Today's Cultural Warfare Update
Dec. 24th, 2006 01:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdThe "War on Christmas" is very profitable for fundamentalist political groups, so expect it not to go away any time soon - link courtesy ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
spazzkat;
Kansas Atty. General Kline's fishing expedition attempt to find ways to charge a Kansas abortion provider with felony charges collapses - all of the charges he filed have been summarily thrown out; Operation Rescue alleges bribery;
Focus on the Family calls New York City's declining birthrate "shameful";
FotF condemns study showing that most people have sex before getting married, calls it "the condom cartel's attempt at normalizing out-of-wedlock sexual behavior," and says, "Just because everyone is doing it doesn’t make it OK";
FotF condemns transgendered Massachusetts teacher over comments made in class;
FotF short article noting New Jersey's new Civil Unions law; they don't like it;
FotF reprints James Dobson's screed against Mary Cheney and Heather Poe having a child; what's notible here is how they mix apple-and-orange statistics to "prove" a point; what they're doing here is comparing studies that show two-parent families have better outcomes to one-parent families, and then pretending a lesbian or gay couple is a single-parent family, and assigning the one-parent family statistics to the lesbian or gay parent family. It's invalid as all hell, but it doesn't stop them from doing it;
FotF article attacking the Smithsonian Institution; they claim it harassed an "intelligent design" supporter; he's claiming religious discrimination and that they're out to get him for being a Christian;
Focus on the Family: Iranian Shi'a Muslims are working to bring back Christ by starting a nuclear war, says that no negotiations can happen with Iran;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM to write Time Magazine supporting James Dobson's article against Mary Cheney's family;
Concerned Women for America files amicus brief in support of FCC "indecency" action against stations carrying the Billboard Awards - apparently somebody said some naughty words;
CWA finally acknowledges bisexual people exist - sort of, as a tool to connect same-sex marriage rights to polygamy; the article's rather red-meat for something in text form - normally these days they're saving the special stuff for audio only;
CWA ACTION ITEM demands action against CBS and CBS advertisers for "mocking Christ's birth" - a sitcom character did a little sing-song about getting laid to the tune of "Joy to the World" and they're pissed off, accusing CBS of sacrilege;
CWA: "Global warming fanatics" want to depopulate the earth and "demean and destroy God's crowning creation," which is to say, humanity; interestingly, what triggered the article is evangelical groups getting involved in addressing global warming issues;
CWA article "New Jersey Outrage!" against civil unions in NJ ("marriage by another name"); they're also pissed off that the guest preacher brought in for one of the daily ceremonial prayers "cursed the spirit that would come to bring about gay marriage" and apparently isn't going to be invited back;
CWA updates its list of holiday-correct companies;
Michael Medved column says that having sympathy for Rev. Ted Haggard (or other gay men who got shoved out of the closet through embarrassing means) is proof that queers what special endorsement, not equality; as someone who blogged about her complete lack of sympathy, I guess I'm not in that camp, then - but Andrew Sullivan (who opposes even ENDA) and James Dobson (of Focus on the Family) both are. Oh, also, he claims that wanting marriage equality "carries with it the implicit assumption that gay relationships count as inherently superior, more durable and more meaningful than their straight counterparts"; why didn't this guy stick to writing good books about bad movies? Really, though, the main intended target is Andrew Sullivan;
CWA says babies are being dismembered in Ukraine for stem cells. If this is true, it would be horrific, because, you know, babies being sliced up. However, given their track record, my immediate suspicion is always that it's propaganda. It doesn't help that both of their linked sources are... themselves. One is a link back to the same article, with a slightly different URL. Leaving that aside, there's this huge problem with this story: You don't get embryonic stem cells from newborns. There are changes that are made to the DNA in the cells around week four (iirc) that make the resulting cells no longer totipotent. (Methyl groups get added, I forget what else.) Totipotency is the difference between embryonic stem cells and so-called "adult" (or "blood") stem cells, and that's why you can't do the same tricks with "adult" stem cells that you can with "embryonic" stem cells, and are why this debate matters;
American Family Association ACTION ITEM against CBS and Charlie Sheen for the "Joy to the World" sing-song about getting laid;
AFA ACTION ITEM against Sears for advertising on LOGO, the cable-carried GBLT channel; they again repeat the assertion that advertising in GBLT media is "financing [a] push to legalize homosexual marriage," which ties to their assertion that doing business with GBLT people does the same, which ties back to "staying neutral in the culture wars" means not doing business with queers;
AFA/Agape Press condemns study showing that almost everybody has sex before marriage;
AFA/Agape Press column supporting anti-gay New Jersey preacher who delivered a ceremonial opening prayer before the state legislature condemning GBLT civil unions;
Ireland declines to recognise foreign same-sex marriage license; AFA is pleased;
Concerned Women for America hires Matt Barber to be their Policy Director, particularly to focus on anti-gay actions; he joins long-time Concerned Women for America "Culture and Family Institute" head Robert Knight as spearheading the anti-gay activities of CWA.
----- 1 -----
"War on Christmas" pays off for some religious groups
By Stephanie Simon
Los Angeles Times
Saturday, December 23, 2006
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003491751_wars23.html
The "War on Christmas" never has been so profitable.
For the fourth consecutive year, conservative Christian groups have spent much of December mobilizing against what they see as a liberal plot to censor Christmas.
But it's more than a cause this year. It's a heck of a fundraiser.
The American Family Association, a conservative activist group, has rung up more than $550,000 in sales of buttons and magnets stamped with the slogan "Merry CHRISTmas: It's Worth Saying."
Liberty Counsel, a nonprofit law firm affiliated with the religious right, has taken in more than $300,000 with its "Help Save Christmas Action Packs."
The kits include two buttons, two bumper stickers and "The Memo that Saved Christmas," a guide to defending overt religious expression, such as a Nativity scene in a public-school classroom.
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
Tiller Escapes Charges of Performing Illegal Late-Term Abortions
Focus on the Family
12-22-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003508.cfm
Just one day after Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline filed criminal charges against a Wichita abortionist for performing illegal late-term abortions, the county district attorney successfully moved to have all 30 charges dropped.
The charges against George Tiller stem from an investigation by Kline spanning several years. In 2004, Kline requested to see abortion records from two clinics in order to determine whether they contained evidence of criminal activity. Kline was looking for an indication that clinics failed to report the abuse of minors or whether they performed illegal late-term abortions.
Last month, Kline obtained the abortion records of 90 patients from the clinics. It was from a review of those records Kline determined there was sufficient evidence to press charges against Tiller.
[...]
"This is a classic example of why justice cannot be done in this state because so many officials have ties to George Tiller," he said. "Money buys a lot of favors here. This miscarriage of justice must not be allowed to stand."
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
Abortions Slash New York City's Birth Rate
Focus on the Family
12-22-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003509.cfm
The number of babies born in New York City declined 8 percent in 2005 compared to just one year earlier -- with teen births dropping at an even more significant rate -- a statistic family advocates attribute in part to the city's high abortion rate, The New York Sun reported.
According to New York City's annual vital statistics report, 122,725 babies were born in 2005 -- 1,374 fewer than the previous year. For those younger than 20, births have declined steadily since 1992, when 13,795 of the 136,002 newborns were birthed by teen mothers. In 2005 those under 20 were responsible just 8,579 of the total births.
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
Agenda Clear in Premarital Sex Survey
Pro-family experts dispute findings, conclusions of report that seeks to normalize unhealthy sexual behavior.
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
Focus on the Family
December 21, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
Family advocates are questioning the results of – and the agenda behind – a survey released this week by the Guttmacher Institute claiming that 95 percent of Americans have engaged in sex outside of marriage.
The study, published in Public Health Reports, purported to examine how sexual behavior before marriage has changed over time. It is based on interviews with more than 38,000 people over two decades for the federal National Survey of Family Growth.
According to Lawrence Finer, author of the study, 99 percent of the respondents reported having had sex by age 44, and 95 percent reported having had sex outside of marriage. Among a subgroup that did not engage in sexual activity until at least age 20, four-fifths reported having premarital sex by age 44.
"This is reality-check research," Finer said. "Premarital sex is normal behavior for the vast majority of Americans, and has been for decades."
The results, he added, call into question whether the federal government should fund abstinence-only-until-marriage programs for 12- to 29-year-olds.
But Linda Klepacki, analyst for sexual health at Focus on the Family Action, said the motive behind the Guttmacher report is suspect, especially given the group’s close affiliation with Planned Parenthood.
"This is the condom cartel's attempt at normalizing out-of-wedlock sexual behavior," she said. "This is one in a series of documents that is designed to set the battle lines for January's congressional battles over (funding for) sex education."
Glenn Stanton, senior analyst for marriage and sexuality at Focus on the Family, questioned the method used to collect the data.
"These numbers seem a little high to me," he said. "Additionally, what they don’t tell us is how active people were before marriage. Were most of these encounters among people who were engaged or were they simply casual hook-ups? We don't know."
More than anything, though, Stanton is distressed by the author’s implication that since so many people are doing it, it must be fine.
"What did each one of our mothers tell us?" he asked. "Just because everyone is doing it doesn’t make it OK."
Dr. Bill Maier, psychologist in residence at Focus on the Family, confirmed Stanton’s -- and his mother’s -- sentiments.
"The fact that a high percentage of individuals are engaging in a particular behavior doesn’t indicate that it’s healthy or wise," he said. "Sixty-one percent of American adults are overweight or obese — but just because most people are eating high-fat foods and not exercising doesn’t mean we should encourage our kids to embrace obesity."
Stanton said the study ignores consistent research findings over the last few decades that prove the most sexually satisfied people today are faithfully married men and women who come to marriage with no previous sexual experience.
"What is more, sexual satisfaction tends to decline along with an increase in the number of different sexual partners one has had in a lifetime," Stanton noted. "In sex, practice doesn't make perfect -- at least with different partners."
Finer’s assertion that schools should forgo abstinence education and simply teach "safe-sex" practices because premarital sex is normal, expected behavior, Klepacki said, is not the way to protect teens and young adults.
"We have an epidemic of STIs (sexually transmitted infections) in this country -- especially in the teen population," she said. "We should be doing everything we can to prevent sexual behavior in our teens."
Maier said Planned Parenthood and its colleagues at the Guttmacher Institute have a responsibility to give teens all the facts about premarital sex.
"Condoms don’t protect against all sexuality transmitted diseases," he said. They don’t protect against the psychological ramifications of premarital sex, either, Maier added.
"Girls who are sexually active experience a higher incidence of clinical depression," he said, "and women who’ve had multiple sexual partners report the highest levels of sexual dysfunction."
Klepacki added that is exactly why abstinence-until-marriage education is vital to the well-being of the nation’s youth.
"We want every child to be able to work toward their future goals and dreams," she said, "without illness impeding those efforts."
----- 5 -----
Teacher Says Transgenderism a Viable Lifestyle
Third-graders in Newton, Mass., disturbed by discussion.
Focus on the Family
from staff reports
December 21, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
A teacher in a Newton, Mass., elementary school has come under fire from parents for telling her third-grade class that transgenderism is a viable lifestyle choice for some people.
The teacher’s comments came after one student stood up in class and said that
"some men like to become women."
Parents have been understandably upset with the teacher and the school. Tom Mountain, a columnist with the Newton Tab, said the teacher’s statement had a harmful effect on the kids.
"Parents were remarking that (their children) had nightmares at night, they couldn’t sleep," he told Family News in Focus. "One little girl told her mother that she was scared that her little sister could turn into a boy. Other kids expressed to the parents that their daddies could become women and they still want to keep their daddies."
But Newton educators dismissed the concerns and explained that the class discussion was a "teachable moment," meaning they don’t have to inform parents or apologize for covering such disturbing topics. Brian Camenker, president of Mass Resistance, said some parents are pulling their kids out of school because of the mindset that what students learn in the classroom is none of mom’s or dad’s business.
"That attitude is just horrific," he said. "I’m sure it has a lot to do with the gay marriage issue going on in Massachusetts -- and we’ve seen it around the state -- but it’s getting worse."
One parent is suing Newton schools over its pro-homosexual curriculum. But Camenker said such incidents will remain confined to his state.
"People around the country need to understand that this is going to happen to them," he explained. "It’s not going to stop in Massachusetts --and they need to start getting active."
----- 6 -----
Civil Unions Legal in New Jersey on Feb. 19
Focus on the Family
December 21, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
New Jersey became the fifth state in the nation today to extend the rights of marriage to homosexual couples when Gov. Jon Corzine signed into law a civil-unions bill passed by the Legislature a week ago.
When the measure takes effect Feb. 19, the Garden State will join Connecticut and Vermont in recognizing same-sex civil unions, while Massachusetts has legalized gay marriage and California allows domestic partnerships granting homosexuals full marriage rights.
The Legislature’s action came after being ordered by the state’s Supreme Court to create some arrangement for homosexual couples to enjoy the same benefits as marriage, arguing that not doing so was unconstitutional.
----- 7 -----
Two Mommies Is One Too Many
Mary Cheney is starting a family. Let's hope she doesn't start a trend.
by James C. Dobson Ph.D.
12-14-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/clcommentary/A000003415.cfm
A number of social conservatives, myself included, have recently been asked to respond to the news that Mary Cheney, the Vice President's daughter, is pregnant with a child she intends to raise with her lesbian partner. Implicit in this issue is an effort to get us to criticize the Bush Administration or the Cheney family. But the concern here has nothing to do with politics. It is about what kind of family environment is best for the health and development of children, and, by extension, the nation at large.
With all due respect to Cheney and her partner, Heather Poe, the majority of more than 30 years of social-science evidence indicates that children do best on every measure of well-being when raised by their married mother and father. That is not to say Cheney and Poe will not love their child. But love alone is not enough to guarantee healthy growth and development. The two most loving women in the world cannot provide a daddy for a little boy—any more than the two most loving men can be complete role models for a little girl.
[More at URL]
----- 8 -----
Smithsonian Slams Door on Intelligent Design
Government report finds museum harassed scientist for publishing article on suggesting life is not the result of random chance
from staff reports
12-20-06
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000003480.cfm
How far will some scientists go to keep the idea of intelligent design (ID) from seeing the light of day? Consider the case of a Smithsonian Institution scientist who has been harassed by museum officials for two years for publishing an article supporting ID.
Ironically enough, Dr. Richard Sternberg is not even a proponent of the theory that life sprang from something other than random chance -- yet he has been demoted and his reputation smeared.
His crime? As managing editor of a biology journal, he published an article by Dr. Steven Meyer supporting ID. Sternberg’s colleagues didn’t like it.
“What I should have done, according to my detractors,” Sternberg said, “was I should have paid attention to who the author was, what he stands for, realize that he is a Christian and place the article in the wastepaper basket.”
[More at URL]
----- 9 -----
Iranian President Issues 'Troubling' Greeting to Christians
Speech filled with references to prophecy -- not politics -- expert says.
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
12-20-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000003486.cfm
In a surprise move, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Tuesday wished "all Christians happiness and prosperity on the occasion of the birth of the Christ," according to the Iranian Students News Agency.
But a Christian expert on Islam says we should not take the Muslim leader's statement as just a strange type of Christmas greeting -- but as a very serious theological pronouncement.
During the first part of his speech, the Muslim radical turned president referred to Jesus Christ in a way which seemed almost reverential.
"To guide mankind, Jesus offered all his love and sacrificed all his being," Ahmadinejad said. "He tolerated all the misunderstandings, the insults, pressures, agonies and imposition of all those around him. He was drawn into isolation and bore all this pain just to carry out his divine mission.
But the self-professed enemy of the U.S. took a very strange turn.
"I wish all the Christians a very happy new year," he said, "and I wish to ask them a question as well. My one question from the Christians is: What would Jesus do if he were present in the world today? What would he do before some of the oppressive powers of the world who are in fact residing in Christian countries? Which powers would he revive and which of them would he destroy? If Jesus were present today, who would be facing him and who would be following him?"
Ahamdinejad also called for the return of Jesus along with, as he put it, "the emergence of the descendant of the Islam's Holy Prophet, Imam Mahdi." Together, he said, the two would "wipe away every tinge of oppression, pain and agony from the face of the world."
Dr. Ergun Mehmet Caner, president of Liberty Theological Seminary at Liberty University said be careful -- Ahmadinejad is sending a wake-up call to the West. The Jesus he's talking about is different from the Christian's conception of the Savior.
[...]
"A Shi'ite Muslim believes that Jesus never died -- he wasn't crucified, but was assumed into Paradise -- and that there will come a day when Allah sends Jesus back to Earth and He will meet up with the other one who the Shi'ia believe has not died, Al-Mahdi, and they, together, will fight the Anti-Christ.
"So, all of this preparation that Ahmadinejad talks about, is in preparation for Al-Mahdi to return. Al-Mahdi was a caliph in the 9th Century who they believe never died -- he's hiding in caves, waiting to return.
[...]
"We constantly run into people in the American republic who think that this is a political issue," he said, "that there is negotiation is involved. You cannot negotiate with those who see this as eschatology.
"For the Muslim, especially for those in Iran, and especially for the Shi'ia, this is prophecy. And it is incumbent upon them to prepare the Earth for the coming of Allah, and for the sending of Jesus."
[...]
"It's a wake-up call for politicians who think that all we need to do is negotiate," he said. "This is not going away."
Exactly what might Iran do to try to bring about the return of Jesus? Nuclear warfare would not be beyond the pale.
"There are words of Mohammed in the Qu'ran which teach that there is going to be 'a great fire,' " Caner said. "So the nuclear component of this for them has a prophetic dimension. Muslims see nuclear holocaust, nuclear warfare, as the bringing about of the end days -- 'the Glorious Days,' that Muslims refer to.
"They are not in this for negotiation, they are in it for the long haul -- and it is incumbent upon us to either take it up now, or it will come back to haunt us later.
[More at URL]
----- 10 -----
Let Time Know You Support Dr. Dobson
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM
Dec. 15, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
Gay-activist groups have mobilized to oppose an editorial in Time magazine written by Dr. James Dobson. Write the publication’s editors and let them know that you appreciate them publishing “Two Mommies Is One Too Many,” Dr. Dobson’s piece on why children “do best on every measure of well-being when raised by their married mother and father.”
You can read Dr. Dobson's Time editorial by clicking here
Homosexual-advocacy groups posted Internet and email alerts this week expressing “outrage” that Time published Dr. Dobson’s essay. Supporters of same-sex marriage, parenting and adoption are trying to challenge long-standing social science data that children do best with a married mother and father, claiming that newer research discredits these findings — a claim that many respected experts in this field reject. As part of this effort, gay activist organizations are asking their supporters to write Time and complain that Dr. Dobson’s essay is inaccurate.
In reality, Time editors fact-checked Dr. Dobson’s commentary before it was published and found it to be accurate.
So, what can you do to support Dr. Dobson and traditional families?
Write a brief, polite note (200 words or less) to the editors at Time and thank them for publishing the truth about parenting from Dr. Dobson. Thank them for allowing Dr. Dobson to share with the nation what gay activists don’t want anyone to know: Children do best when raised by their married mother and father.
E-mail your letter to the editor to letters@time.com
----- 11 -----
CWA Joins Brief in Support of FCC Indecency Rulings
Broadcasters fight ruling that programs were indecent.
Concerned Women for America
12/22/2006
By Cara Cook
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/12061/LEGAL/pornography/index.htm
Concerned Women for America (CWA) joined an amicus (friend-of-the-court) brief filed by the Parent's Television Council (PTC) in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York, supporting the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) ruling that two broadcasts violated the federal broadcast indecency laws. Focus on the Family, Citizens for Community Values, the American Family Association of Michigan, and the Illinois Family Institute also joined in the brief.
The two broadcasts in question were airings of the Billboard Awards that included profane language before 10:00 p.m., a time when millions of children are watching television.
"All the broadcasters had to do in order to fully comply with the law was to air these programs later in the evening-after 10:00 pm-or to 'bleep' profane words," reads the amicus brief. "But as they have done in the past, they chose instead not to abide by the law."
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
When Will Bisexuals Drag Homosexuals out of Polygamy Closet?
Homosexuals continue to push for marriage equality but 'resist' polygamy.
Concerned Women for America
12/22/2006
By Jan LaRue, Chief Counsel
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/12060/LEGAL/family/index.htm
In 1972 the National Coalition of Gay Organizations demanded the "repeal of all legislative provisions that restrict the sex or number of persons entering into a marriage unit; and the extension of legal benefits to all persons who cohabit regardless of sex or numbers." So why aren't homosexual activists leading the battle to legalize polygamy?
Maybe they're smart enough to understand the visceral reaction most of us would feel if we knew their goal and playbook. Maybe the rest of us would get our backs up if we stopped believing it's just about equal treatment of "two loving and committed same-sex couples."
Maybe a whole lot of us need to care more about morality and the greater good of society and children in particular than we do about our self-centered obsessions about how "fair" and "loving" we're perceived to be.
[...]
In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court dropped a cluster bomb in Lawrence v. Texas. For the first time in its history, a majority of the Court rejected morality as a legitimate justification for a state criminal law. The Court declared unconstitutional a Texas law that prohibited homosexual sodomy in the privacy of the home.
Same-sex "marriage" advocates condemned the "scare tactics" of those who sounded the alarm regarding the threat that Lawrence posed to state marriage laws, including polygamy. The Lawrence bomblets began detonating and continue.
Less than five months after Lawrence, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ordered the State Legislature to allow homosexuals to marry, favorably citing Lawrence.
[...]
Every homosexual organization claims to be fighting for the rights of bisexuals. For example, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the Association for Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Issues in Counseling (AGLBIC), the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund.
Lambda's "Mission Statement" states: "Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV thought impact litigation, educations and public policy work."
As a guest on Laura Ingraham's radio show a few years ago, I debated Evan Wolfson, former project director of Lambda Legal. Relying on Lambda's expressed concern for the rights of bisexuals, I challenged Wolfson to admit that legalizing same-sex marriage would lead to legalizing polygamy.
My questions, which Wolfson dismissed as a scare tactic, were: If polygamy isn't legalized, how will a bisexual marry just one person without denying his or her "bisexual orientation"? Otherwise, in order to marry, won't bisexuals have to make a gender choice in a spouse and then engage in adultery in order to fulfill who they are as bisexuals?
Wolfson, now director of Freedom to Marry, says in his book, Why Marriage Matters America, Equality, and Gay People's Right to Marry: "Civil unions.... are unequal in the security, clarity, and status they provide, unequal in the legal protections that flow from them, unequal in fact as well as in name-and names or words, of course, matter."
Wolfson is critical of the recent New Jersey Supreme Court ruling: "But I'm not satisfied because the high court opened the door to equality but didn't finish the job [because it referred the decision to the legislature]. There's only one way to provide equality and that is by equal treatment."
How long will bisexuals accept less than "equal treatment" while homosexuals continue to diss civil unions and push for the right to "marry" in other states? Who thinks bisexuals don't want the same "legitimacy," "acceptance" and "affirmation" for bisexual behavior that legalized polygamy will provide? How long will they wait for their homosexual "allies" to help them achieve the equal right to "marry" the persons of their choice?
[More at URL]
----- 13 -----
Time to Deck CBS
Network continues assault on decency and faith by mocking Christ's birth.
12/20/2006
By Jan LaRue, Chief Counsel
CBS has added sacrilege to the "War on Christmas."
"Joy to the World" is a beloved Christmas carol. Many don't realize that the hymn celebrates the second advent of Christ, when He shall reign as King of Kings, and not just His first advent as the lowly Babe of Bethlehem. He can be your Savior or your Judge, but there's no avoiding Him, and that includes the halls of CBS.
[...]
Instead of joining with 95 percent of Americans who celebrate Christmas, CBS used its broadcasting license, which is held in the public trust, to deck American homes with sacrilege.
On December 11, the CBS program "Two and a Half Men," a show with less than two cents worth of morals, www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3BYi_5QR48&eurl opened with its lead character, played by Charlie Sheen, lighting candles and singing a perverse parody of "Joy to the World":
When the FCC announced its intent to fine CBS for the infamous Janet Jackson 2004 Super Bowl indecent broadcast, CBS CEO Les Moonves called the fine "patently ridiculous" and said that the company was "not going to stand for it." CBS paid the fine under protest and has appealed the FCC ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. http://www.cwfa.org/articledisplay.asp?id=11279&department=LEGAL&categoryid=pornography
It's apparent that Moonves and CBS have no regard for decency or respect for the religious values of Americans.
[...]
It's time to tell CBS and the corporate sponsors of "Two and a Half Men" that when "men their songs employ" to mock and insult Christ, the "thorns of sin" have consequences.
Leslie Moonves, President and CEO, CBS Corporation, 51 W. 52nd St., New York, NY 10019; phone: 212-975-4321; e-mail: www.cbs.com. (Scroll to bottom of page and click on "feedback."
Sumner M. Redstone, is Chairman and CEO of National Amusements Inc., which owns MTV and 70 percent of CBS stock. Write to him at 200 Elm St., Dedham, MA 02026; phone: 781-461-1600.
[More at URL]
----- 14 -----
Global Warming Fanatics Warming Up to Evangelicals
What's the real tactic?
Concerned Women for America
12/19/2006
By Lindsay Randall
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/12033/CWA/misc/index.htm
The producer of a movie on global warming that is being shown in Evangelical churches has admitted she believes earth's true problem is too many people.
Karen Coshof, producer of "The Great Warming," said in a Cybercast News Service interview, "Population is the underlying problem - the catalyst for the whole thing, but we didn't get into that in the film. That is the underlying problem - too many people - all in competition for the same resource."
"The Great Warming" has been endorsed by Christian organizations such as the National Association of Evangelicals and prominent pastors. They find themselves in a strange camp aligned with organizations that promote population control, an ideology that considers human beings a blight on the earth rather than creative and resourceful individuals with unique worth.
One organization, the Sierra Club, states, "The 'population explosion' has severely disturbed the ecological relationships between human beings and the environment. It has caused an increasing scarcity of wilderness and wildlife and has impaired the beauty of whole regions, as well as reducing the standards and the quality of living. In recognition of the growing magnitude of this conservation issue, the Sierra Club supports a greatly increased program of education on the need for population control."
"Population control," the way to solve "overpopulation," is to reduce the number of people or depopulate the earth. China's brute policy of forced abortions, forced sterilization and infanticide is a prime example of population control. American scientist Eric Pianka has suggested releasing the Ebola virus to wipe out 90 percent of the population.
"It would likely be a surprise to Evangelicals to learn what is the true point of this movie," says Concerned Women for America President Wendy Wright. "Trying to convince Christians about global warming is merely a path to gaining approval for harsh policies that demean and destroy God's crowning creation, what the Earth was created to support."
[More at URL]
----- 15 -----
Why Is Wal-Mart Promoting Homosexuality?
A handout to protest Wal-Mart's promotion of homosexuality
Concerned Women for America
9/21/2006
By Sfaff
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/11548/CWA/family/index.htm
Millions of American families shop at Wal-Mart, which until now had a pro-family reputation. But recent events indicate that the company has chosen sides in the culture war, and is promoting homosexuality, including groups that favor “gay marriage.”
If this trend continues, employees who believe in God, marriage and traditional morality eventually will face discrimination.
Wal-Mart suppliers owned by people who hold traditional values will face loss of contracts if they don’t endorse immoral behavior.
[Link to anti-gay and anti-Wal-Mart flyer: http://www.cwfa.org/images/content/wal-martflyer.pdf ]
----- 16 -----
New Jersey Outrage!
New Jersey Legislature gives marriage rights to homosexuals
Concerned Women for America
12/19/2006
By Mike Mears, Director of State Legislative Relat
http://www.cwfa.org/articledisplay.asp?id=12032&department=CWA&categoryid=family
Seven weeks ago, New Jersey's Supreme Court ruled 7-0 that "gay" couples are constitutionally guaranteed the benefits of marriage. Three concurring justices wanted to give homosexuals the right to marry. However, the majority gave legislators six months to give same-sex couples all of the benefits of marriage, leaving it up to the legislators to decide whether to call it marriage or something else.
On Thursday, December 14, the New Jersey Legislature chose to give homosexuals the substitute – “civil unions” (marriage by another name).
Gov. Jon S. Corzine pushed the legislature to give homosexuals counterfeit marriage in the form of civil unions. Despite the efforts of pro-family groups, the measure passed 56-19 in the Assembly and 23-12 in the Senate. An amendment tacked onto the measure which would have defined marriage between a man and a woman failed.
[...]
Other pro-family leaders joined CWA in condemning this bill, which is likely to be signed by the governor within the next year.
Robert Knight, Director of the Media Research Center’s Culture & Media Institute and until recently a CWA expert , told the Los Angeles Times, “This is a social wrecking ball. [New Jersey lawmakers] have told the world that marriage no longer matters.”
In a related matter, Pastor Vincent Fields, who leads Greater Works Ministries in Absecon, New Jersey, was reportedly banned from the New Jersey Senate for denouncing same-sex marriage from the floor of the chamber last Monday. During his prayer before the legislative body he “cursed the spirit that would come to bring about gay marriage.” Reportedly, Senate President Richard Codey has banned Pastor Fields from praying in the chamber again, but according to published reports, Fields has yet to hear from Codey personally.
[More at URL]
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Naughty and Nice List Returns for Christmas 2006
CWA is making a list and checking it twice.
Updated 12/13/06
Concerned Women for America
By Martha Kleder
http://www.cwfa.org/articledisplay.asp?id=11904&department=CWA&categoryid=family
Many retailers learned the hard way last year that it just doesn't pay to mess with Christmas. Target, Wal-Mart, Macy's and Sears are among the stores that made a mid-season shift from the generic "Happy Holidays" to "Merry Christmas." Concerned Women for America's Naughty and Nice list kicks off the 2006 Christmas season with many stores - previously on the "Naughty list" or in the ambiguous middle - now squarely in the "Nice" category.
"We learned our lesson from last year that the majority of people wanted to hear us say 'Christmas,' and we're saying 'Merry Christmas' this year, but not to the exclusion of the other holidays," Wal-Mart Senior Vice-President Julie Roehm told "NBC Nightly News."
[...]
----- 18 -----
Gay demands shift from equality to special endorsement
By Michael Medved
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMedved/2006/12/06/gay_demands_shift_from_equality_to_special_endorsement
In current debates over gay relationships and their position in society, we’ve moved beyond a plea for acceptance and equality to an increasingly strident claim of homosexual superiority and a demand for special status and endorsement.
In a recent syndicated column about Pastor Ted Haggard, the former head of the National Association of Evangelicals who confessed to a three year affair with a gay, drug-dealing prostitute, Ellen Goodman wrote of “people who heard a man wounded by the culture of demonization. Their sympathy was for a man primed for repression and deception by the teaching of homosexuality as a sin… More gays, more friends, families, co-workers have come to believe that gayness is not a choice, let alone a sin.”
In other words, some tender-hearted Americans feel ready to forgive, even to embrace, a religious leader who routinely paid a sex-for-hire hustler to cheat in a Denver hotel room on his wife and five kids while getting high on illegal and dangerous methamphetamines. Try to imagine that Haggard had engaged in his extra-marital adventures with a female hooker, rather than a middle-aged call boy. Would anyone have come forward to express “sympathy” for the man or to view him as a sad victim of “repression”?
[...]
One of the most common arguments for gay marriage also carries with it the implicit assumption that gay relationships count as inherently superior, more durable and more meaningful than their straight counterparts. Andrew Sullivan and many others advocate governmental endorsement of same sex marriage as a means of encouraging more responsible, monogamous behavior on the part of gay males, with their acknowledged tendencies toward promiscuity as part of the notorious and dysfunctional “bath house-and-leather bars” culture. In other words, all that homosexual guys need in order to give up lives of often reckless recreational sex is the right to a wedding license and a traditional marriage.
[More at URL]
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Babies Reportedly Being Killed for Stem Cells in the Ukraine
Concerned Women for America
12/20/2006
By Amelia Wigton
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/12046/CWA/life/index.htm
Live, healthy babies are reportedly being taken from their mothers and killed for their stem cells
Disturbing new information has surfaced in the Ukraine where live, healthy babies are reportedly being taken from their mothers and killed for their stem cells.
Up to 300 families are coming forward with charges alleging that their babies were actually stolen from them during stays in a Ukrainian hospital.
The Ukraine has gained a reputation as the center of international trade for stem cells. According to reports, stem cells have been taken from aborted fetuses in the country, but because of the large demand, babies being born alive have become targets.
One story of Dimitry and Olena Stulnev is tragic and disturbing. Olena went to Maternity Hospital Number Six to have her baby, but did not leave the hospital with the little girl that she went to deliver.
[More at URL]
----- 20 -----
CBS, Charlie Sheen bash Christ, Christmas and Christians
Charlie Sheen makes Joy to the World into a cheap sex song
American Family Association
December 13, 2006
http://www.afa.net/aa121306.htm
CBS and actor Charlie Sheen have used the Christmas season to ridicule and mock Christ, Christmas and Christians. CBS approved actor Charlie Sheen’s vulgar adaptation of a favorite Christian Christmas carol. On the December 11 program, the network included in their Two and a Half Men an episode featuring Sheen singing about his sexual activity to the tune of the traditional Christmas hymn "Joy to the World."
CBS and Sheen knew that the lyrics would greatly offend Christians, but did not hesitate to air them. Click here to see the episode on CBS.
The episode opens with series star Charlie (Sheen) singing:
“Joy to the world, I’m getting laid; I’m getting laid tonight. We’ll light the yule log, deck the halls, and then we’ll play some jingle balls. It’s been a real long wait – this is our second date! It’s Christmas Eve and I’m getting laid.”
His housekeeper/cook comes in and asks:
“Hey, I’m mixing up the egg nog. You want this broad lit up or just slightly glowing?” “Well,” Charlie says, “let’s see, we’re celebrating peace on earth and good will towards all mankind, so let’s get ‘er plowed!” “Hallelujah!” says the cook.
Charlie returns to singing, “Glo-oh-oh-oh-oh-ria, tonight I’m boinking Gloria!” CBS punctuates every single line with a laugh track.
Take Action
Such actions send a signal from CBS and Hollywood: “It’s ok to bash Christians, their religion and their God.” If you are tired of this bigotry from CBS and Hollywood, please take action and then forward this to your friends and family.
Click here to send an email to CBS.
Forward this to your friends and family.
[More at URL]
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Sears Supports Homosexual TV Network With Advertising
Two-minute infomercials sponsored explicitly by Sears helps keep the homosexual network on the air.
American Family Association
December 7, 2006
http://www.afa.net/aa120806.asp
Sears has thrown its support to the LOGO network. LOGO is the 24-hour cable television network dedicated to programming for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders according to a homosexual advertising website. It is carried on many cable systems around the country. Many of you have been forced to accept it as part of your cable package. Sears is now helping to make it mainstream!
Sear's advertising will help LOGO air shows like "Sex 2K Drag Kings," "The Gayest and Greatest of 2006," and "Transgeneration."
Sears advertising (two-minute infomercials) will go to help the fledging network get on firm financial ground. Sears advertising is financing LOGO's push to legalize homosexual marriage in addition to promoting the homosexual lifestyle.
Sears is owned by Kmart Corporation.
Take Action
1. Send an email to Sears asking them to cancel their advertising on LOGO.
2. Call your local Sears store and ask why Sears is supporting the homosexual network with its advertising.
3. Forward this email to your friends and family.
Click Here to Send Your Email to Sears Now!
[More at URL]
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Pro-Family Advocates Cast Doubt on Guttmacher's Reported Premarital Sex Stats
By Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
American Family Association/Agape Press
December 21, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/12/afa/212006a.asp
(AgapePress) - A pro-family group is expressing skepticism about the accuracy of a new report that says 95 percent of Americans have had premarital sex. A study by Lawrence Finer of the Alan Guttmacher Institute finds that 99 percent of Americans had sex by the age of 44, and 95 percent had done so before getting married.
The "reality-check research," as Finer calls it, was based on interviews of more than 38,000 people, some 33,000 of them women, in 1982, 1988, 1995 and 2002 for the federal National Survey on Family Growth. The study purportedly examined how sexual behavior before marriage has changed over time. According to Finer's analysis, even among those individuals who abstained from sex until at least age 20, four-fifths had had premarital sex by age 44. The study also found women, even those born decades ago, virtually as likely as men to engage in premarital sex.
An Associated Press report on the study quotes Finer as saying that the likelihood of Americans having sex before marriage has remained stable since the 1950s. In other words, the researcher claims premarital sex is "normal behavior for the vast majority of Americans, and has been for decades."
[More at URL]
----- 23 -----
The Right Frame of Mind
Wanted: More Ministers Like Vincent Fields
By Rev. Mark H. Creech
American Family Association/Agape Press
December 21, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/12/afa/212006mc.asp
(AgapePress) - Not since Joe Wright's prayer in 1996 before the Kansas House in Topeka, where the faithful pastor confessed America had "inverted values" and listed them by name, has there been a more powerful prayer offered before lawmakers. Last week, Vincent Fields, minister of Greater Works Ministries in New Jersey, delivered the invocation before the New Jersey Senate, praying: "We curse the spirit that would come to bring about same-sex marriage. We ask You to just look over this place today, cause them to be shaken in their very heart in uprightness, Lord, to do what is right before You." [1]
Fields delivered his invocation on a day when the New Jersey Senate was considering a bill that would grant civil unions to same-sex couples. He said he didn't intend to say anything about gay marriage, but "[t]he Holy Spirit took over." Fields was unapologetic about his prayer, arguing: "We're living in a time now where we've got to take a stand spiritually. We're literally setting ourselves up for God to turn His back on us, and if we do, we'll have the chaos of other countries, in this country." [2]
Would that all of America's pastors were like Vincent Fields -- spiritual leaders who provide a moral compass for the nation; clergy who are bold enough to say with the prophets of old, "Thus saith the Lord." Yet a recent study conducted by Ellison Research determined "only 6 percent of clergy and only 11 percent of lay church members said they feel their own church is 'very involved in local politics or political issues.'" [3]
[More at URL]
----- 24 -----
'Exported' Strategy Falls Flat in Irish Lesbians' Marriage Case
By Ed Thomas and Fred Jackson
American Family Association/Agape Press
December 21, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/12/afa/212006b.asp
(AgapePress) - An attorney for a pro-family First Amendment law firm says a decision by the High Court of Ireland rejecting recognition of same-sex "marriage" was affirmed on several points similar to those in U.S. law -- and defused a strategy that's now being explored outside of America.
Ireland's High Court last week rejected a bid by a legally married lesbian couple to have that marriage recognized in Ireland. The two women were legally married in Canada and subsequently returned to their home in Ireland to argue that, because homosexual marriage is internationally accepted, the Irish marriage law should be re-evaluated.
But Justice Elizabeth Dunne rejected that argument, saying marriage was understood under the 1937 Irish Constitution to be confined to persons of the opposite sex. She further stated that "having regard to the clear understanding of the meaning of marriage in the numerous authorities opened to the court ... I do not see how marriage can be redefined by the court to encompass same-sex marriage."
In her 138-page ruling, Justice Dunne also expressed concern about the effect of same-sex marriage on children, saying the lack of conclusive research into the results of homosexual parenting made it necessary to reserve judgment on the issue.
[More at URL]
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Matt Barber Appointed CWA Policy Director
December 21, 2006 08:45 AM EST
http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/21335.html
By Sher Zieve – The Conservative Voice’s columnist Matt Barber has been appointed the Policy Director on Cultural Issues for Concerned Women for America (CWA). Barber’s duties will focus on cultural trends that impact the family and specifically the homosexual agenda.
[More at URL]
spazzkat;Kansas Atty. General Kline's fishing expedition attempt to find ways to charge a Kansas abortion provider with felony charges collapses - all of the charges he filed have been summarily thrown out; Operation Rescue alleges bribery;
Focus on the Family calls New York City's declining birthrate "shameful";
FotF condemns study showing that most people have sex before getting married, calls it "the condom cartel's attempt at normalizing out-of-wedlock sexual behavior," and says, "Just because everyone is doing it doesn’t make it OK";
FotF condemns transgendered Massachusetts teacher over comments made in class;
FotF short article noting New Jersey's new Civil Unions law; they don't like it;
FotF reprints James Dobson's screed against Mary Cheney and Heather Poe having a child; what's notible here is how they mix apple-and-orange statistics to "prove" a point; what they're doing here is comparing studies that show two-parent families have better outcomes to one-parent families, and then pretending a lesbian or gay couple is a single-parent family, and assigning the one-parent family statistics to the lesbian or gay parent family. It's invalid as all hell, but it doesn't stop them from doing it;
FotF article attacking the Smithsonian Institution; they claim it harassed an "intelligent design" supporter; he's claiming religious discrimination and that they're out to get him for being a Christian;
Focus on the Family: Iranian Shi'a Muslims are working to bring back Christ by starting a nuclear war, says that no negotiations can happen with Iran;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM to write Time Magazine supporting James Dobson's article against Mary Cheney's family;
Concerned Women for America files amicus brief in support of FCC "indecency" action against stations carrying the Billboard Awards - apparently somebody said some naughty words;
CWA finally acknowledges bisexual people exist - sort of, as a tool to connect same-sex marriage rights to polygamy; the article's rather red-meat for something in text form - normally these days they're saving the special stuff for audio only;
CWA ACTION ITEM demands action against CBS and CBS advertisers for "mocking Christ's birth" - a sitcom character did a little sing-song about getting laid to the tune of "Joy to the World" and they're pissed off, accusing CBS of sacrilege;
CWA: "Global warming fanatics" want to depopulate the earth and "demean and destroy God's crowning creation," which is to say, humanity; interestingly, what triggered the article is evangelical groups getting involved in addressing global warming issues;
CWA article "New Jersey Outrage!" against civil unions in NJ ("marriage by another name"); they're also pissed off that the guest preacher brought in for one of the daily ceremonial prayers "cursed the spirit that would come to bring about gay marriage" and apparently isn't going to be invited back;
CWA updates its list of holiday-correct companies;
Michael Medved column says that having sympathy for Rev. Ted Haggard (or other gay men who got shoved out of the closet through embarrassing means) is proof that queers what special endorsement, not equality; as someone who blogged about her complete lack of sympathy, I guess I'm not in that camp, then - but Andrew Sullivan (who opposes even ENDA) and James Dobson (of Focus on the Family) both are. Oh, also, he claims that wanting marriage equality "carries with it the implicit assumption that gay relationships count as inherently superior, more durable and more meaningful than their straight counterparts"; why didn't this guy stick to writing good books about bad movies? Really, though, the main intended target is Andrew Sullivan;
CWA says babies are being dismembered in Ukraine for stem cells. If this is true, it would be horrific, because, you know, babies being sliced up. However, given their track record, my immediate suspicion is always that it's propaganda. It doesn't help that both of their linked sources are... themselves. One is a link back to the same article, with a slightly different URL. Leaving that aside, there's this huge problem with this story: You don't get embryonic stem cells from newborns. There are changes that are made to the DNA in the cells around week four (iirc) that make the resulting cells no longer totipotent. (Methyl groups get added, I forget what else.) Totipotency is the difference between embryonic stem cells and so-called "adult" (or "blood") stem cells, and that's why you can't do the same tricks with "adult" stem cells that you can with "embryonic" stem cells, and are why this debate matters;
American Family Association ACTION ITEM against CBS and Charlie Sheen for the "Joy to the World" sing-song about getting laid;
AFA ACTION ITEM against Sears for advertising on LOGO, the cable-carried GBLT channel; they again repeat the assertion that advertising in GBLT media is "financing [a] push to legalize homosexual marriage," which ties to their assertion that doing business with GBLT people does the same, which ties back to "staying neutral in the culture wars" means not doing business with queers;
AFA/Agape Press condemns study showing that almost everybody has sex before marriage;
AFA/Agape Press column supporting anti-gay New Jersey preacher who delivered a ceremonial opening prayer before the state legislature condemning GBLT civil unions;
Ireland declines to recognise foreign same-sex marriage license; AFA is pleased;
Concerned Women for America hires Matt Barber to be their Policy Director, particularly to focus on anti-gay actions; he joins long-time Concerned Women for America "Culture and Family Institute" head Robert Knight as spearheading the anti-gay activities of CWA.
----- 1 -----
"War on Christmas" pays off for some religious groups
By Stephanie Simon
Los Angeles Times
Saturday, December 23, 2006
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003491751_wars23.html
The "War on Christmas" never has been so profitable.
For the fourth consecutive year, conservative Christian groups have spent much of December mobilizing against what they see as a liberal plot to censor Christmas.
But it's more than a cause this year. It's a heck of a fundraiser.
The American Family Association, a conservative activist group, has rung up more than $550,000 in sales of buttons and magnets stamped with the slogan "Merry CHRISTmas: It's Worth Saying."
Liberty Counsel, a nonprofit law firm affiliated with the religious right, has taken in more than $300,000 with its "Help Save Christmas Action Packs."
The kits include two buttons, two bumper stickers and "The Memo that Saved Christmas," a guide to defending overt religious expression, such as a Nativity scene in a public-school classroom.
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
Tiller Escapes Charges of Performing Illegal Late-Term Abortions
Focus on the Family
12-22-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003508.cfm
Just one day after Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline filed criminal charges against a Wichita abortionist for performing illegal late-term abortions, the county district attorney successfully moved to have all 30 charges dropped.
The charges against George Tiller stem from an investigation by Kline spanning several years. In 2004, Kline requested to see abortion records from two clinics in order to determine whether they contained evidence of criminal activity. Kline was looking for an indication that clinics failed to report the abuse of minors or whether they performed illegal late-term abortions.
Last month, Kline obtained the abortion records of 90 patients from the clinics. It was from a review of those records Kline determined there was sufficient evidence to press charges against Tiller.
[...]
"This is a classic example of why justice cannot be done in this state because so many officials have ties to George Tiller," he said. "Money buys a lot of favors here. This miscarriage of justice must not be allowed to stand."
[More at URL]
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Abortions Slash New York City's Birth Rate
Focus on the Family
12-22-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000003509.cfm
The number of babies born in New York City declined 8 percent in 2005 compared to just one year earlier -- with teen births dropping at an even more significant rate -- a statistic family advocates attribute in part to the city's high abortion rate, The New York Sun reported.
According to New York City's annual vital statistics report, 122,725 babies were born in 2005 -- 1,374 fewer than the previous year. For those younger than 20, births have declined steadily since 1992, when 13,795 of the 136,002 newborns were birthed by teen mothers. In 2005 those under 20 were responsible just 8,579 of the total births.
[More at URL]
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Agenda Clear in Premarital Sex Survey
Pro-family experts dispute findings, conclusions of report that seeks to normalize unhealthy sexual behavior.
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
Focus on the Family
December 21, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
Family advocates are questioning the results of – and the agenda behind – a survey released this week by the Guttmacher Institute claiming that 95 percent of Americans have engaged in sex outside of marriage.
The study, published in Public Health Reports, purported to examine how sexual behavior before marriage has changed over time. It is based on interviews with more than 38,000 people over two decades for the federal National Survey of Family Growth.
According to Lawrence Finer, author of the study, 99 percent of the respondents reported having had sex by age 44, and 95 percent reported having had sex outside of marriage. Among a subgroup that did not engage in sexual activity until at least age 20, four-fifths reported having premarital sex by age 44.
"This is reality-check research," Finer said. "Premarital sex is normal behavior for the vast majority of Americans, and has been for decades."
The results, he added, call into question whether the federal government should fund abstinence-only-until-marriage programs for 12- to 29-year-olds.
But Linda Klepacki, analyst for sexual health at Focus on the Family Action, said the motive behind the Guttmacher report is suspect, especially given the group’s close affiliation with Planned Parenthood.
"This is the condom cartel's attempt at normalizing out-of-wedlock sexual behavior," she said. "This is one in a series of documents that is designed to set the battle lines for January's congressional battles over (funding for) sex education."
Glenn Stanton, senior analyst for marriage and sexuality at Focus on the Family, questioned the method used to collect the data.
"These numbers seem a little high to me," he said. "Additionally, what they don’t tell us is how active people were before marriage. Were most of these encounters among people who were engaged or were they simply casual hook-ups? We don't know."
More than anything, though, Stanton is distressed by the author’s implication that since so many people are doing it, it must be fine.
"What did each one of our mothers tell us?" he asked. "Just because everyone is doing it doesn’t make it OK."
Dr. Bill Maier, psychologist in residence at Focus on the Family, confirmed Stanton’s -- and his mother’s -- sentiments.
"The fact that a high percentage of individuals are engaging in a particular behavior doesn’t indicate that it’s healthy or wise," he said. "Sixty-one percent of American adults are overweight or obese — but just because most people are eating high-fat foods and not exercising doesn’t mean we should encourage our kids to embrace obesity."
Stanton said the study ignores consistent research findings over the last few decades that prove the most sexually satisfied people today are faithfully married men and women who come to marriage with no previous sexual experience.
"What is more, sexual satisfaction tends to decline along with an increase in the number of different sexual partners one has had in a lifetime," Stanton noted. "In sex, practice doesn't make perfect -- at least with different partners."
Finer’s assertion that schools should forgo abstinence education and simply teach "safe-sex" practices because premarital sex is normal, expected behavior, Klepacki said, is not the way to protect teens and young adults.
"We have an epidemic of STIs (sexually transmitted infections) in this country -- especially in the teen population," she said. "We should be doing everything we can to prevent sexual behavior in our teens."
Maier said Planned Parenthood and its colleagues at the Guttmacher Institute have a responsibility to give teens all the facts about premarital sex.
"Condoms don’t protect against all sexuality transmitted diseases," he said. They don’t protect against the psychological ramifications of premarital sex, either, Maier added.
"Girls who are sexually active experience a higher incidence of clinical depression," he said, "and women who’ve had multiple sexual partners report the highest levels of sexual dysfunction."
Klepacki added that is exactly why abstinence-until-marriage education is vital to the well-being of the nation’s youth.
"We want every child to be able to work toward their future goals and dreams," she said, "without illness impeding those efforts."
----- 5 -----
Teacher Says Transgenderism a Viable Lifestyle
Third-graders in Newton, Mass., disturbed by discussion.
Focus on the Family
from staff reports
December 21, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
A teacher in a Newton, Mass., elementary school has come under fire from parents for telling her third-grade class that transgenderism is a viable lifestyle choice for some people.
The teacher’s comments came after one student stood up in class and said that
"some men like to become women."
Parents have been understandably upset with the teacher and the school. Tom Mountain, a columnist with the Newton Tab, said the teacher’s statement had a harmful effect on the kids.
"Parents were remarking that (their children) had nightmares at night, they couldn’t sleep," he told Family News in Focus. "One little girl told her mother that she was scared that her little sister could turn into a boy. Other kids expressed to the parents that their daddies could become women and they still want to keep their daddies."
But Newton educators dismissed the concerns and explained that the class discussion was a "teachable moment," meaning they don’t have to inform parents or apologize for covering such disturbing topics. Brian Camenker, president of Mass Resistance, said some parents are pulling their kids out of school because of the mindset that what students learn in the classroom is none of mom’s or dad’s business.
"That attitude is just horrific," he said. "I’m sure it has a lot to do with the gay marriage issue going on in Massachusetts -- and we’ve seen it around the state -- but it’s getting worse."
One parent is suing Newton schools over its pro-homosexual curriculum. But Camenker said such incidents will remain confined to his state.
"People around the country need to understand that this is going to happen to them," he explained. "It’s not going to stop in Massachusetts --and they need to start getting active."
----- 6 -----
Civil Unions Legal in New Jersey on Feb. 19
Focus on the Family
December 21, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
New Jersey became the fifth state in the nation today to extend the rights of marriage to homosexual couples when Gov. Jon Corzine signed into law a civil-unions bill passed by the Legislature a week ago.
When the measure takes effect Feb. 19, the Garden State will join Connecticut and Vermont in recognizing same-sex civil unions, while Massachusetts has legalized gay marriage and California allows domestic partnerships granting homosexuals full marriage rights.
The Legislature’s action came after being ordered by the state’s Supreme Court to create some arrangement for homosexual couples to enjoy the same benefits as marriage, arguing that not doing so was unconstitutional.
----- 7 -----
Two Mommies Is One Too Many
Mary Cheney is starting a family. Let's hope she doesn't start a trend.
by James C. Dobson Ph.D.
12-14-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/clcommentary/A000003415.cfm
A number of social conservatives, myself included, have recently been asked to respond to the news that Mary Cheney, the Vice President's daughter, is pregnant with a child she intends to raise with her lesbian partner. Implicit in this issue is an effort to get us to criticize the Bush Administration or the Cheney family. But the concern here has nothing to do with politics. It is about what kind of family environment is best for the health and development of children, and, by extension, the nation at large.
With all due respect to Cheney and her partner, Heather Poe, the majority of more than 30 years of social-science evidence indicates that children do best on every measure of well-being when raised by their married mother and father. That is not to say Cheney and Poe will not love their child. But love alone is not enough to guarantee healthy growth and development. The two most loving women in the world cannot provide a daddy for a little boy—any more than the two most loving men can be complete role models for a little girl.
[More at URL]
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Smithsonian Slams Door on Intelligent Design
Government report finds museum harassed scientist for publishing article on suggesting life is not the result of random chance
from staff reports
12-20-06
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000003480.cfm
How far will some scientists go to keep the idea of intelligent design (ID) from seeing the light of day? Consider the case of a Smithsonian Institution scientist who has been harassed by museum officials for two years for publishing an article supporting ID.
Ironically enough, Dr. Richard Sternberg is not even a proponent of the theory that life sprang from something other than random chance -- yet he has been demoted and his reputation smeared.
His crime? As managing editor of a biology journal, he published an article by Dr. Steven Meyer supporting ID. Sternberg’s colleagues didn’t like it.
“What I should have done, according to my detractors,” Sternberg said, “was I should have paid attention to who the author was, what he stands for, realize that he is a Christian and place the article in the wastepaper basket.”
[More at URL]
----- 9 -----
Iranian President Issues 'Troubling' Greeting to Christians
Speech filled with references to prophecy -- not politics -- expert says.
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
12-20-2006
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000003486.cfm
In a surprise move, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Tuesday wished "all Christians happiness and prosperity on the occasion of the birth of the Christ," according to the Iranian Students News Agency.
But a Christian expert on Islam says we should not take the Muslim leader's statement as just a strange type of Christmas greeting -- but as a very serious theological pronouncement.
During the first part of his speech, the Muslim radical turned president referred to Jesus Christ in a way which seemed almost reverential.
"To guide mankind, Jesus offered all his love and sacrificed all his being," Ahmadinejad said. "He tolerated all the misunderstandings, the insults, pressures, agonies and imposition of all those around him. He was drawn into isolation and bore all this pain just to carry out his divine mission.
But the self-professed enemy of the U.S. took a very strange turn.
"I wish all the Christians a very happy new year," he said, "and I wish to ask them a question as well. My one question from the Christians is: What would Jesus do if he were present in the world today? What would he do before some of the oppressive powers of the world who are in fact residing in Christian countries? Which powers would he revive and which of them would he destroy? If Jesus were present today, who would be facing him and who would be following him?"
Ahamdinejad also called for the return of Jesus along with, as he put it, "the emergence of the descendant of the Islam's Holy Prophet, Imam Mahdi." Together, he said, the two would "wipe away every tinge of oppression, pain and agony from the face of the world."
Dr. Ergun Mehmet Caner, president of Liberty Theological Seminary at Liberty University said be careful -- Ahmadinejad is sending a wake-up call to the West. The Jesus he's talking about is different from the Christian's conception of the Savior.
[...]
"A Shi'ite Muslim believes that Jesus never died -- he wasn't crucified, but was assumed into Paradise -- and that there will come a day when Allah sends Jesus back to Earth and He will meet up with the other one who the Shi'ia believe has not died, Al-Mahdi, and they, together, will fight the Anti-Christ.
"So, all of this preparation that Ahmadinejad talks about, is in preparation for Al-Mahdi to return. Al-Mahdi was a caliph in the 9th Century who they believe never died -- he's hiding in caves, waiting to return.
[...]
"We constantly run into people in the American republic who think that this is a political issue," he said, "that there is negotiation is involved. You cannot negotiate with those who see this as eschatology.
"For the Muslim, especially for those in Iran, and especially for the Shi'ia, this is prophecy. And it is incumbent upon them to prepare the Earth for the coming of Allah, and for the sending of Jesus."
[...]
"It's a wake-up call for politicians who think that all we need to do is negotiate," he said. "This is not going away."
Exactly what might Iran do to try to bring about the return of Jesus? Nuclear warfare would not be beyond the pale.
"There are words of Mohammed in the Qu'ran which teach that there is going to be 'a great fire,' " Caner said. "So the nuclear component of this for them has a prophetic dimension. Muslims see nuclear holocaust, nuclear warfare, as the bringing about of the end days -- 'the Glorious Days,' that Muslims refer to.
"They are not in this for negotiation, they are in it for the long haul -- and it is incumbent upon us to either take it up now, or it will come back to haunt us later.
[More at URL]
----- 10 -----
Let Time Know You Support Dr. Dobson
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM
Dec. 15, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
Gay-activist groups have mobilized to oppose an editorial in Time magazine written by Dr. James Dobson. Write the publication’s editors and let them know that you appreciate them publishing “Two Mommies Is One Too Many,” Dr. Dobson’s piece on why children “do best on every measure of well-being when raised by their married mother and father.”
You can read Dr. Dobson's Time editorial by clicking here
Homosexual-advocacy groups posted Internet and email alerts this week expressing “outrage” that Time published Dr. Dobson’s essay. Supporters of same-sex marriage, parenting and adoption are trying to challenge long-standing social science data that children do best with a married mother and father, claiming that newer research discredits these findings — a claim that many respected experts in this field reject. As part of this effort, gay activist organizations are asking their supporters to write Time and complain that Dr. Dobson’s essay is inaccurate.
In reality, Time editors fact-checked Dr. Dobson’s commentary before it was published and found it to be accurate.
So, what can you do to support Dr. Dobson and traditional families?
Write a brief, polite note (200 words or less) to the editors at Time and thank them for publishing the truth about parenting from Dr. Dobson. Thank them for allowing Dr. Dobson to share with the nation what gay activists don’t want anyone to know: Children do best when raised by their married mother and father.
E-mail your letter to the editor to letters@time.com
----- 11 -----
CWA Joins Brief in Support of FCC Indecency Rulings
Broadcasters fight ruling that programs were indecent.
Concerned Women for America
12/22/2006
By Cara Cook
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/12061/LEGAL/pornography/index.htm
Concerned Women for America (CWA) joined an amicus (friend-of-the-court) brief filed by the Parent's Television Council (PTC) in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York, supporting the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) ruling that two broadcasts violated the federal broadcast indecency laws. Focus on the Family, Citizens for Community Values, the American Family Association of Michigan, and the Illinois Family Institute also joined in the brief.
The two broadcasts in question were airings of the Billboard Awards that included profane language before 10:00 p.m., a time when millions of children are watching television.
"All the broadcasters had to do in order to fully comply with the law was to air these programs later in the evening-after 10:00 pm-or to 'bleep' profane words," reads the amicus brief. "But as they have done in the past, they chose instead not to abide by the law."
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
When Will Bisexuals Drag Homosexuals out of Polygamy Closet?
Homosexuals continue to push for marriage equality but 'resist' polygamy.
Concerned Women for America
12/22/2006
By Jan LaRue, Chief Counsel
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/12060/LEGAL/family/index.htm
In 1972 the National Coalition of Gay Organizations demanded the "repeal of all legislative provisions that restrict the sex or number of persons entering into a marriage unit; and the extension of legal benefits to all persons who cohabit regardless of sex or numbers." So why aren't homosexual activists leading the battle to legalize polygamy?
Maybe they're smart enough to understand the visceral reaction most of us would feel if we knew their goal and playbook. Maybe the rest of us would get our backs up if we stopped believing it's just about equal treatment of "two loving and committed same-sex couples."
Maybe a whole lot of us need to care more about morality and the greater good of society and children in particular than we do about our self-centered obsessions about how "fair" and "loving" we're perceived to be.
[...]
In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court dropped a cluster bomb in Lawrence v. Texas. For the first time in its history, a majority of the Court rejected morality as a legitimate justification for a state criminal law. The Court declared unconstitutional a Texas law that prohibited homosexual sodomy in the privacy of the home.
Same-sex "marriage" advocates condemned the "scare tactics" of those who sounded the alarm regarding the threat that Lawrence posed to state marriage laws, including polygamy. The Lawrence bomblets began detonating and continue.
Less than five months after Lawrence, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ordered the State Legislature to allow homosexuals to marry, favorably citing Lawrence.
[...]
Every homosexual organization claims to be fighting for the rights of bisexuals. For example, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the Association for Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Issues in Counseling (AGLBIC), the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund.
Lambda's "Mission Statement" states: "Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV thought impact litigation, educations and public policy work."
As a guest on Laura Ingraham's radio show a few years ago, I debated Evan Wolfson, former project director of Lambda Legal. Relying on Lambda's expressed concern for the rights of bisexuals, I challenged Wolfson to admit that legalizing same-sex marriage would lead to legalizing polygamy.
My questions, which Wolfson dismissed as a scare tactic, were: If polygamy isn't legalized, how will a bisexual marry just one person without denying his or her "bisexual orientation"? Otherwise, in order to marry, won't bisexuals have to make a gender choice in a spouse and then engage in adultery in order to fulfill who they are as bisexuals?
Wolfson, now director of Freedom to Marry, says in his book, Why Marriage Matters America, Equality, and Gay People's Right to Marry: "Civil unions.... are unequal in the security, clarity, and status they provide, unequal in the legal protections that flow from them, unequal in fact as well as in name-and names or words, of course, matter."
Wolfson is critical of the recent New Jersey Supreme Court ruling: "But I'm not satisfied because the high court opened the door to equality but didn't finish the job [because it referred the decision to the legislature]. There's only one way to provide equality and that is by equal treatment."
How long will bisexuals accept less than "equal treatment" while homosexuals continue to diss civil unions and push for the right to "marry" in other states? Who thinks bisexuals don't want the same "legitimacy," "acceptance" and "affirmation" for bisexual behavior that legalized polygamy will provide? How long will they wait for their homosexual "allies" to help them achieve the equal right to "marry" the persons of their choice?
[More at URL]
----- 13 -----
Time to Deck CBS
Network continues assault on decency and faith by mocking Christ's birth.
12/20/2006
By Jan LaRue, Chief Counsel
CBS has added sacrilege to the "War on Christmas."
"Joy to the World" is a beloved Christmas carol. Many don't realize that the hymn celebrates the second advent of Christ, when He shall reign as King of Kings, and not just His first advent as the lowly Babe of Bethlehem. He can be your Savior or your Judge, but there's no avoiding Him, and that includes the halls of CBS.
[...]
Instead of joining with 95 percent of Americans who celebrate Christmas, CBS used its broadcasting license, which is held in the public trust, to deck American homes with sacrilege.
On December 11, the CBS program "Two and a Half Men," a show with less than two cents worth of morals, www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3BYi_5QR48&eurl opened with its lead character, played by Charlie Sheen, lighting candles and singing a perverse parody of "Joy to the World":
Joy to the world,[...]
I'm getting laid.
I'm getting laid tonight.
When the FCC announced its intent to fine CBS for the infamous Janet Jackson 2004 Super Bowl indecent broadcast, CBS CEO Les Moonves called the fine "patently ridiculous" and said that the company was "not going to stand for it." CBS paid the fine under protest and has appealed the FCC ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. http://www.cwfa.org/articledisplay.asp?id=11279&department=LEGAL&categoryid=pornography
It's apparent that Moonves and CBS have no regard for decency or respect for the religious values of Americans.
[...]
It's time to tell CBS and the corporate sponsors of "Two and a Half Men" that when "men their songs employ" to mock and insult Christ, the "thorns of sin" have consequences.
Leslie Moonves, President and CEO, CBS Corporation, 51 W. 52nd St., New York, NY 10019; phone: 212-975-4321; e-mail: www.cbs.com. (Scroll to bottom of page and click on "feedback."
Sumner M. Redstone, is Chairman and CEO of National Amusements Inc., which owns MTV and 70 percent of CBS stock. Write to him at 200 Elm St., Dedham, MA 02026; phone: 781-461-1600.
[More at URL]
----- 14 -----
Global Warming Fanatics Warming Up to Evangelicals
What's the real tactic?
Concerned Women for America
12/19/2006
By Lindsay Randall
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/12033/CWA/misc/index.htm
The producer of a movie on global warming that is being shown in Evangelical churches has admitted she believes earth's true problem is too many people.
Karen Coshof, producer of "The Great Warming," said in a Cybercast News Service interview, "Population is the underlying problem - the catalyst for the whole thing, but we didn't get into that in the film. That is the underlying problem - too many people - all in competition for the same resource."
"The Great Warming" has been endorsed by Christian organizations such as the National Association of Evangelicals and prominent pastors. They find themselves in a strange camp aligned with organizations that promote population control, an ideology that considers human beings a blight on the earth rather than creative and resourceful individuals with unique worth.
One organization, the Sierra Club, states, "The 'population explosion' has severely disturbed the ecological relationships between human beings and the environment. It has caused an increasing scarcity of wilderness and wildlife and has impaired the beauty of whole regions, as well as reducing the standards and the quality of living. In recognition of the growing magnitude of this conservation issue, the Sierra Club supports a greatly increased program of education on the need for population control."
"Population control," the way to solve "overpopulation," is to reduce the number of people or depopulate the earth. China's brute policy of forced abortions, forced sterilization and infanticide is a prime example of population control. American scientist Eric Pianka has suggested releasing the Ebola virus to wipe out 90 percent of the population.
"It would likely be a surprise to Evangelicals to learn what is the true point of this movie," says Concerned Women for America President Wendy Wright. "Trying to convince Christians about global warming is merely a path to gaining approval for harsh policies that demean and destroy God's crowning creation, what the Earth was created to support."
[More at URL]
----- 15 -----
Why Is Wal-Mart Promoting Homosexuality?
A handout to protest Wal-Mart's promotion of homosexuality
Concerned Women for America
9/21/2006
By Sfaff
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/11548/CWA/family/index.htm
Millions of American families shop at Wal-Mart, which until now had a pro-family reputation. But recent events indicate that the company has chosen sides in the culture war, and is promoting homosexuality, including groups that favor “gay marriage.”
If this trend continues, employees who believe in God, marriage and traditional morality eventually will face discrimination.
Wal-Mart suppliers owned by people who hold traditional values will face loss of contracts if they don’t endorse immoral behavior.
[Link to anti-gay and anti-Wal-Mart flyer: http://www.cwfa.org/images/content/wal-martflyer.pdf ]
----- 16 -----
New Jersey Outrage!
New Jersey Legislature gives marriage rights to homosexuals
Concerned Women for America
12/19/2006
By Mike Mears, Director of State Legislative Relat
http://www.cwfa.org/articledisplay.asp?id=12032&department=CWA&categoryid=family
Seven weeks ago, New Jersey's Supreme Court ruled 7-0 that "gay" couples are constitutionally guaranteed the benefits of marriage. Three concurring justices wanted to give homosexuals the right to marry. However, the majority gave legislators six months to give same-sex couples all of the benefits of marriage, leaving it up to the legislators to decide whether to call it marriage or something else.
On Thursday, December 14, the New Jersey Legislature chose to give homosexuals the substitute – “civil unions” (marriage by another name).
Gov. Jon S. Corzine pushed the legislature to give homosexuals counterfeit marriage in the form of civil unions. Despite the efforts of pro-family groups, the measure passed 56-19 in the Assembly and 23-12 in the Senate. An amendment tacked onto the measure which would have defined marriage between a man and a woman failed.
[...]
Other pro-family leaders joined CWA in condemning this bill, which is likely to be signed by the governor within the next year.
Robert Knight, Director of the Media Research Center’s Culture & Media Institute and until recently a CWA expert , told the Los Angeles Times, “This is a social wrecking ball. [New Jersey lawmakers] have told the world that marriage no longer matters.”
In a related matter, Pastor Vincent Fields, who leads Greater Works Ministries in Absecon, New Jersey, was reportedly banned from the New Jersey Senate for denouncing same-sex marriage from the floor of the chamber last Monday. During his prayer before the legislative body he “cursed the spirit that would come to bring about gay marriage.” Reportedly, Senate President Richard Codey has banned Pastor Fields from praying in the chamber again, but according to published reports, Fields has yet to hear from Codey personally.
[More at URL]
----- 17 -----
Naughty and Nice List Returns for Christmas 2006
CWA is making a list and checking it twice.
Updated 12/13/06
Concerned Women for America
By Martha Kleder
http://www.cwfa.org/articledisplay.asp?id=11904&department=CWA&categoryid=family
Many retailers learned the hard way last year that it just doesn't pay to mess with Christmas. Target, Wal-Mart, Macy's and Sears are among the stores that made a mid-season shift from the generic "Happy Holidays" to "Merry Christmas." Concerned Women for America's Naughty and Nice list kicks off the 2006 Christmas season with many stores - previously on the "Naughty list" or in the ambiguous middle - now squarely in the "Nice" category.
"We learned our lesson from last year that the majority of people wanted to hear us say 'Christmas,' and we're saying 'Merry Christmas' this year, but not to the exclusion of the other holidays," Wal-Mart Senior Vice-President Julie Roehm told "NBC Nightly News."
[...]
----- 18 -----
Gay demands shift from equality to special endorsement
By Michael Medved
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMedved/2006/12/06/gay_demands_shift_from_equality_to_special_endorsement
In current debates over gay relationships and their position in society, we’ve moved beyond a plea for acceptance and equality to an increasingly strident claim of homosexual superiority and a demand for special status and endorsement.
In a recent syndicated column about Pastor Ted Haggard, the former head of the National Association of Evangelicals who confessed to a three year affair with a gay, drug-dealing prostitute, Ellen Goodman wrote of “people who heard a man wounded by the culture of demonization. Their sympathy was for a man primed for repression and deception by the teaching of homosexuality as a sin… More gays, more friends, families, co-workers have come to believe that gayness is not a choice, let alone a sin.”
In other words, some tender-hearted Americans feel ready to forgive, even to embrace, a religious leader who routinely paid a sex-for-hire hustler to cheat in a Denver hotel room on his wife and five kids while getting high on illegal and dangerous methamphetamines. Try to imagine that Haggard had engaged in his extra-marital adventures with a female hooker, rather than a middle-aged call boy. Would anyone have come forward to express “sympathy” for the man or to view him as a sad victim of “repression”?
[...]
One of the most common arguments for gay marriage also carries with it the implicit assumption that gay relationships count as inherently superior, more durable and more meaningful than their straight counterparts. Andrew Sullivan and many others advocate governmental endorsement of same sex marriage as a means of encouraging more responsible, monogamous behavior on the part of gay males, with their acknowledged tendencies toward promiscuity as part of the notorious and dysfunctional “bath house-and-leather bars” culture. In other words, all that homosexual guys need in order to give up lives of often reckless recreational sex is the right to a wedding license and a traditional marriage.
[More at URL]
----- 19 -----
Babies Reportedly Being Killed for Stem Cells in the Ukraine
Concerned Women for America
12/20/2006
By Amelia Wigton
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/12046/CWA/life/index.htm
Live, healthy babies are reportedly being taken from their mothers and killed for their stem cells
Disturbing new information has surfaced in the Ukraine where live, healthy babies are reportedly being taken from their mothers and killed for their stem cells.
Up to 300 families are coming forward with charges alleging that their babies were actually stolen from them during stays in a Ukrainian hospital.
The Ukraine has gained a reputation as the center of international trade for stem cells. According to reports, stem cells have been taken from aborted fetuses in the country, but because of the large demand, babies being born alive have become targets.
One story of Dimitry and Olena Stulnev is tragic and disturbing. Olena went to Maternity Hospital Number Six to have her baby, but did not leave the hospital with the little girl that she went to deliver.
[More at URL]
----- 20 -----
CBS, Charlie Sheen bash Christ, Christmas and Christians
Charlie Sheen makes Joy to the World into a cheap sex song
American Family Association
December 13, 2006
http://www.afa.net/aa121306.htm
CBS and actor Charlie Sheen have used the Christmas season to ridicule and mock Christ, Christmas and Christians. CBS approved actor Charlie Sheen’s vulgar adaptation of a favorite Christian Christmas carol. On the December 11 program, the network included in their Two and a Half Men an episode featuring Sheen singing about his sexual activity to the tune of the traditional Christmas hymn "Joy to the World."
CBS and Sheen knew that the lyrics would greatly offend Christians, but did not hesitate to air them. Click here to see the episode on CBS.
The episode opens with series star Charlie (Sheen) singing:
“Joy to the world, I’m getting laid; I’m getting laid tonight. We’ll light the yule log, deck the halls, and then we’ll play some jingle balls. It’s been a real long wait – this is our second date! It’s Christmas Eve and I’m getting laid.”
His housekeeper/cook comes in and asks:
“Hey, I’m mixing up the egg nog. You want this broad lit up or just slightly glowing?” “Well,” Charlie says, “let’s see, we’re celebrating peace on earth and good will towards all mankind, so let’s get ‘er plowed!” “Hallelujah!” says the cook.
Charlie returns to singing, “Glo-oh-oh-oh-oh-ria, tonight I’m boinking Gloria!” CBS punctuates every single line with a laugh track.
Take Action
Such actions send a signal from CBS and Hollywood: “It’s ok to bash Christians, their religion and their God.” If you are tired of this bigotry from CBS and Hollywood, please take action and then forward this to your friends and family.
Click here to send an email to CBS.
Forward this to your friends and family.
[More at URL]
----- 21 -----
Sears Supports Homosexual TV Network With Advertising
Two-minute infomercials sponsored explicitly by Sears helps keep the homosexual network on the air.
American Family Association
December 7, 2006
http://www.afa.net/aa120806.asp
Sears has thrown its support to the LOGO network. LOGO is the 24-hour cable television network dedicated to programming for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders according to a homosexual advertising website. It is carried on many cable systems around the country. Many of you have been forced to accept it as part of your cable package. Sears is now helping to make it mainstream!
Sear's advertising will help LOGO air shows like "Sex 2K Drag Kings," "The Gayest and Greatest of 2006," and "Transgeneration."
Sears advertising (two-minute infomercials) will go to help the fledging network get on firm financial ground. Sears advertising is financing LOGO's push to legalize homosexual marriage in addition to promoting the homosexual lifestyle.
Sears is owned by Kmart Corporation.
Take Action
1. Send an email to Sears asking them to cancel their advertising on LOGO.
2. Call your local Sears store and ask why Sears is supporting the homosexual network with its advertising.
3. Forward this email to your friends and family.
Click Here to Send Your Email to Sears Now!
[More at URL]
----- 22 -----
Pro-Family Advocates Cast Doubt on Guttmacher's Reported Premarital Sex Stats
By Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
American Family Association/Agape Press
December 21, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/12/afa/212006a.asp
(AgapePress) - A pro-family group is expressing skepticism about the accuracy of a new report that says 95 percent of Americans have had premarital sex. A study by Lawrence Finer of the Alan Guttmacher Institute finds that 99 percent of Americans had sex by the age of 44, and 95 percent had done so before getting married.
The "reality-check research," as Finer calls it, was based on interviews of more than 38,000 people, some 33,000 of them women, in 1982, 1988, 1995 and 2002 for the federal National Survey on Family Growth. The study purportedly examined how sexual behavior before marriage has changed over time. According to Finer's analysis, even among those individuals who abstained from sex until at least age 20, four-fifths had had premarital sex by age 44. The study also found women, even those born decades ago, virtually as likely as men to engage in premarital sex.
An Associated Press report on the study quotes Finer as saying that the likelihood of Americans having sex before marriage has remained stable since the 1950s. In other words, the researcher claims premarital sex is "normal behavior for the vast majority of Americans, and has been for decades."
[More at URL]
----- 23 -----
The Right Frame of Mind
Wanted: More Ministers Like Vincent Fields
By Rev. Mark H. Creech
American Family Association/Agape Press
December 21, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/12/afa/212006mc.asp
(AgapePress) - Not since Joe Wright's prayer in 1996 before the Kansas House in Topeka, where the faithful pastor confessed America had "inverted values" and listed them by name, has there been a more powerful prayer offered before lawmakers. Last week, Vincent Fields, minister of Greater Works Ministries in New Jersey, delivered the invocation before the New Jersey Senate, praying: "We curse the spirit that would come to bring about same-sex marriage. We ask You to just look over this place today, cause them to be shaken in their very heart in uprightness, Lord, to do what is right before You." [1]
Fields delivered his invocation on a day when the New Jersey Senate was considering a bill that would grant civil unions to same-sex couples. He said he didn't intend to say anything about gay marriage, but "[t]he Holy Spirit took over." Fields was unapologetic about his prayer, arguing: "We're living in a time now where we've got to take a stand spiritually. We're literally setting ourselves up for God to turn His back on us, and if we do, we'll have the chaos of other countries, in this country." [2]
Would that all of America's pastors were like Vincent Fields -- spiritual leaders who provide a moral compass for the nation; clergy who are bold enough to say with the prophets of old, "Thus saith the Lord." Yet a recent study conducted by Ellison Research determined "only 6 percent of clergy and only 11 percent of lay church members said they feel their own church is 'very involved in local politics or political issues.'" [3]
[More at URL]
----- 24 -----
'Exported' Strategy Falls Flat in Irish Lesbians' Marriage Case
By Ed Thomas and Fred Jackson
American Family Association/Agape Press
December 21, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/12/afa/212006b.asp
(AgapePress) - An attorney for a pro-family First Amendment law firm says a decision by the High Court of Ireland rejecting recognition of same-sex "marriage" was affirmed on several points similar to those in U.S. law -- and defused a strategy that's now being explored outside of America.
Ireland's High Court last week rejected a bid by a legally married lesbian couple to have that marriage recognized in Ireland. The two women were legally married in Canada and subsequently returned to their home in Ireland to argue that, because homosexual marriage is internationally accepted, the Irish marriage law should be re-evaluated.
But Justice Elizabeth Dunne rejected that argument, saying marriage was understood under the 1937 Irish Constitution to be confined to persons of the opposite sex. She further stated that "having regard to the clear understanding of the meaning of marriage in the numerous authorities opened to the court ... I do not see how marriage can be redefined by the court to encompass same-sex marriage."
In her 138-page ruling, Justice Dunne also expressed concern about the effect of same-sex marriage on children, saying the lack of conclusive research into the results of homosexual parenting made it necessary to reserve judgment on the issue.
[More at URL]
----- 25 -----
Matt Barber Appointed CWA Policy Director
December 21, 2006 08:45 AM EST
http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/21335.html
By Sher Zieve – The Conservative Voice’s columnist Matt Barber has been appointed the Policy Director on Cultural Issues for Concerned Women for America (CWA). Barber’s duties will focus on cultural trends that impact the family and specifically the homosexual agenda.
[More at URL]
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-12-24 07:51 pm (UTC)Given their worldview and definitions, I'd guess that they mean that they are taking 8-cell blastulas apart to get stem cells....
Cathy
no subject
Date: 2006-12-24 08:01 pm (UTC)Thanks a lot for this great resource!
Date: 2007-01-27 07:45 pm (UTC)With the best regards!