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-seminole
The Central Florida pastor recently tapped to lead the Christian Coalition of America resigned his position in a dispute about conservative philosophy -- more than a month before he was to fully assume his post, he said Wednesday.
The Rev. Joel Hunter, of Longwood's Northland, A Church Distributed, said he quit as president-elect of the group founded by evangelist Pat Robertson because he realized he would be unable to broaden the organization's agenda beyond opposing abortion and gay marriage.
He hoped to include issues such as easing poverty and saving the environment.
"These are issues that Jesus would want us to care about," Hunter said.
[...]
The coalition's rejection of Hunter's approach means it is unwilling to part with its partisan, Republican roots, Hunter said.
"To tell you the truth, I feel like there are literally millions of evangelical Christians that don't have a home right now," Hunter said.
[...]
Critics called him "liberal," a label Hunter said he rejects. He is against abortion and gay marriage.
[More at URL]
----- 14 -----
Public school teacher tells class: 'You belong in hell'
Jim Lippard
http://richarddawkins.net/article,335,Public-school-teacher-tells-class-You-belong-in-hell,Jim-Lippard
Reposted from:
http://lippard.blogspot.com/2006/11/public-school-teacher-tells-class-you.html
The following is from Paul L. LaClair, a NYC attorney who lives in Kearny, New Jersey, and is posted with his permission. David Paszkiewicz, the teacher described here engaging in incompetent teaching and dishonesty, is apparently a youth pastor at Kearny Baptist Church in addition to being a public school teacher. LaClair's son Matthew has previously garnered attention for protesting Bush administration activities by refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. He seems to be a principled and courageous young man who has caught a really bad teacher:
Kearny, New Jersey
November 10, 2006
A history teacher at the local public high school here may have bitten off more than he cares to chew this fall. Self-described conservative Baptist David Paszkiewicz used his history class to proselytize biblical fundamentalism over the course of several days at the beginning of this school year.
Among his remarks in open class were statements that a being must have created the universe, that the Christian Bible is the word of God, and that dinosaurs were aboard Noah's ark. If you do not accept Jesus, he flatly proclaimed to his class, "you belong in hell." Referring to a Muslim student who had been mentioned by name, he lamented what he saw as her inevitable fate should she not convert. In an attempt to promote biblical creationism, he also dismissed evolution and the Big Bang as non-scientific, arguing by contrast that the Bible is supported by what he calls confirmed biblical prophecies.
[More at URL]
----- 15 -----
Pro-Life Attorneys File Briefs in Embryo-Death Case
Focus on the Family
11-22-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003186.cfm
The Thomas More Law Society filed briefs in Illinois Appellate Court in a wrongful-death suit against a fertility clinic accused of disposing of a couple's frozen embryos without permission.
In 2005 Cook County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Lawrence found that Alison Miller and Todd Parrish had cause to sue Chicago's Center for Human Reproduction for mistakenly disposing of the embryos four years prior.
Lawrence cited the 1980 Wrongful Death Act which allows for lawsuits to be filed if preborn babies are killed in an accident or assault, regardless of their "state of gestation or development."
"Philosophers and theologians may debate, but there is no doubt in the mind of the Illinois Legislature when life begins," he said. "It begins at conception."
[More at URL]
----- 16 -----
Alaska Lawmakers Delay Same-Sex Benefits
Focus on the Family
11-22-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003185.cfm
The Alaska Legislature, during a special session called by Gov. Frank Murkowski, passed a bill that seeks to postpone the implementation of court-ordered same-sex benefits for state employees and retirees, The Associated Press reported.
Residents of Alaska voted in favor of a constitutional amendment in 1998 to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman, but, shortly after, 14 homosexual couples, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), challenged the state, demanding employment benefits for same-sex partners.
The state Supreme Court ruled that since same-sex couples can't get married, the state is obligated to give them benefits. The court-imposed deadline is January 1.
[...]
TAKE ACTION:
If you are an Alaska resident, contact Gov. Frank Murkowski and ask him to take the needed steps to ensure the implementation of same-sex benefits is delayed until the people and the Legislature have the opportunity to weigh in.
If you are a CitizenLink Daily Update subscriber, click on the blue "Take Action" button in the e-mail to be automatically logged in to our Action Center. Otherwise, click on this link.
[More at URL]
----- 17 -----
Dems in Congress Protest Pro-Life, Pro-Abstinence Nomination
Focus on the Family
11-22-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003183.cfm
Fourteen Democratic U.S. Senators have demanded that President Bush rescind his nomination of Dr. Eric Keroack to head the family-planning program at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), All American Patriots reported.
Keroack, who is pro-life, is currently a member of the Medical Advisory Council of the National Abstinence Clearinghouse and serves as the medical director for five crisis-pregnancy centers.
[...]
Raymond Ruddy, president of Gerard Health Foundation, said Keroack is a pioneer in the use of medical arguments to explain the devastation caused by abortion as well as the reasons teens should remain abstinent until marriage.
"He was one of the first doctors ever to really get involved in the medical aspect of some of these pregnancy-resource centers," he said. "For very, very little pay, he sacrificed a lot to help women do ultrasounds and do what was right in the abortion decision.
"It's pretty much what he has done all his life."
[More at URL]
----- 18 -----
Defeat of Arizona Marriage Amendment Influenced by Singles, Retirees
Focus on the Family
11-22-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003181.cfm
The Arizona campaign to defeat a constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman used scare tactics to sway retired voters. Opponents falsely claimed the amendment would deny retirees of some benefits, The Washington Post reported.
Marty Rouse, national field director of the gay-activist Human Rights Campaign (HRC), said it's clear the majority of people in the state do not support gay marriage -- so his group had to use a different argument to sway the vote.
"Once you say 'gay' and 'lesbian,' people hone in on that," he said. "We have to focus on the majority of people that will be affected by this -- and the majority of people are straight couples."
[More at URL]
----- 19 -----
Wal-Mart to Reconsider Sponsorship of Controversial Issues
American Family Association cancels its boycott.
11-21-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000003162.cfm
Wal-Mart has begun to distance itself from organizations that support “highly controversial issues” such as same-sex marriage, a company official said Tuesday.
The giant retailer had been criticized for making a $60,000 donation to Out and Equal, an organization for homosexual employees which deals with workplace issues, but which also supports changing the definition of marriage. The company also had joined the Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and sent it $25,000 in dues.
The Wal-Mart executive who served as the company's representative to the chamber has since left for unrelated reasons and will not be replaced.
[...]
“Going forward, we’ll be looking differently at organizations we donate to,” the official said. “There are some areas we need to get corrected and that is what we’re focused on.”
He emphasized the new direction was not aimed only at the issue of homosexuality, but also other social controversies. He was not more specific.
[...]
The American Family Association (AFA) canceled its call for a two-day post-Thanksgiving boycott of Wal-Mart after hearing the company's statement. AFA said it believes Wal-Mart will now remain neutral in cultural battles.
[...]
TAKE ACTION:
If you'd like to thank Wal-Mart for reconsidering the sponsorship of controversial groups, you can find contact information on the company's Web site.
[More at URL]
----- 20 -----
ADF to Appeal Ohio Domestic-Partnership Ruling
Focus on the Family
11-21-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003158.cfm
The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) announced today it will appeal a decision by the Ohio Court of Common Pleas that declared the plaintiff did not have a right to pose a legal challenge to Miami University's domestic-partnership program.
In November 2004, Ohio voters passed a state constitutional amendment that defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman. In addition, the amendment prohibits the state from creating marriage substitutes, such as civil unions or domestic partnerships for same-sex couples.
Despite the amendment, the university offers benefits to same-sex partners if they file an "Affidavit of Same-Sex Domestic Partnership" which requires proof that the two share a common residence and are in a long-term committed relationship.
[...]
"We knew this would be a case with multiple appeals," he said. "ADF and its allies will continue the legal battle to defend the Ohio Constitution from this attempted end-run by state officials."
[More at URL]
----- 21 -----
CBS Appeals Fine over Wardrobe Malfunction
Focus on the Family
11-21-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003157.cfm
CBS filed an appeal Monday with the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concerning a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fine levied against the network for the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show in which Janet Jackson's breast was exposed, MarketWatch reported.
The FCC found that CBS had broken indecency standards and must pay a $550,000 fine -- representing 20 stations at $27,500 each.
In the appeal, the network argued it should not be accountable for "an unscripted, unauthorized, and unintended long-distance shot of Ms. Jackson's breast for nine-sixteenths of one second."
[...]
Clyde Ensslin, a spokesman for the FCC, said the commission stands by its findings.
"CBS continues to ignore the voices of millions of Americans, Congress and the Commission by arguing that Janet Jackson's half-time performance was not indecent," he said. "CBS believes there should be no limits on what can be shown on television even during family viewing events like the Super Bowl; we continue to believe they are wrong."
[More at URL]
----- 22 -----
When religion loses its credibility
Galileo was persecuted for revealing what we now know to be the truth regarding Earth’s place in our solar system. Today, the issue is homosexuality, and the persecution is not of one man but of millions. Will Christian leaders once again be on the wrong side of history?
By Oliver "Buzz" Thomas
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2006/11/when_religion_l.html#23more
What if Christian leaders are wrong about homosexuality? I suppose, much as a newspaper maintains its credibility by setting the record straight, church leaders would need to do the same:
Correction: Despite what you might have read, heard or been taught throughout your churchgoing life, homosexuality is, in fact, determined at birth and is not to be condemned by God's followers.
Based on a few recent headlines, we won't be seeing that admission anytime soon.
(Illustration by Adrienne Lewis, USA TODAY)
Last week, U.S. Roman Catholic bishops took the position that homosexual attractions are "disordered" and that gays should live closeted lives of chastity. At the same time, North Carolina's Baptist State Convention was preparing to investigate churches that are too gay-friendly. Even the more liberal Presbyterian Church (USA) had been planning to put a minister on trial for conducting a marriage ceremony for two women before the charges were dismissed on a technicality. All this brings me back to the question: What if we're wrong?
Religion's only real commodity, after all, is its moral authority. Lose that, and we lose our credibility. Lose credibility, and we might as well close up shop.
It's happened to Christianity before, most famously when we dug in our heels over Galileo's challenge to the biblical view that the Earth, rather than the sun, was at the center of our solar system. You know the story. Galileo was persecuted for what turned out to be incontrovertibly true. For many, especially in the scientific community, Christianity never recovered.
This time, Christianity is in danger of squandering its moral authority by continuing its pattern of discrimination against gays and lesbians in the face of mounting scientific evidence that sexual orientation has little or nothing to do with choice. To the contrary, whether sexual orientation arises as a result of the mother's hormones or the child's brain structure or DNA, it is almost certainly an accident of birth. The point is this: Without choice, there can be no moral culpability.
[... comments section is full of stuff like this:]
In spite of what you try to "prove" and your smear tactics against good Christian people, Bible-believing Christians will NEVER accept your lies and propaganda for a sinful lifstyle which God Himself in the Bible condemns. Homosexulality is sin and no one is born with it. Your hatred of the church only reflects your own bias. I you want to promote this perversion you have a right to do so, but don't condemn others who choose to believe the Bible instead of your lies and distortion!
Posted by: Michael Davenport | Nov 20, 2006 8:23:18 AM
[More at URL]
----- 23 -----
3 Christian Groups Move To Condemn Gay Sex
By Alan Cooperman and Peter Whoriskey
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, November 15, 2006; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/14/AR2006111401337_pf.html
BALTIMORE, Nov. 14 -- Faced with rising public acceptance of same-sex relationships, three U.S. Christian denominations are taking strong measures this week to condemn homosexual acts as sinful.
The nation's Roman Catholic bishops, meeting in Baltimore, declared Tuesday that Catholics who minister to gays must firmly adhere to the church's teaching that same-sex attractions are "disordered." Catholics with "a homosexual inclination" should be encouraged to live in chastity and discouraged from making "general public announcements" about their sexual orientation, the bishops said.
The largest Baptist group in North Carolina, meanwhile, moved to expel any congregation that condones homosexuality, adopting a policy that allows the Baptist State Convention to investigate complaints that member churches are too "gay-friendly."
And on Wednesday in Pittsburgh, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), a mainline Protestant denomination with about 3 million members, will put a minister on trial for conducting a marriage ceremony for two women.
[...]
Donald W. Wuerl, Washington's new [Catholic] archbishop, said the document should not be seen as a crackdown on pro-gay ministries. Rather, he said, "the starting point is the church living in a culture in which these things are being promoted, and our task is to keep saying: 'Remember, here are the true teachings of the church.' "
Serratelli, summarizing the document, said the church considers same-sex attractions to be "objectively disordered" because "they do not accord with the natural purpose of sexuality." Although "simply experiencing a homosexual inclination is not in itself a sin," he said, homosexual acts are "sinful," "never morally acceptable" and "do not lead to true human happiness."
[...]
In North Carolina, the state Baptist Convention voted to broaden its fight against homosexuality by moving to expel churches that "affirm," "approve," or "bless" same-sex relationships.
The measure targets as many as a dozen Baptist churches in the state that position themselves as actively welcoming gays, but it could exclude any church that enrolls openly gay members.
[...]
What made the measure extraordinary, church members on both sides said, is that for what may be the first time in the convention's 176-year history, membership in the group would be contingent upon a specific policy -- that is, treatment of gays.
"This issue has emerged as a litmus test," said Andrew Wakefield, professor of biblical studies at Campbell University, in Buies Creek, N.C., which is affiliated with the Baptist State Convention.
[More at URL]
And now, today's news.
Mitt Romney - theoconservative candidate for the Republican nomination for President in 2008 - goes to court to force the legislature to put an anti-marriage amendment on the ballot in 2008, after they declined to do so. Interestingly, Focus on the Family brings up the "zomg he's a Mormon" issue on their own;
Fundamentalist leadership starts tearing into Barak Obama in response to him trying to talk to religious conservatives; seen courtesy Andrew Sullivan;
Dennis Prager says that incoming Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN) should not be allowed to take his oath on the Koran, and that he must take it on the Bible; he is, according to a variety of sources, wrong about that - there's no law saying what you have to swear on, despite what Mr. Prager says; Prager calls not swearing on the Bible an attack on American civilisation;
RespectLifeUSA is starting an anti-contraception billboard campaign;
Supreme Court refuses to hear lawsuit by fundamentalist family - they wanted to use state vouchers for religious schools; Focus on the Family criticises the refusal;
Focus on the Family news article on New Jersey and Maryland marriage rights issues; they're trying to avoid legalised marriage rights in Maryland by pushing a "Equal Benefits Act" which would be a subset of rights and could be used by any two people; mind you, the rest of the time these things are called "counterfeit marriage," but when it's the best you've got, suddenly it's the reasonable and equal solution;
FotF report on efforts to make it harder to get abortions in Alabama via a new route; requiring physicians get more certifications - the more, the better;
Focus on the Family article slamming Newsweek claims that the Bible considers homosexuality and the murder of children in child sacrifice to be equal;
ABC soap opera to have a transgendered character - FotF is not impressed; mind you - and this is a personal word - since a soap opera (Days of our Lives) was the first TV show to ever give me nightmares, I'm not impressed either, but it's for different reasons;
FotF: Polygamists are borrowing from "the same-sex marriage playbook";
Indiana legislature to consider a Constitutional amendment banning marriage and domestic partnerships/civil unions in all forms;
FotF attacks the idea of church/state separation again - I just like the headline, really; "Dr. Dobson Helps Larry King Understand 'Separation of Church and State,'" mostly by claiming there shouldn't be any;
Planned new Christian Coalition head hits the eject button when told that he couldn't spread the Christian Coalition message past anti-abortion and anti-gay activities; he'd wanted to focus more on other issues but was told no, so decided not to take over after all;
An example of the kind of proselysation the fundamentalist movement actually wants in schools;
The Thomas Moore Society files a wrongful death lawsuit against a fertility clinic which accidentally disposed of four frozen embryos without permission; the key point here is that they're suing specifically for wrongful death;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM against Alaska benefits for same-sex state employee couples; they want to stop the benefits from ever being put into place;
FotF supports anti-contraception/nonmartial-sex-causes-brain-damage Bush appointee to Health and Human Services family-planning head position;
FotF: Arizona voters voted down a state Constitutional marriage ban because they were mislead by gay activists;
Focus on the Family: Wal-Mart to "reconsider" support of National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce; includes ACTION ITEM to thank Wal-Mart and urge they drop support for any GBLT groups; they've satisfied the American Family Association, so you can assume they won't be dealing with GBLT business groups anymore;
Anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund sues Ohio university for offering same-sex DP benefits;
ABC appeals Janet Jackson "Wardrobe Malfunction" half-million dollar fine;
USA Today runs a column by a pastor worried that the anti-gay focus of evangelical Christianity may discredit Christianity in a way not seen since Galieo; many of the comments at the end of the column are really virulent;
Catholic bishops meet, say GBLT people must be closeted, straight-acting, and abstinent (not their words, but it cuts to the chase); the Baptists in South Carolina are moving to expel any GBLT-friendly Baptist church from the Baptist State Convention, and to start up investigations into and trials against congregations seen as too "gay-friendly"; Presbyterians are trying a minister for being involved in a lesbian couple's marriage ceremony. What's really interesting about the Baptist action in particular is that they admit that being anti-gay is now a litmus test. If you aren't anti-queer, you aren't really Christian.
----- 1 -----
Romney Files Suit to Support Marriage Amendment
Legislature continues to ignore the will of the people.
by Pete Winn, associate editor
11-28-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000003236.cfm
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney made good on a pledge he made before Thanksgiving to press lawmakers in his state to vote on placing a marriage amendment on the 2008 state ballot.
Romney joined a lawsuit Friday alongside 10 of the signers of the original citizen's petition seeking the amendment to define marriage as one man and one woman.
Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, said the suit seeks to force the Legislature to do its duty. Bay State lawmakers voted 109-87 on Nov. 9 to recess a Constitutional Convention without taking a vote on the marriage amendment.
[...]
Minnery, meanwhile, said it is really too early in the process to know how evangelicals might approach a Romney candidacy.
"He has a huge obstacle to overcome," Minnery said, "and that is the immensely deep theological differences between Christians and Mormons. It depends on what he says about that as to whether evangelicals would vote for him."
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
Obama's Wooing Of Evangelicals Runs Into Fierce Resistance
TPM Cafe
By Eric Kleefeld
http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2006/nov/28/christian_right_leaders_bash_obama_warren_appearance
Barack Obama's efforts to reach out to evanglical Christians in preparation for his possible Presidential campaign is running into very stiff resistance from the Christian right. As the Chicago Tribune reported recently, Obama is set to attend a huge evangelical gathering in California on Dec. 1, at the invitation of megachurch Pastor Rick Warren, the evangelical superstar who wrote The Purpose-Driven Life. Analysts have interpreted Obama's scheduled appearance as a sign he's working much harder than Dems ordinarily do to win over Evangelicals.
But the appearance is now provoking an intense backlash from leaders of the Christian right. They are calling on Warren to disinvite Obama from the event because of his liberal positions, especially abortion rights — or as one of those leaders put it, Obama's support of "the murder of babies in the womb."
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
America, Not Keith Ellison, decides what book a congressman takes his oath on
By Dennis Prager
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Long URL elided
Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the first Muslim elected to the United States Congress, has announced that he will not take his oath of office on the Bible, but on the bible of Islam, the Koran.
He should not be allowed to do so -- not because of any American hostility to the Koran, but because the act undermines American civilization.
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
Yellow Snapdragons
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Ridiculous
http://yellowsnapdragons.blogspot.com/2006/11/ridiculous.html
These billboards are all over Tulsa.
[Picture at URL]
----- 5 -----
U.S. Supreme Court Turns Away School-Voucher Case
Parents sought to use vouchers for religious-school tuition.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
11-28-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000003235.cfm
The U.S. Supreme Court's refusal Monday to hear a school-voucher case out of Maine leaves a confusing patchwork of laws around the country.
Eight families from rural communities without high schools sought to use vouchers to send their kids to religious schools, but a state court ruled that an impermissible mixing of church and state. All the children involved in the suit have since graduated.
Their attorney, Dick Komer of the Institute for Justice, called the high court's refusal the "end of the road."
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
Same-Sex Unions Pending in New Jersey, Maryland
Focus on the Family
11-28-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003233.cfm
While New Jersey lawmakers debate the best way to address a court order to provide benefits to same-sex couples, Maryland's Supreme Court is preparing to hear arguments concerning a lower-court ruling that struck down the state's marriage law.
The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in October that the state must either allow same-sex couples to marry or create civil unions that offer the same rights and benefits.
Republican Sen. Gerald Cardinale introduced a constitutional amendment that would preserve marriage -- defining it as the union of one man and one woman.
"It is almost an obscenity that the Supreme Court would seize unto itself the power to order the Legislature to create legislation," he told The Star-Ledger. "That is unheard of in New Jersey.
"That kind of activism requires a reply," he added. "This is not a government of appointed justices."
Len Deo, president of the New Jersey Family Policy Council, said his organization is prepared to introduce a separate bill, called the Equal Benefits Act, that would protect the definition of marriage, but would also provide civil benefits not based on sexual orientation.
"There are many families who cannot have access to the benefits of marriage because their living arrangements are outside the realm of marriage," he said. "For example, two elderly women who are domiciled together, or perhaps a grandparent and grandchild."
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
Abortionists Fight Proposed Rule Change Governing Clinics
Focus on the Family
11-28-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003231.cfm
Alabama abortion providers and pro-life advocates, at a public hearing in Montgomery on Monday, debated the need to tighten clinic regulations, The Birmingham News reported.
The hearing, held by the Alabama Department of Public Health, discussed proposed new regulations that would mandate physicians be board certified in obstetrics and gynecology in order to perform abortions.
[More at URL]
----- 8 -----
Newsweek Tells Evangelicals What to Do
The media hit on a new tactic.
by Don Feder
Focus on the Family
11-27-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/clcommentary/A000003203.cfm
After decades of excoriating evangelical Christians as bigoted morons, foaming-at-the-mouth fanatics and vile hypocrites -- both sexually-obsessed and sexually-repressed (part Elmer Gantry, part Elmer Fudd) -- the media have hit on a new tactic.
The cover story (“America’s God Complex – Like George W. Bush, The Religious Right Is At The Crossroads”) in the Nov. 13 Newsweek explains that evangelicals aren’t really that bad – it’s just that the poor fools have been duped by the Republican Party, their energies (which should be devoted to more worthwhile endeavors) diverted to sordid politics.
[...]
Leaders like Dobson, Falwell and Robertson have “lost their focus on the spirit of Jesus and have separated the world into black and white,” Hamilton declares. “I can’t see Jesus standing with signs at an anti-gay rally.”
Nor can one picture Jesus standing with a sign at a pro-life demonstration, an anti-pornography rally or a rally against global warming.
There weren’t many leather bars in Jesus’ day. In 1st century Judea, “gay rights” was a non-issue. There also weren’t rallies against child sacrifice or ritual prostitution – which the Bible puts in the same category as conduct of the San Fran persuasion.
[...]
Since their political awakening in the mid-1970s, while evangelicals worked to end the scourge of abortion and stay the steady march of social decay (the Sodomizing of American culture), they have simultaneously raised billions to fight famine in Africa, build homes for the poor, rehabilitate addicts and provide aid to the most destitute among us.
[Lots more at URL]
----- 9 -----
Soap Opera to Introduce Transgendered Character
Focus on the Family
11-27-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003218.cfm
ABC's All My Children is about to introduce the story of a transgendered character on the way from being a man to being a "woman."
According to The Associated Press, rock star Zarf will fall in love with a lesbian character later this week, leading to the gender confusion.
[More at URL]
----- 10 -----
Polygamists Borrow from Same-Sex Marriage Playbook
The same legal strategies are increasingly being employed.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
11-27-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000003201.cfm
Adopting a strategy from the same-sex marriage playbook, polygamists are attempting to move into the mainstream by deemphasizing their religious beliefs and focusing on personal freedoms. The goal is to decriminalize plural marriages.
Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School, told Family News in Focus he does not support polygamy in practice, but added, "I believe that the criminalization of polygamy is wrong."
[More at URL]
----- 11 -----
Indiana Lawmakers to Consider Marriage Amendment
Focus on the Family
11-27-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003220.cfm
The Democratic majority in the Indiana House of Representatives has announced it will bring forward SJR 07 -- a proposed constitutional amendment to protect marriage from redefinition. If the measure passes, voters will see the amendment on the 2008 ballot, the Indiana Daily Student reported.
Incoming Speaker of the House Patrick Bauer, a Democrat from South Bend, said his intention of bringing the bill to the floor is to see its defeat, but the amendment earned overwhelming approval from both chambers in 2005.
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
Dr. Dobson Helps Larry King Understand 'Separation of Church and State'
Focus founder correctly points out it's not anywhere in a foundational document.
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
11-27-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000003215.cfm
In an interview turned history lesson, Dr. James Dobson, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family, helped talk-show host Larry King understand -- over his protests -- that "separation of church and state" is not found in the U.S. Constitution.
During last week's hour-long conversation on Larry King Live, King quizzed Dr. Dobson on myriad topics including O.J. Simpson's rejected book, the fall of evangelical leader Ted Haggard and Michael J. Fox's TV ad for embryonic stem-cell research. But when the discussion turned to attempts to redefine marriage -- the TV host made it an issue of separation of church and state.
KING: Why is it a state institution rather than a religious institution? Why is the state involved?
DOBSON: Well, it's both. It is both.
KING: But we have a separation of church and state.
DOBSON: Beg your pardon?
KING: We have a separation of church and state.
DOBSON: Who says?
KING: You don't believe in separation of church and state?
DOBSON: Not the way you mean it. The separation of church and state is not in the Constitution. No, it's not. That is not in the Constitution.
[More at URL]
[Editor's note: The meme they're propagating here is that because the phrase "separation of church and state" doesn't appear in the document, there's not actually any such thing. This is a combination of bullshit, memetic story-making, and big-lie propaganda, and is related to the assertion being spread in similar circles that the 14th amendment only applies to racial issues. This is mostly because the leadership knows full well that the 1st amendment has this affect, and that the 14th amendment spread these protections to the state. The idea appears to be that if they can get people to think that the 14th amendment actually only applies to race, then they can get more state involvement in religion at the state level.]
----- 13 -----
Longwood pastor quits as coalition president
The Rev. Joel Hunter was set to take the reins of the national Christian Coalition.
Willoughby Mariano | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted November 23, 2006
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/seminole/orl-coalition2306nov23,0,5647938.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-seminole
The Central Florida pastor recently tapped to lead the Christian Coalition of America resigned his position in a dispute about conservative philosophy -- more than a month before he was to fully assume his post, he said Wednesday.
The Rev. Joel Hunter, of Longwood's Northland, A Church Distributed, said he quit as president-elect of the group founded by evangelist Pat Robertson because he realized he would be unable to broaden the organization's agenda beyond opposing abortion and gay marriage.
He hoped to include issues such as easing poverty and saving the environment.
"These are issues that Jesus would want us to care about," Hunter said.
[...]
The coalition's rejection of Hunter's approach means it is unwilling to part with its partisan, Republican roots, Hunter said.
"To tell you the truth, I feel like there are literally millions of evangelical Christians that don't have a home right now," Hunter said.
[...]
Critics called him "liberal," a label Hunter said he rejects. He is against abortion and gay marriage.
[More at URL]
----- 14 -----
Public school teacher tells class: 'You belong in hell'
Jim Lippard
http://richarddawkins.net/article,335,Public-school-teacher-tells-class-You-belong-in-hell,Jim-Lippard
Reposted from:
http://lippard.blogspot.com/2006/11/public-school-teacher-tells-class-you.html
The following is from Paul L. LaClair, a NYC attorney who lives in Kearny, New Jersey, and is posted with his permission. David Paszkiewicz, the teacher described here engaging in incompetent teaching and dishonesty, is apparently a youth pastor at Kearny Baptist Church in addition to being a public school teacher. LaClair's son Matthew has previously garnered attention for protesting Bush administration activities by refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. He seems to be a principled and courageous young man who has caught a really bad teacher:
Kearny, New Jersey
November 10, 2006
A history teacher at the local public high school here may have bitten off more than he cares to chew this fall. Self-described conservative Baptist David Paszkiewicz used his history class to proselytize biblical fundamentalism over the course of several days at the beginning of this school year.
Among his remarks in open class were statements that a being must have created the universe, that the Christian Bible is the word of God, and that dinosaurs were aboard Noah's ark. If you do not accept Jesus, he flatly proclaimed to his class, "you belong in hell." Referring to a Muslim student who had been mentioned by name, he lamented what he saw as her inevitable fate should she not convert. In an attempt to promote biblical creationism, he also dismissed evolution and the Big Bang as non-scientific, arguing by contrast that the Bible is supported by what he calls confirmed biblical prophecies.
[More at URL]
----- 15 -----
Pro-Life Attorneys File Briefs in Embryo-Death Case
Focus on the Family
11-22-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003186.cfm
The Thomas More Law Society filed briefs in Illinois Appellate Court in a wrongful-death suit against a fertility clinic accused of disposing of a couple's frozen embryos without permission.
In 2005 Cook County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Lawrence found that Alison Miller and Todd Parrish had cause to sue Chicago's Center for Human Reproduction for mistakenly disposing of the embryos four years prior.
Lawrence cited the 1980 Wrongful Death Act which allows for lawsuits to be filed if preborn babies are killed in an accident or assault, regardless of their "state of gestation or development."
"Philosophers and theologians may debate, but there is no doubt in the mind of the Illinois Legislature when life begins," he said. "It begins at conception."
[More at URL]
----- 16 -----
Alaska Lawmakers Delay Same-Sex Benefits
Focus on the Family
11-22-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003185.cfm
The Alaska Legislature, during a special session called by Gov. Frank Murkowski, passed a bill that seeks to postpone the implementation of court-ordered same-sex benefits for state employees and retirees, The Associated Press reported.
Residents of Alaska voted in favor of a constitutional amendment in 1998 to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman, but, shortly after, 14 homosexual couples, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), challenged the state, demanding employment benefits for same-sex partners.
The state Supreme Court ruled that since same-sex couples can't get married, the state is obligated to give them benefits. The court-imposed deadline is January 1.
[...]
TAKE ACTION:
If you are an Alaska resident, contact Gov. Frank Murkowski and ask him to take the needed steps to ensure the implementation of same-sex benefits is delayed until the people and the Legislature have the opportunity to weigh in.
If you are a CitizenLink Daily Update subscriber, click on the blue "Take Action" button in the e-mail to be automatically logged in to our Action Center. Otherwise, click on this link.
[More at URL]
----- 17 -----
Dems in Congress Protest Pro-Life, Pro-Abstinence Nomination
Focus on the Family
11-22-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003183.cfm
Fourteen Democratic U.S. Senators have demanded that President Bush rescind his nomination of Dr. Eric Keroack to head the family-planning program at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), All American Patriots reported.
Keroack, who is pro-life, is currently a member of the Medical Advisory Council of the National Abstinence Clearinghouse and serves as the medical director for five crisis-pregnancy centers.
[...]
Raymond Ruddy, president of Gerard Health Foundation, said Keroack is a pioneer in the use of medical arguments to explain the devastation caused by abortion as well as the reasons teens should remain abstinent until marriage.
"He was one of the first doctors ever to really get involved in the medical aspect of some of these pregnancy-resource centers," he said. "For very, very little pay, he sacrificed a lot to help women do ultrasounds and do what was right in the abortion decision.
"It's pretty much what he has done all his life."
[More at URL]
----- 18 -----
Defeat of Arizona Marriage Amendment Influenced by Singles, Retirees
Focus on the Family
11-22-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003181.cfm
The Arizona campaign to defeat a constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman used scare tactics to sway retired voters. Opponents falsely claimed the amendment would deny retirees of some benefits, The Washington Post reported.
Marty Rouse, national field director of the gay-activist Human Rights Campaign (HRC), said it's clear the majority of people in the state do not support gay marriage -- so his group had to use a different argument to sway the vote.
"Once you say 'gay' and 'lesbian,' people hone in on that," he said. "We have to focus on the majority of people that will be affected by this -- and the majority of people are straight couples."
[More at URL]
----- 19 -----
Wal-Mart to Reconsider Sponsorship of Controversial Issues
American Family Association cancels its boycott.
11-21-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000003162.cfm
Wal-Mart has begun to distance itself from organizations that support “highly controversial issues” such as same-sex marriage, a company official said Tuesday.
The giant retailer had been criticized for making a $60,000 donation to Out and Equal, an organization for homosexual employees which deals with workplace issues, but which also supports changing the definition of marriage. The company also had joined the Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and sent it $25,000 in dues.
The Wal-Mart executive who served as the company's representative to the chamber has since left for unrelated reasons and will not be replaced.
[...]
“Going forward, we’ll be looking differently at organizations we donate to,” the official said. “There are some areas we need to get corrected and that is what we’re focused on.”
He emphasized the new direction was not aimed only at the issue of homosexuality, but also other social controversies. He was not more specific.
[...]
The American Family Association (AFA) canceled its call for a two-day post-Thanksgiving boycott of Wal-Mart after hearing the company's statement. AFA said it believes Wal-Mart will now remain neutral in cultural battles.
[...]
TAKE ACTION:
If you'd like to thank Wal-Mart for reconsidering the sponsorship of controversial groups, you can find contact information on the company's Web site.
[More at URL]
----- 20 -----
ADF to Appeal Ohio Domestic-Partnership Ruling
Focus on the Family
11-21-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003158.cfm
The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) announced today it will appeal a decision by the Ohio Court of Common Pleas that declared the plaintiff did not have a right to pose a legal challenge to Miami University's domestic-partnership program.
In November 2004, Ohio voters passed a state constitutional amendment that defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman. In addition, the amendment prohibits the state from creating marriage substitutes, such as civil unions or domestic partnerships for same-sex couples.
Despite the amendment, the university offers benefits to same-sex partners if they file an "Affidavit of Same-Sex Domestic Partnership" which requires proof that the two share a common residence and are in a long-term committed relationship.
[...]
"We knew this would be a case with multiple appeals," he said. "ADF and its allies will continue the legal battle to defend the Ohio Constitution from this attempted end-run by state officials."
[More at URL]
----- 21 -----
CBS Appeals Fine over Wardrobe Malfunction
Focus on the Family
11-21-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003157.cfm
CBS filed an appeal Monday with the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concerning a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fine levied against the network for the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show in which Janet Jackson's breast was exposed, MarketWatch reported.
The FCC found that CBS had broken indecency standards and must pay a $550,000 fine -- representing 20 stations at $27,500 each.
In the appeal, the network argued it should not be accountable for "an unscripted, unauthorized, and unintended long-distance shot of Ms. Jackson's breast for nine-sixteenths of one second."
[...]
Clyde Ensslin, a spokesman for the FCC, said the commission stands by its findings.
"CBS continues to ignore the voices of millions of Americans, Congress and the Commission by arguing that Janet Jackson's half-time performance was not indecent," he said. "CBS believes there should be no limits on what can be shown on television even during family viewing events like the Super Bowl; we continue to believe they are wrong."
[More at URL]
----- 22 -----
When religion loses its credibility
Galileo was persecuted for revealing what we now know to be the truth regarding Earth’s place in our solar system. Today, the issue is homosexuality, and the persecution is not of one man but of millions. Will Christian leaders once again be on the wrong side of history?
By Oliver "Buzz" Thomas
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2006/11/when_religion_l.html#23more
What if Christian leaders are wrong about homosexuality? I suppose, much as a newspaper maintains its credibility by setting the record straight, church leaders would need to do the same:
Correction: Despite what you might have read, heard or been taught throughout your churchgoing life, homosexuality is, in fact, determined at birth and is not to be condemned by God's followers.
Based on a few recent headlines, we won't be seeing that admission anytime soon.
(Illustration by Adrienne Lewis, USA TODAY)
Last week, U.S. Roman Catholic bishops took the position that homosexual attractions are "disordered" and that gays should live closeted lives of chastity. At the same time, North Carolina's Baptist State Convention was preparing to investigate churches that are too gay-friendly. Even the more liberal Presbyterian Church (USA) had been planning to put a minister on trial for conducting a marriage ceremony for two women before the charges were dismissed on a technicality. All this brings me back to the question: What if we're wrong?
Religion's only real commodity, after all, is its moral authority. Lose that, and we lose our credibility. Lose credibility, and we might as well close up shop.
It's happened to Christianity before, most famously when we dug in our heels over Galileo's challenge to the biblical view that the Earth, rather than the sun, was at the center of our solar system. You know the story. Galileo was persecuted for what turned out to be incontrovertibly true. For many, especially in the scientific community, Christianity never recovered.
This time, Christianity is in danger of squandering its moral authority by continuing its pattern of discrimination against gays and lesbians in the face of mounting scientific evidence that sexual orientation has little or nothing to do with choice. To the contrary, whether sexual orientation arises as a result of the mother's hormones or the child's brain structure or DNA, it is almost certainly an accident of birth. The point is this: Without choice, there can be no moral culpability.
[... comments section is full of stuff like this:]
In spite of what you try to "prove" and your smear tactics against good Christian people, Bible-believing Christians will NEVER accept your lies and propaganda for a sinful lifstyle which God Himself in the Bible condemns. Homosexulality is sin and no one is born with it. Your hatred of the church only reflects your own bias. I you want to promote this perversion you have a right to do so, but don't condemn others who choose to believe the Bible instead of your lies and distortion!
Posted by: Michael Davenport | Nov 20, 2006 8:23:18 AM
[More at URL]
----- 23 -----
3 Christian Groups Move To Condemn Gay Sex
By Alan Cooperman and Peter Whoriskey
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, November 15, 2006; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/14/AR2006111401337_pf.html
BALTIMORE, Nov. 14 -- Faced with rising public acceptance of same-sex relationships, three U.S. Christian denominations are taking strong measures this week to condemn homosexual acts as sinful.
The nation's Roman Catholic bishops, meeting in Baltimore, declared Tuesday that Catholics who minister to gays must firmly adhere to the church's teaching that same-sex attractions are "disordered." Catholics with "a homosexual inclination" should be encouraged to live in chastity and discouraged from making "general public announcements" about their sexual orientation, the bishops said.
The largest Baptist group in North Carolina, meanwhile, moved to expel any congregation that condones homosexuality, adopting a policy that allows the Baptist State Convention to investigate complaints that member churches are too "gay-friendly."
And on Wednesday in Pittsburgh, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), a mainline Protestant denomination with about 3 million members, will put a minister on trial for conducting a marriage ceremony for two women.
[...]
Donald W. Wuerl, Washington's new [Catholic] archbishop, said the document should not be seen as a crackdown on pro-gay ministries. Rather, he said, "the starting point is the church living in a culture in which these things are being promoted, and our task is to keep saying: 'Remember, here are the true teachings of the church.' "
Serratelli, summarizing the document, said the church considers same-sex attractions to be "objectively disordered" because "they do not accord with the natural purpose of sexuality." Although "simply experiencing a homosexual inclination is not in itself a sin," he said, homosexual acts are "sinful," "never morally acceptable" and "do not lead to true human happiness."
[...]
In North Carolina, the state Baptist Convention voted to broaden its fight against homosexuality by moving to expel churches that "affirm," "approve," or "bless" same-sex relationships.
The measure targets as many as a dozen Baptist churches in the state that position themselves as actively welcoming gays, but it could exclude any church that enrolls openly gay members.
[...]
What made the measure extraordinary, church members on both sides said, is that for what may be the first time in the convention's 176-year history, membership in the group would be contingent upon a specific policy -- that is, treatment of gays.
"This issue has emerged as a litmus test," said Andrew Wakefield, professor of biblical studies at Campbell University, in Buies Creek, N.C., which is affiliated with the Baptist State Convention.
[More at URL]
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-11-29 10:12 am (UTC)I'm clinging desperately to the straws of the New Democratic majorities in congress. I'm hoping that some sanity and balance will (eventually) be restored.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-29 04:31 pm (UTC)http://solarbird.livejournal.com/tag/culture%20war