Today's Cultural Warfare Update
Jun. 19th, 2007 11:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdFocus on the Family glad Michigan won't include the HPV/cervical cancer vaccine in its standard school vaccination set;
Colombia's national government now gives GBLT couples more recognition than the US's, by allowing social security and inheritance; Focus on the Family calls it "marriage-like rights," which they, of course, oppose;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM against embryonic stem-cell research in Oregon; they call it a "Clone-and-Kill Bill" and "the destruction of human life";
Kroger stores in Nashville - Kroger is a grocery-store chain, the parent company owns QFC locally - pull the Nashville gay newspaper off the shelves; Focus on the Family and Exodus International (an "ex-gay" quackery group) both happy; EI says, "Many people who subscribe to a conservative set of values or a Christian set of values don’t appreciate that sort of influence into their places of employment and the places that they shop or do business with";
FotF puff piece supporting Atty. General Gonzales and the Bush administration's justice department, which has been working with the explicitly anti-GBLT Alliance Defense Fund;
FotF promotes their "Values Voters Summit" 2007, a smaller-scale event in a non-election year; primary issues are fighting abortion rights, fighting marriage rights, and the 2008 elections;
FotF happy that a Missouri bill would "cost Planned Parenthood $1 million per site" in the state; the bill requires facilities providing abortion services to qualify as "ambulatory surgical centres";
Focus on the Family claims that discovery of functionality in "junk" DNA is "a strike against evolution," makes up the claim that "Darwinists" relied on "junk" DNA as "evidence of the randomness of evolution," then knocks down that strawman; "This is a strike against evolution";
FotF promises that four particular state legislators in Massachusetts who voted against the anti-marriage amendment are "going to have to answer to their constituents for that"; we'll see if Focus on the Family decides to try to make examples out of them; they also point readers at their state affiliate, the Massachusetts Family Institute;
Massachusetts Family Institute/voteonmarriage.org ACTION ITEM to thank the 45 legislators who voted for the amendment to revoke GBLT marriage rights;
Massachusetts Family Institute/voteonmarriage.org ACTION ITEM to condemn the "11 Traitors" - yes, they call them traitors - who voted against the anti-marriage amendment;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM to condemn bill to lift "overseas gag rule" barring groups receiving US foreign aid funding from discussion abortion and requiring family-planning groups to focus heavily on abstinence-only AIDS prevention;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM to support a Bush judicial nominee in the Senate; accuses Democrats of planning to call him a racist; People for the American Way report that in 2001, Judge Southwick removed a child from a woman's custody solely and explicitly on the basis of her being a lesbian and opposes GBLT equality under the law; also, quoting PFAW, "Southwick went even further by joining a gratuitously anti-gay concurrence which extolled Mississippi’s right under “the principles of Federalism” to treat “homosexual persons” as second-class citizens. The concurrence suggested that sexual orientation is a choice and stated that an adult is not “relieved of the consequences of his or her choice” – e.g. losing custody of one’s child"; I don't have primary sources for this so am not providing a separate URL;
Focus on the Family promotes conference on "the morally treacherous waters of bioethical issues";
FotF spinoff Family Research Council condemns Southwest Airlines and SunTrust Banks, Inc., for being sponsours at DC's Capital Pride Festival, the annual GBLT event;
Remember Kansas's theoconservative attourney general who went fishing through abortion provider medical records? One of the guys he hired to do so is using those records in anti-abortion activities. Focus on the Family condemns the new Kansas AG for trying to stop him;
Focus on the Family triggers National Right to Life Committee purge of dissatisfied Colorado affiliate which was angry at James Dobson for not being absolutist enough in his anti-abortion activities; mmmmmm, purges;
Focus on the Family condemns Olympia (Washington) school for a six-person panel talking about their personal experiences with anti-GBLT discrimination; the are, of course, outraged; it appears to have been part of an anti-harassment/anti-bullying programme, which Focus on the Family opposes when it includes GBLT people; they also call it a "homosexuality lesson";
FotF ACTION ITEM against Maine expanding parental-leave act to include same-sex parents; it allows people to take medial leave to take care of an ill partner; they are, of course, opposed, presumably because sick fags should be left to die alone or something; I think the opposition to programmes intended to prevent bullying and harassment of queer teenagers is still worse than this, but this is pretty low;
FotF political article noting that "2008 Democratic Candidates Push Gay Agenda";
California assembly passes GBLT marriage rights for the second time; California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) promises to veto it again if it reaches his desk (through the Senate); Focus on the Family has an ACTION ITEM out to urge said veto and to urge California state Senators to vote against the bill;
FotF notes "Lightning Punctuates Giuliani's Abortion Comments";
American Academy of Physician Assistants fails to ban "reparative therapy" (the so-called "gay conversion" therapy) outright; the "Fellowship of Christian Physician Assistants" continues to lobby for it.
----- 1 -----
Michigan Backs Off HPV Vaccine Mandate
Focus on the Family
6-19-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000004869.cfm
Last year, Michigan was set to become one of the first states to mandate that sixth-grade girls be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV).
A bill that recently cleared the Senate drops the mandate. Instead, it would require that parents of sixth-graders be given information about the vaccine. The bill is now in the House and is expected to become law.
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
Colombia's Congress Gives Marriage-Like Rights to Gays
Focus on the Family
6-19-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000004868.cfm
A measure to give same-sex couples rights similar to married couples passed Colombia's Congress last week, a move seen as the biggest advance for homosexuals in the Roman Catholic country.
According to Reuters, the measure grants gay couples living together for more than two years the same social security and estate inheritance guarantees as heterosexuals in common law marriages.
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
Oregon Lawmakers Poised to Vote on Clone-and-Kill Bill
Taxpayers would fund the destruction of human life.
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
Focus on the Family
6-19-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000004873.cfm
The Oregon state House will vote on legislation Wednesday that would allow tax dollars to go to researchers who want to clone human embryos, then kill them for their stem cells.
The bill, HB 2801, would create a Human Stem-Cell Research Committee and a grant fund, which the committee would use to provide funds to researchers.
Dawn Vargo, associate bioethics analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said special-interest groups that are pushing the legislation are using scientific phrases such as "somatic cell nuclear transfer" to hide the fact that it's about cloning humans.
"Don't be fooled," she told Family News in Focus. "This bill promotes the creation of human life through cloning for the sole purpose of destroying it for research."
Not only is life-destroying embryonic stem-cell research ethically wrong, because it requires the destruction of human life, but, Vargo added, it's also scientifically problematic.
"There has yet to be a single human clinical trial using embryonic stem cells, because of their unpredictable and tumor-causing tendencies," she said. "Whether it's called 'therapeutic cloning' or 'somatic cell nuclear transfer,' this legislation would encourage human cloning, which creates and destroys a unique member of the human species."
TAKE ACTION
Oregonians should contact their representative and urge him or her to vote 'No' on HB 2801. If you are a CitizenLink Daily Update subscriber, click on the blue "Take Action" button in the e-mail to be automatically logged in to our Action Center. Otherwise, click on this link.
----- 4 -----
Gay Publication Pulled from Grocery Store Shelves
Kroger says political, religious content is not allowed.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
6-19-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000004871.cfm
A gay newspaper will no longer be displayed in Nashville Kroger stores because it doesn’t meet the grocery chain’s criteria for publications.
DistibuTech, which manages the free publication racks in most Kroger stores, said it put Out and About in the stores before reviewing the content. Kroger’s policy is not to display free publications that promote “political, religious or other specific agendas.”
[...]
Amanda Banks, director of government affairs at Exodus International, said the controversy brings up other issues.
[...]
She said businesses have a right to cater to their customer base: “Many people who subscribe to a conservative set of values or a Christian set of values don’t appreciate that sort of influence into their places of employment and the places that they shop or do business with."
[More at URL]
----- 5 -----
DOJ Ramps up Religious Protection
Government goes on the offensive to defend our rights.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
6-19-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000004872.cfm
As attacks on religious expression have increased in the last seven or eight years, so has the response by the Department of Justice (DOJ). First under former Attorney General John Ashcroft and now under Alberto Gonzales, the DOJ has made a concerted effort to protect the religious liberties of Americans.
[...]
The Justice Department often partners with Christian organizations to defend faith. Mike Johnson of the Alliance Defense Fund has brought several cases to DOJ.
“Sometimes you have to go on offense to defend those rights," he told Family News in Focus. "That’s what the Justice Department has been doing with great success."
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
Washington Briefing 2007: Challenging You to Make An Impact
Event is designed to motivate values voters.
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
Focus on the Family
6-19-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000004874.cfm
Connie Mackey, senior vice president for FRC Action, said people who attend will have the opportunity to choose from a host of events, speeches, breakout sessions and luncheons.
The summit is sponsored by FRC Action and co-sponsored by Focus on the Family Action, American Values and the Alliance Defense Fund.
Invited speakers include President George W. Bush, all presidential candidates, Bill O'Reilly, Bill Bennett, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Tony Snow and Rick Warren.
[...]
The focus is general in its content in that some of these issues are ongoing -- the life issues are ongoing, the battle to keep marriage between a man and a woman is ongoing. But there will be lots of new speakers and new ways to approach those same issues.
And with the 2008 election looming, there'll be some emphasis on what's going to be happening there.
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
Missouri May Force Changes at Planned Parenthood
Focus on the Family
6-18-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000004862.cfm
Republican Gov. Matt Blunt is expected to sign a bill that would place new regulations on abortion clinics and could cost Planned Parenthood $1 million per site.
Under the legislation, any clinic that performs more than five first-trimester abortions per month, or any later-term abortions, would have to comply with the specifications for an ambulatory surgical center. The new requirements would take effect Aug. 28.
[More at URL]
----- 8 -----
Human DNA More Complex Than Was Thought
Discovery a nod toward intelligent design.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
6-18-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000004864.cfm
Studies taking a deeper look into the human genome have revealed that human DNA is up to five times more complicated than researchers had thought.
Portions of the human genome that scientists said had no function – dubbed "junk DNA" – had been claimed to be evidence of the randomness of evolution. But studies now reveal that what was thought to be "junk" has purpose and could help scientists understand more of how life works and how diseases can be cured.
[...]
Backers of evolution have held up so-called junk DNA as evidence against intelligent design. Casey Luskin with the Intelligent Design and Evolution Awareness Center told Family News in Focus the new research is welcome news.
"Intelligent design is actually being vindicated, because we’re discovering that it’s actually the Darwinists who are wrong on this point," he said. " 'Junk DNA' is not 'junk.' ”
[...]
“Now they’ve realized that this evolutionary assumption that our bodies are full of just sort of functionless junk is a very bad one," he said. "This is a strike against evolution.”
[More at URL]
----- 9 -----
Four Massachusetts Lawmakers Renege on Marriage Promises
They refuse to let the people decide the definition of marriage.
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
Focus on the Family
6-18-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000004864.cfm
Two Democratic and two Republican lawmakers in Massachusetts – whose election platforms included preserving traditional marriage – voted against a proposed constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
The amendment was defeated 45-151 by a joint session of the Legislature, eliminating any chance of getting it on the 2008 ballot. It needed 50 votes to pass.
[...]
[Massachusetts Family Institute president] Mineau said lawmakers are supposed to do just that: represent the interests of the people who elected them. But these four did not.
"They're going to have to answer to their constituents for that – plain and simple," he said.
[More at URL]
----- 10 -----
Saying "Thank You" to the Principled 45
Contact Information for the 45
Massachusetts Family Institute
voteonmarriage.org
Online as of 19 June 2007
http://www.voteonmarriage.org/the45.shtml
Contact Information for the 45 legislators who voted YES on the Marriage Amendment at the Constitutional Convention on June 14, 2007
Though we were denied the victory yesterday, there were forty-five courageous legislators who stood by their convictions and voted to let the people vote on marriage. These heroic representatives and senators repelled the unprecedented pressure placed upon them by Deval Patrick, Therese Murray and Salvatore DiMasi and stood by their previous pledges to support the Marriage Amendment.
These brave legislators need our thanks today!
Those opposed to a statewide vote on the definition of marriage have already promised to put all their resources towards removing these principled public servants from office. We must remind them that they were right in their votes and that we appreciate the sacrifices that they have made while standing firm on this issue.
Please call, email and write each of these legislators to thank them. Below is the contact information for the 45 legislators. We encourage you to call, email and write to each of these legislators thanking them for their courage and their strength of conviction. A handwritten thank you note would be the most personal way to thank them.
[More at URL]
----- 11 -----
Tell the 11 Benedict Arnolds how you feel about their betrayal
Contact Information for the 11 Traitors
Contact Information for the 11 legislators who switched their votes on the Marriage Amendment at the Constitutional Convention on June 14, 2007
voteonmarriage.org
Online as of 19 June 2007
http://www.voteonmarriage.org/the11.shtml
On June 14, after the votes were cast and the final tally revealed, eleven legislators (nine who had voted for the Marriage Amendment at the Constitutional Convention held on Jan. 2; two freshmen legislators who ran and won election on "letting the people vote" last year) turned their back on the citizens of this Commonwealth and voted to deny the people a say on the definition of marriage. This is an outrage and these eleven legislators must understand that disloyalty has consequences.
These eleven Benedict Arnolds not only lied to the leaders of our movement, they lied to every citizen in this state. Right up until the day of the vote, each of these legislators reiterated their commitment to voting "Yes" to give the people a right to voice their opinion on same-sex marriage. Unfortunately, the true character of these so-called "public servants" became apparent once the final vote was recorded.
Please call, email and write each of these legislators today. Below is the contact information for the 11 traitors. Let them know, in civil but strong terms, how you feel about their decision to change their votes. They need to know that the outrage over their betrayal is real and will not go away overnight.
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
House Set to Vote on Bill That Would Fund Abortions Overseas
Another provision would waive abstinence directives in AIDS program.
by Jennifer Mesko, associate editor
Focus on the Family
6-18-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/cltopstories/A000004867.cfm
The U.S. House is scheduled to vote on an appropriations bill Wednesday that includes language aimed at ending the president's prohibition on tax dollars going to groups that fund or promote abortion overseas. Another provision in the bill would change the way AIDS money is spent.
The State-Foreign Operations appropriations bill contains language that would kill the Mexico City policy – named after the location where President Reagan announced it.
The National Right to Life Committee said the proposed change would "allow even the most aggressively pro-abortion groups to be eligible for U.S. assistance," LifeNews.com reported.
Reps. Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican, and Bart Stupak, a Michigan Democrat, are behind a bipartisan amendment to the bill that would preserve the pro-life policy.
“Once again, we are so thankful for members of Congress who are willing to defend family values," said Ashley Horne, federal policy analyst for Focus on the Family Action. "Constituents must stand behind Representatives Smith and Stupak as they seek to protect the family in the face of overwhelming odds by offering these pro-family amendments.”
President Bush has pledged to veto any legislation that undermines his pro-life policies.
The appropriations bill also includes a provision that would waive the 33 percent spending directive for abstinence-until-marriage programs under PEPFAR, a five-year, $15 billion plan to address AIDS.
Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Pa., is planning to offer an amendment to protect the abstinence component.
Linda Klepacki, sexual health analyst for Focus Action, said, "International research has proven that HIV infections decrease in a generalized population when a three-pronged approach is taken: abstinence-until-marriage, being faithful to one’s partner, and condoms if necessary. Why would any politician risk increasing HIV rates in this world?"
TAKE ACTION
Urge your representative to support Rep. Pitts’ amendment to preserve the spending directive for abstinence-until-marriage programs. Also, urge your representative to support the Smith/Stupak amendment to preserve the Mexico City policy.
If you are a CitizenLink Daily Update subscriber, click on the blue "Take Action" button in the e-mail to be automatically logged in to our Action Center. Otherwise, click on this link.
----- 13 -----
Appellate Court Nomination Threatened in Committee
Democrats won't allow up-or-down vote by full Senate.
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
Focus on the Family
6-15-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000004858.cfm
Partisan politics have stranded a Bush appellate court nominee in the Senate Judiciary Committee as Democrats threaten to block a vote.
Mississippi lawyer Leslie Southwick was nominated by Bush this year to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Curt Levey, executive director of the Committee for Justice, said Democratic committee members are up to the same old tricks: calling every southern white nominee a "racist" and blocking anyone who might have a conservative judicial philosophy.
"It looks as if all 10 of them are going to vote against Southwick, which means he'd be defeated in committee and the nomination would be essentially dead," Levey said. "I didn't think this was going to happen, because the allegations against him are so baseless."
Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for Focus on the Family Action, called the threat "an outrage of the first order."
"The travesty here, as we've experienced before," he said, "is that liberals on the Senate Judiciary Committee are so beholden to left-wing, special-interest groups that fund their re-election campaigns, they smeared and defamed excellent nominees to keep peace with those groups."
The American Bar Association has rated Southwick as "well-qualified," Hausknecht added. He's considered an outstanding jurist.
Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., said there is no reason for liberals to block the nomination.
"He's one of the finest lawyers in the state of Mississippi," he told CQ Today. "It's pure partisan politics at its worst."
Levey said liberals searched through more than 7,000 cases Southwick was involved in, looking for ammunition.
"They could only find two cases – and he didn't even write the opinions – and they're still picking out phrases like 'homosexual lifestyle,' claiming it is an offensive phrase," he said.
On Thursday, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., aware of the antics of the committee, asked for an extra week to convince committee members to allow Southwick a vote by the full Senate.
Hausknecht said it is up to leaders such as Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to follow up on warnings about the consequences of playing games with judicial nominees.
"If this nonsense doesn't stop now," Hausknecht said, "the courts will suffer, the rule of law will suffer, and we'll all be worse off because of it."
TAKE ACTION
Ask your senators to give President Bush's judicial nominees a fair up-or-down vote by the full Senate.
If you are a CitizenLink Daily Update subscriber, click on the blue "Take Action" button in the e-mail to be automatically logged in to our Action Center. Otherwise, click on this link.
----- 14 -----
Arizona Bioethics Conference Brings Christians Together
Focus on the Family
6-14-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000004846.cfm
Do you need a living will? An advance directive? What’s all the fuss about stem-cell research and cloning?
Tackle these questions and more at "The Biotech Century: Facing Our Future," a conference on Christian worldview and bioethics that is coming to Phoenix in November. The conference is co-sponsored by Focus on the Family.
"What does the Bible say and how does biblical truth apply to these topics? That's what we'll cover in the conference," said Carrie Gordon Earll, senior bioethics analyst for Focus on the Family Action. "The world is a different place than it was 10 years ago — and it will be different yet in another 10 years. This conference is designed to help equip pastors, church leaders and other Christians as they navigate the often morally treacherous waters of bioethical issues."
Speakers include Earll, and Nikolas Nikas, president of the Bioethics Defense Fund.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Visit The Biotech Century Web site.
[Ed. Note: According to the splash of the webpage, the conference is being held at the Bethany Bible Church in Phoenix, and is preceeded by an invitation-only Pastor's Briefing. Sponsours are Focus on the Family, The Centre for Arizona Policy, Phoenix Seminary, the Christian Medical and Dental Association, The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network (who are, interestingly, aware of and against transhumanism and "technosapiens" - one of their primary writers on transhumanism is a creationist - and against stem-cell research, abortion rights, and so on), and the Bioethics Defense Fund (mostly anti-abortion-rights and anti-stem-cell research which talks about "eroding Roe" as "a winning strategy") - basically, all theoconservative and/or fundamentalist organisations. I think it's clear what kind of conference this will be.]
----- 15 -----
Airline, Bank Criticized for Funding Gay Pride Festival
Focus on the Family
6-14-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000004847.cfm
Southwest Airlines and SunTrust Banks, Inc., are defending their sponsorship of a gay-pride event in Washington, D.C., last weekend after coming under fire from the Family Research Council (FRC).
The airline and bank were corporate sponsors for the Capital Pride Festival, a 10-day event in which homosexuals took to the streets to demand "social equality" — namely the legalization of same-sex marriage.
FRC criticized the sponsors, arguing it was an "irrational business decision" to "put their name and their money behind radical homosexual activities."
[More at URL]
----- 16 -----
Kansas AG Wants to Silence Outspoken Abortion Witness
Focus on the Family
6-14-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000004848.cfm
Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison sent a letter to Dr. Paul McHugh demanding that he stop publicly discussing records associated with the investigation of late-term abortionist George Tiller, KWCH-TV reported.
McHugh, a former Johns Hopkins University professor, was asked to review the records at the request of former Attorney General Phill Kline.
[...]
McHugh told Women Influencing the Nation that the redacted abortion records reveal that clients did not receive complete exams, and reasons cited by Tiller to justify abortions were "social," not "psychiatric."
[...]
"The remarkable thing was they were all the same. These were very brief files," McHugh told The Associated Press. "Lots of psychiatrists, including me, do not believe there are any pure psychiatric reasons that justify abortion."
Mary Kay Culp, executive director or Kansans for Life, said Morrison is trampling on McHugh's free-speech rights.
"This is an outrage," Culp told LifeNews, "and (it) illustrates the lengths that Dr. Tiller and AG Morrison will go to cover up the truth."
[More at URL]
----- 17 -----
Colorado Pro-Life Group Joins National Right to Life
Rogue affiliate cut loose.
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
Focus on the Family
6-14-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000004849.cfm
The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) on Wednesday named Colorado Citizens for Life/Protecting Life Now as the new state affiliate, replacing the divisive Colorado Right to Life (CRTL).
In a misguided and misleading media campaign a few weeks ago, CRTL, along with a handful of other groups, criticized Focus on the Family Founder and Chairman Dr. James Dobson for his support of the federal partial-birth abortion ban that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Carrie Gordon Earll, senior analyst for bioethics at Focus on the Family Action, said it's reassuring to know a group of such prominence is willing to make a tough decision when its charter is challenged by a rogue affiliate, such as CRTL.
"Rather than use their money and energy to advance pro-life goals, Colorado Right to Life chose instead to attack its allies in the cause," Earll said. "It gave its parent organization no choice but to name a new state affiliate."
[More at URL]
----- 18 -----
Washington Parents Weren’t Told Before Students Had Homosexuality Lesson
Focus on the Family
6-11-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000004815.cfm
Some Olympia, Wash., parents were outraged that they weren't informed before their middle school kids attended an assembly about what it's like to be gay, The Olympian reported.
At an assembly last week, six panelists told students about how their same-sex attraction has led to discrimination.
Patti Connolly, whose eighth-grade daughter attends Washington Middle School, said the school should have alerted parents.
"I was livid," she said. "It's not appropriate. That stuff is taught at home, not at school."
[...]
Bill Lahmann, superintendent of Olympia School District, said while the school could have done more to notify parents, Olympia schools would not stop holding such assembliers.
"It doesn't matter what a student's beliefs are or anything else," he said. "Harassment is not tolerated."
Stewart Wood has an eighth-grade daughter at the school.
"The school was making a decision to give certain information to sway students," he said. "They're undermining parents, and they're deciding what morals to teach our children."
[More at URL]
----- 19 -----
Maine Legislature Expands Family Leave Act to Include Gays
Focus on the Family
6-6-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000004789.cfm
A bill to expand Maine's Family Medical Leave Act to include domestic partners is headed to Gov. John Baldacci's desk, and a spokesman said Baldacci will sign it, The Associated Press reported.
"It was expected. We were the only opposition to it. It's basically same-sex benefits," said Michael Heath, executive director of the Christian Civic League of Maine, which is associated with Focus on the Family.
"The bill has been this session's legislative priority for the Maine homosexual lobby," reads a statement from Heath's group.
The measure applies to heterosexual couples as well as homosexual couples, Heath said. It allows those who have been employed for 12 consecutive months by the same employer to receive up to 10 weeks of family medical leave to care for a domestic partner.
TAKE ACTION
If you live in Maine, urge Gov. Baldacci to respect the sanctity of marriage by vetoing this bill. If you are a CitizenLink Daily Update subscriber, click on the blue button in the e-mail to be automatically logged in to our Action Center. Otherwise, click on this link.
(Paid for by Focus on the Family Action)
----- 20 -----
2008 Democratic Candidates Push Gay Agenda
Focus on the Family
6-6-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000004790.cfm
Seven Democratic presidential candidates, including the frontrunners, unanimously believe the federal government should recognize state-level same-sex marriages. That's according to a survey conducted by the Human Rights Campaign, a national homosexual activist group.
Sens. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards, along with four others, all favor repealing Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, the Baptist Press reports. Under the change, the government would be forced to grant the legal benefits of marriage to same-sex couples "married" at the state level.
According to the questionnaire, the seven candidates also support: civil unions for gay couples; overturning the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy; federal hate-crimes legislation that would grant gays special rights; and the Uniting American Families Act, which would allow gay Americans to petition for immigration sponsorship for their same-sex partners.
(Paid for by Focus on the Family Action)
----- 21 -----
California Assembly Approves Gay-Marriage Bill
Schwarzenegger, who vetoed similar legislation in 2005, has said he'll do it again.
by Jennifer Mesko, associate editor
Focus on the Family
6-6-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000004792.cfm
For the second time in two years, a bill to legalize same-sex marriage could be headed to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk.
The Assembly voted Tuesday, mostly along party lines, to allow gay couples to marry. The measure now heads to the Senate, which adopted a similar bill in 2005. Schwarzenegger vetoed that bill, and has said he will veto this one if it reaches his desk.
“There ought to be a few standards that stand the test of time, marriage being one of them,” Assemblyman Doug La Malfa, R-Chico, told The Associated Press. “An institution that has lasted thousands of years in one form, that we would change it in the Legislature is pretty arrogant of us.”
This chapter of the state's same-sex marriage debate is likely to be settled by California's Supreme Court this year or next, according to news reports. The court will rule on the application of Proposition 22, which was passed by voters in 2000.
"Once again, California legislators are thumbing their collective noses at the very people they purport to represent," said Carrie Gordon Earll, senior director of issues analysis for Focus on the Family Action.
"In 2000, a majority of Californians voted that only marriage between a man and a woman would be valid or recognized in that state. Yet, pro-homosexual lawmakers are determined to undermine marriage by declaring that homosexual 'marriage' should be allowed — regardless of what the people have spoken on the subject."
TAKE ACTION
If you live in California, urge your senator and Gov. Schwarzenegger to support traditional marriage. If you are a CitizenLink Daily Update subscriber, click on the blue "Take Action" button in the e-mail to be automatically logged in to our Action Center. Otherwise, click on this link.
(Paid for by Focus on the Family Action)
----- 22 -----
Lightning Punctuates Giuliani's Abortion Comments
Focus on the Family
6-6-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000004788.cfm
Lightning struck at Tuesday's Republican presidential debate just as candidate Rudy Giuliani stepped to the microphone to answer a question about his support for abortion, LifeSiteNews.com reported.
CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked Giuliani to address comments made by Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin, who had compared Giuliani to Pontius Pilate and said, "Rudy's public proclamations on abortion are pathetic and confusing. Even worse, they're hypocritical."
As Giuliani started to answer, lightning struck several times nearby, momentarily zapping the sound system and producing alternating static and silence. Giuliani raised his hands and glanced toward the heavens.
"For someone who went to parochial schools all his life," he chuckled, "this is a very frightening thing."
Nonetheless, he took his chances and expressed his personal opposition to abortion, but reaffirmed his belief that government should stay out of it.
(Paid for by Focus on the Family Action)
----- 23 -----
Physician Assistants Debate Help for Homosexuals
Group stops short of banning reparative therapy.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
6-4-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000004771.cfm
After much wrangling, the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) will allow its members to help patients who want to leave homosexuality.
A fight erupted at the AAPA’s annual meeting last week over a resolution brought by the "Committee on Diversity" that would essentially have banned therapy aimed at helping people escape unwanted homosexual attraction.
John Fields, a spokesman for the Fellowship of Christian Physician Assistants, said his group joined others in opposing the idea.
[...]
A resolution that passed states that the AAPA will not allow members to coerce patients into reparative therapy or view homosexuality as a mental disorder.
“We didn’t slam the door on the option of the therapy," Fields said, "but we still don’t have a mechanism in our policy that will allow a patient’s spiritual condition to be considered.”
[More at URL]
Colombia's national government now gives GBLT couples more recognition than the US's, by allowing social security and inheritance; Focus on the Family calls it "marriage-like rights," which they, of course, oppose;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM against embryonic stem-cell research in Oregon; they call it a "Clone-and-Kill Bill" and "the destruction of human life";
Kroger stores in Nashville - Kroger is a grocery-store chain, the parent company owns QFC locally - pull the Nashville gay newspaper off the shelves; Focus on the Family and Exodus International (an "ex-gay" quackery group) both happy; EI says, "Many people who subscribe to a conservative set of values or a Christian set of values don’t appreciate that sort of influence into their places of employment and the places that they shop or do business with";
FotF puff piece supporting Atty. General Gonzales and the Bush administration's justice department, which has been working with the explicitly anti-GBLT Alliance Defense Fund;
FotF promotes their "Values Voters Summit" 2007, a smaller-scale event in a non-election year; primary issues are fighting abortion rights, fighting marriage rights, and the 2008 elections;
FotF happy that a Missouri bill would "cost Planned Parenthood $1 million per site" in the state; the bill requires facilities providing abortion services to qualify as "ambulatory surgical centres";
Focus on the Family claims that discovery of functionality in "junk" DNA is "a strike against evolution," makes up the claim that "Darwinists" relied on "junk" DNA as "evidence of the randomness of evolution," then knocks down that strawman; "This is a strike against evolution";
FotF promises that four particular state legislators in Massachusetts who voted against the anti-marriage amendment are "going to have to answer to their constituents for that"; we'll see if Focus on the Family decides to try to make examples out of them; they also point readers at their state affiliate, the Massachusetts Family Institute;
Massachusetts Family Institute/voteonmarriage.org ACTION ITEM to thank the 45 legislators who voted for the amendment to revoke GBLT marriage rights;
Massachusetts Family Institute/voteonmarriage.org ACTION ITEM to condemn the "11 Traitors" - yes, they call them traitors - who voted against the anti-marriage amendment;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM to condemn bill to lift "overseas gag rule" barring groups receiving US foreign aid funding from discussion abortion and requiring family-planning groups to focus heavily on abstinence-only AIDS prevention;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM to support a Bush judicial nominee in the Senate; accuses Democrats of planning to call him a racist; People for the American Way report that in 2001, Judge Southwick removed a child from a woman's custody solely and explicitly on the basis of her being a lesbian and opposes GBLT equality under the law; also, quoting PFAW, "Southwick went even further by joining a gratuitously anti-gay concurrence which extolled Mississippi’s right under “the principles of Federalism” to treat “homosexual persons” as second-class citizens. The concurrence suggested that sexual orientation is a choice and stated that an adult is not “relieved of the consequences of his or her choice” – e.g. losing custody of one’s child"; I don't have primary sources for this so am not providing a separate URL;
Focus on the Family promotes conference on "the morally treacherous waters of bioethical issues";
FotF spinoff Family Research Council condemns Southwest Airlines and SunTrust Banks, Inc., for being sponsours at DC's Capital Pride Festival, the annual GBLT event;
Remember Kansas's theoconservative attourney general who went fishing through abortion provider medical records? One of the guys he hired to do so is using those records in anti-abortion activities. Focus on the Family condemns the new Kansas AG for trying to stop him;
Focus on the Family triggers National Right to Life Committee purge of dissatisfied Colorado affiliate which was angry at James Dobson for not being absolutist enough in his anti-abortion activities; mmmmmm, purges;
Focus on the Family condemns Olympia (Washington) school for a six-person panel talking about their personal experiences with anti-GBLT discrimination; the are, of course, outraged; it appears to have been part of an anti-harassment/anti-bullying programme, which Focus on the Family opposes when it includes GBLT people; they also call it a "homosexuality lesson";
FotF ACTION ITEM against Maine expanding parental-leave act to include same-sex parents; it allows people to take medial leave to take care of an ill partner; they are, of course, opposed, presumably because sick fags should be left to die alone or something; I think the opposition to programmes intended to prevent bullying and harassment of queer teenagers is still worse than this, but this is pretty low;
FotF political article noting that "2008 Democratic Candidates Push Gay Agenda";
California assembly passes GBLT marriage rights for the second time; California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) promises to veto it again if it reaches his desk (through the Senate); Focus on the Family has an ACTION ITEM out to urge said veto and to urge California state Senators to vote against the bill;
FotF notes "Lightning Punctuates Giuliani's Abortion Comments";
American Academy of Physician Assistants fails to ban "reparative therapy" (the so-called "gay conversion" therapy) outright; the "Fellowship of Christian Physician Assistants" continues to lobby for it.
----- 1 -----
Michigan Backs Off HPV Vaccine Mandate
Focus on the Family
6-19-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000004869.cfm
Last year, Michigan was set to become one of the first states to mandate that sixth-grade girls be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV).
A bill that recently cleared the Senate drops the mandate. Instead, it would require that parents of sixth-graders be given information about the vaccine. The bill is now in the House and is expected to become law.
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
Colombia's Congress Gives Marriage-Like Rights to Gays
Focus on the Family
6-19-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000004868.cfm
A measure to give same-sex couples rights similar to married couples passed Colombia's Congress last week, a move seen as the biggest advance for homosexuals in the Roman Catholic country.
According to Reuters, the measure grants gay couples living together for more than two years the same social security and estate inheritance guarantees as heterosexuals in common law marriages.
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
Oregon Lawmakers Poised to Vote on Clone-and-Kill Bill
Taxpayers would fund the destruction of human life.
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
Focus on the Family
6-19-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000004873.cfm
The Oregon state House will vote on legislation Wednesday that would allow tax dollars to go to researchers who want to clone human embryos, then kill them for their stem cells.
The bill, HB 2801, would create a Human Stem-Cell Research Committee and a grant fund, which the committee would use to provide funds to researchers.
Dawn Vargo, associate bioethics analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said special-interest groups that are pushing the legislation are using scientific phrases such as "somatic cell nuclear transfer" to hide the fact that it's about cloning humans.
"Don't be fooled," she told Family News in Focus. "This bill promotes the creation of human life through cloning for the sole purpose of destroying it for research."
Not only is life-destroying embryonic stem-cell research ethically wrong, because it requires the destruction of human life, but, Vargo added, it's also scientifically problematic.
"There has yet to be a single human clinical trial using embryonic stem cells, because of their unpredictable and tumor-causing tendencies," she said. "Whether it's called 'therapeutic cloning' or 'somatic cell nuclear transfer,' this legislation would encourage human cloning, which creates and destroys a unique member of the human species."
TAKE ACTION
Oregonians should contact their representative and urge him or her to vote 'No' on HB 2801. If you are a CitizenLink Daily Update subscriber, click on the blue "Take Action" button in the e-mail to be automatically logged in to our Action Center. Otherwise, click on this link.
----- 4 -----
Gay Publication Pulled from Grocery Store Shelves
Kroger says political, religious content is not allowed.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
6-19-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000004871.cfm
A gay newspaper will no longer be displayed in Nashville Kroger stores because it doesn’t meet the grocery chain’s criteria for publications.
DistibuTech, which manages the free publication racks in most Kroger stores, said it put Out and About in the stores before reviewing the content. Kroger’s policy is not to display free publications that promote “political, religious or other specific agendas.”
[...]
Amanda Banks, director of government affairs at Exodus International, said the controversy brings up other issues.
[...]
She said businesses have a right to cater to their customer base: “Many people who subscribe to a conservative set of values or a Christian set of values don’t appreciate that sort of influence into their places of employment and the places that they shop or do business with."
[More at URL]
----- 5 -----
DOJ Ramps up Religious Protection
Government goes on the offensive to defend our rights.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
6-19-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000004872.cfm
As attacks on religious expression have increased in the last seven or eight years, so has the response by the Department of Justice (DOJ). First under former Attorney General John Ashcroft and now under Alberto Gonzales, the DOJ has made a concerted effort to protect the religious liberties of Americans.
[...]
The Justice Department often partners with Christian organizations to defend faith. Mike Johnson of the Alliance Defense Fund has brought several cases to DOJ.
“Sometimes you have to go on offense to defend those rights," he told Family News in Focus. "That’s what the Justice Department has been doing with great success."
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
Washington Briefing 2007: Challenging You to Make An Impact
Event is designed to motivate values voters.
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
Focus on the Family
6-19-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000004874.cfm
Connie Mackey, senior vice president for FRC Action, said people who attend will have the opportunity to choose from a host of events, speeches, breakout sessions and luncheons.
The summit is sponsored by FRC Action and co-sponsored by Focus on the Family Action, American Values and the Alliance Defense Fund.
Invited speakers include President George W. Bush, all presidential candidates, Bill O'Reilly, Bill Bennett, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Tony Snow and Rick Warren.
[...]
The focus is general in its content in that some of these issues are ongoing -- the life issues are ongoing, the battle to keep marriage between a man and a woman is ongoing. But there will be lots of new speakers and new ways to approach those same issues.
And with the 2008 election looming, there'll be some emphasis on what's going to be happening there.
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
Missouri May Force Changes at Planned Parenthood
Focus on the Family
6-18-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000004862.cfm
Republican Gov. Matt Blunt is expected to sign a bill that would place new regulations on abortion clinics and could cost Planned Parenthood $1 million per site.
Under the legislation, any clinic that performs more than five first-trimester abortions per month, or any later-term abortions, would have to comply with the specifications for an ambulatory surgical center. The new requirements would take effect Aug. 28.
[More at URL]
----- 8 -----
Human DNA More Complex Than Was Thought
Discovery a nod toward intelligent design.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
6-18-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000004864.cfm
Studies taking a deeper look into the human genome have revealed that human DNA is up to five times more complicated than researchers had thought.
Portions of the human genome that scientists said had no function – dubbed "junk DNA" – had been claimed to be evidence of the randomness of evolution. But studies now reveal that what was thought to be "junk" has purpose and could help scientists understand more of how life works and how diseases can be cured.
[...]
Backers of evolution have held up so-called junk DNA as evidence against intelligent design. Casey Luskin with the Intelligent Design and Evolution Awareness Center told Family News in Focus the new research is welcome news.
"Intelligent design is actually being vindicated, because we’re discovering that it’s actually the Darwinists who are wrong on this point," he said. " 'Junk DNA' is not 'junk.' ”
[...]
“Now they’ve realized that this evolutionary assumption that our bodies are full of just sort of functionless junk is a very bad one," he said. "This is a strike against evolution.”
[More at URL]
----- 9 -----
Four Massachusetts Lawmakers Renege on Marriage Promises
They refuse to let the people decide the definition of marriage.
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
Focus on the Family
6-18-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000004864.cfm
Two Democratic and two Republican lawmakers in Massachusetts – whose election platforms included preserving traditional marriage – voted against a proposed constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
The amendment was defeated 45-151 by a joint session of the Legislature, eliminating any chance of getting it on the 2008 ballot. It needed 50 votes to pass.
[...]
[Massachusetts Family Institute president] Mineau said lawmakers are supposed to do just that: represent the interests of the people who elected them. But these four did not.
"They're going to have to answer to their constituents for that – plain and simple," he said.
[More at URL]
----- 10 -----
Saying "Thank You" to the Principled 45
Contact Information for the 45
Massachusetts Family Institute
voteonmarriage.org
Online as of 19 June 2007
http://www.voteonmarriage.org/the45.shtml
Contact Information for the 45 legislators who voted YES on the Marriage Amendment at the Constitutional Convention on June 14, 2007
Though we were denied the victory yesterday, there were forty-five courageous legislators who stood by their convictions and voted to let the people vote on marriage. These heroic representatives and senators repelled the unprecedented pressure placed upon them by Deval Patrick, Therese Murray and Salvatore DiMasi and stood by their previous pledges to support the Marriage Amendment.
These brave legislators need our thanks today!
Those opposed to a statewide vote on the definition of marriage have already promised to put all their resources towards removing these principled public servants from office. We must remind them that they were right in their votes and that we appreciate the sacrifices that they have made while standing firm on this issue.
Please call, email and write each of these legislators to thank them. Below is the contact information for the 45 legislators. We encourage you to call, email and write to each of these legislators thanking them for their courage and their strength of conviction. A handwritten thank you note would be the most personal way to thank them.
[More at URL]
----- 11 -----
Tell the 11 Benedict Arnolds how you feel about their betrayal
Contact Information for the 11 Traitors
Contact Information for the 11 legislators who switched their votes on the Marriage Amendment at the Constitutional Convention on June 14, 2007
voteonmarriage.org
Online as of 19 June 2007
http://www.voteonmarriage.org/the11.shtml
On June 14, after the votes were cast and the final tally revealed, eleven legislators (nine who had voted for the Marriage Amendment at the Constitutional Convention held on Jan. 2; two freshmen legislators who ran and won election on "letting the people vote" last year) turned their back on the citizens of this Commonwealth and voted to deny the people a say on the definition of marriage. This is an outrage and these eleven legislators must understand that disloyalty has consequences.
These eleven Benedict Arnolds not only lied to the leaders of our movement, they lied to every citizen in this state. Right up until the day of the vote, each of these legislators reiterated their commitment to voting "Yes" to give the people a right to voice their opinion on same-sex marriage. Unfortunately, the true character of these so-called "public servants" became apparent once the final vote was recorded.
Please call, email and write each of these legislators today. Below is the contact information for the 11 traitors. Let them know, in civil but strong terms, how you feel about their decision to change their votes. They need to know that the outrage over their betrayal is real and will not go away overnight.
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
House Set to Vote on Bill That Would Fund Abortions Overseas
Another provision would waive abstinence directives in AIDS program.
by Jennifer Mesko, associate editor
Focus on the Family
6-18-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/cltopstories/A000004867.cfm
The U.S. House is scheduled to vote on an appropriations bill Wednesday that includes language aimed at ending the president's prohibition on tax dollars going to groups that fund or promote abortion overseas. Another provision in the bill would change the way AIDS money is spent.
The State-Foreign Operations appropriations bill contains language that would kill the Mexico City policy – named after the location where President Reagan announced it.
The National Right to Life Committee said the proposed change would "allow even the most aggressively pro-abortion groups to be eligible for U.S. assistance," LifeNews.com reported.
Reps. Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican, and Bart Stupak, a Michigan Democrat, are behind a bipartisan amendment to the bill that would preserve the pro-life policy.
“Once again, we are so thankful for members of Congress who are willing to defend family values," said Ashley Horne, federal policy analyst for Focus on the Family Action. "Constituents must stand behind Representatives Smith and Stupak as they seek to protect the family in the face of overwhelming odds by offering these pro-family amendments.”
President Bush has pledged to veto any legislation that undermines his pro-life policies.
The appropriations bill also includes a provision that would waive the 33 percent spending directive for abstinence-until-marriage programs under PEPFAR, a five-year, $15 billion plan to address AIDS.
Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Pa., is planning to offer an amendment to protect the abstinence component.
Linda Klepacki, sexual health analyst for Focus Action, said, "International research has proven that HIV infections decrease in a generalized population when a three-pronged approach is taken: abstinence-until-marriage, being faithful to one’s partner, and condoms if necessary. Why would any politician risk increasing HIV rates in this world?"
TAKE ACTION
Urge your representative to support Rep. Pitts’ amendment to preserve the spending directive for abstinence-until-marriage programs. Also, urge your representative to support the Smith/Stupak amendment to preserve the Mexico City policy.
If you are a CitizenLink Daily Update subscriber, click on the blue "Take Action" button in the e-mail to be automatically logged in to our Action Center. Otherwise, click on this link.
----- 13 -----
Appellate Court Nomination Threatened in Committee
Democrats won't allow up-or-down vote by full Senate.
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
Focus on the Family
6-15-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000004858.cfm
Partisan politics have stranded a Bush appellate court nominee in the Senate Judiciary Committee as Democrats threaten to block a vote.
Mississippi lawyer Leslie Southwick was nominated by Bush this year to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Curt Levey, executive director of the Committee for Justice, said Democratic committee members are up to the same old tricks: calling every southern white nominee a "racist" and blocking anyone who might have a conservative judicial philosophy.
"It looks as if all 10 of them are going to vote against Southwick, which means he'd be defeated in committee and the nomination would be essentially dead," Levey said. "I didn't think this was going to happen, because the allegations against him are so baseless."
Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for Focus on the Family Action, called the threat "an outrage of the first order."
"The travesty here, as we've experienced before," he said, "is that liberals on the Senate Judiciary Committee are so beholden to left-wing, special-interest groups that fund their re-election campaigns, they smeared and defamed excellent nominees to keep peace with those groups."
The American Bar Association has rated Southwick as "well-qualified," Hausknecht added. He's considered an outstanding jurist.
Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., said there is no reason for liberals to block the nomination.
"He's one of the finest lawyers in the state of Mississippi," he told CQ Today. "It's pure partisan politics at its worst."
Levey said liberals searched through more than 7,000 cases Southwick was involved in, looking for ammunition.
"They could only find two cases – and he didn't even write the opinions – and they're still picking out phrases like 'homosexual lifestyle,' claiming it is an offensive phrase," he said.
On Thursday, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., aware of the antics of the committee, asked for an extra week to convince committee members to allow Southwick a vote by the full Senate.
Hausknecht said it is up to leaders such as Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to follow up on warnings about the consequences of playing games with judicial nominees.
"If this nonsense doesn't stop now," Hausknecht said, "the courts will suffer, the rule of law will suffer, and we'll all be worse off because of it."
TAKE ACTION
Ask your senators to give President Bush's judicial nominees a fair up-or-down vote by the full Senate.
If you are a CitizenLink Daily Update subscriber, click on the blue "Take Action" button in the e-mail to be automatically logged in to our Action Center. Otherwise, click on this link.
----- 14 -----
Arizona Bioethics Conference Brings Christians Together
Focus on the Family
6-14-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000004846.cfm
Do you need a living will? An advance directive? What’s all the fuss about stem-cell research and cloning?
Tackle these questions and more at "The Biotech Century: Facing Our Future," a conference on Christian worldview and bioethics that is coming to Phoenix in November. The conference is co-sponsored by Focus on the Family.
"What does the Bible say and how does biblical truth apply to these topics? That's what we'll cover in the conference," said Carrie Gordon Earll, senior bioethics analyst for Focus on the Family Action. "The world is a different place than it was 10 years ago — and it will be different yet in another 10 years. This conference is designed to help equip pastors, church leaders and other Christians as they navigate the often morally treacherous waters of bioethical issues."
Speakers include Earll, and Nikolas Nikas, president of the Bioethics Defense Fund.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Visit The Biotech Century Web site.
[Ed. Note: According to the splash of the webpage, the conference is being held at the Bethany Bible Church in Phoenix, and is preceeded by an invitation-only Pastor's Briefing. Sponsours are Focus on the Family, The Centre for Arizona Policy, Phoenix Seminary, the Christian Medical and Dental Association, The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network (who are, interestingly, aware of and against transhumanism and "technosapiens" - one of their primary writers on transhumanism is a creationist - and against stem-cell research, abortion rights, and so on), and the Bioethics Defense Fund (mostly anti-abortion-rights and anti-stem-cell research which talks about "eroding Roe" as "a winning strategy") - basically, all theoconservative and/or fundamentalist organisations. I think it's clear what kind of conference this will be.]
----- 15 -----
Airline, Bank Criticized for Funding Gay Pride Festival
Focus on the Family
6-14-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000004847.cfm
Southwest Airlines and SunTrust Banks, Inc., are defending their sponsorship of a gay-pride event in Washington, D.C., last weekend after coming under fire from the Family Research Council (FRC).
The airline and bank were corporate sponsors for the Capital Pride Festival, a 10-day event in which homosexuals took to the streets to demand "social equality" — namely the legalization of same-sex marriage.
FRC criticized the sponsors, arguing it was an "irrational business decision" to "put their name and their money behind radical homosexual activities."
[More at URL]
----- 16 -----
Kansas AG Wants to Silence Outspoken Abortion Witness
Focus on the Family
6-14-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000004848.cfm
Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison sent a letter to Dr. Paul McHugh demanding that he stop publicly discussing records associated with the investigation of late-term abortionist George Tiller, KWCH-TV reported.
McHugh, a former Johns Hopkins University professor, was asked to review the records at the request of former Attorney General Phill Kline.
[...]
McHugh told Women Influencing the Nation that the redacted abortion records reveal that clients did not receive complete exams, and reasons cited by Tiller to justify abortions were "social," not "psychiatric."
[...]
"The remarkable thing was they were all the same. These were very brief files," McHugh told The Associated Press. "Lots of psychiatrists, including me, do not believe there are any pure psychiatric reasons that justify abortion."
Mary Kay Culp, executive director or Kansans for Life, said Morrison is trampling on McHugh's free-speech rights.
"This is an outrage," Culp told LifeNews, "and (it) illustrates the lengths that Dr. Tiller and AG Morrison will go to cover up the truth."
[More at URL]
----- 17 -----
Colorado Pro-Life Group Joins National Right to Life
Rogue affiliate cut loose.
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
Focus on the Family
6-14-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000004849.cfm
The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) on Wednesday named Colorado Citizens for Life/Protecting Life Now as the new state affiliate, replacing the divisive Colorado Right to Life (CRTL).
In a misguided and misleading media campaign a few weeks ago, CRTL, along with a handful of other groups, criticized Focus on the Family Founder and Chairman Dr. James Dobson for his support of the federal partial-birth abortion ban that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Carrie Gordon Earll, senior analyst for bioethics at Focus on the Family Action, said it's reassuring to know a group of such prominence is willing to make a tough decision when its charter is challenged by a rogue affiliate, such as CRTL.
"Rather than use their money and energy to advance pro-life goals, Colorado Right to Life chose instead to attack its allies in the cause," Earll said. "It gave its parent organization no choice but to name a new state affiliate."
[More at URL]
----- 18 -----
Washington Parents Weren’t Told Before Students Had Homosexuality Lesson
Focus on the Family
6-11-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000004815.cfm
Some Olympia, Wash., parents were outraged that they weren't informed before their middle school kids attended an assembly about what it's like to be gay, The Olympian reported.
At an assembly last week, six panelists told students about how their same-sex attraction has led to discrimination.
Patti Connolly, whose eighth-grade daughter attends Washington Middle School, said the school should have alerted parents.
"I was livid," she said. "It's not appropriate. That stuff is taught at home, not at school."
[...]
Bill Lahmann, superintendent of Olympia School District, said while the school could have done more to notify parents, Olympia schools would not stop holding such assembliers.
"It doesn't matter what a student's beliefs are or anything else," he said. "Harassment is not tolerated."
Stewart Wood has an eighth-grade daughter at the school.
"The school was making a decision to give certain information to sway students," he said. "They're undermining parents, and they're deciding what morals to teach our children."
[More at URL]
----- 19 -----
Maine Legislature Expands Family Leave Act to Include Gays
Focus on the Family
6-6-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000004789.cfm
A bill to expand Maine's Family Medical Leave Act to include domestic partners is headed to Gov. John Baldacci's desk, and a spokesman said Baldacci will sign it, The Associated Press reported.
"It was expected. We were the only opposition to it. It's basically same-sex benefits," said Michael Heath, executive director of the Christian Civic League of Maine, which is associated with Focus on the Family.
"The bill has been this session's legislative priority for the Maine homosexual lobby," reads a statement from Heath's group.
The measure applies to heterosexual couples as well as homosexual couples, Heath said. It allows those who have been employed for 12 consecutive months by the same employer to receive up to 10 weeks of family medical leave to care for a domestic partner.
TAKE ACTION
If you live in Maine, urge Gov. Baldacci to respect the sanctity of marriage by vetoing this bill. If you are a CitizenLink Daily Update subscriber, click on the blue button in the e-mail to be automatically logged in to our Action Center. Otherwise, click on this link.
(Paid for by Focus on the Family Action)
----- 20 -----
2008 Democratic Candidates Push Gay Agenda
Focus on the Family
6-6-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000004790.cfm
Seven Democratic presidential candidates, including the frontrunners, unanimously believe the federal government should recognize state-level same-sex marriages. That's according to a survey conducted by the Human Rights Campaign, a national homosexual activist group.
Sens. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards, along with four others, all favor repealing Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, the Baptist Press reports. Under the change, the government would be forced to grant the legal benefits of marriage to same-sex couples "married" at the state level.
According to the questionnaire, the seven candidates also support: civil unions for gay couples; overturning the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy; federal hate-crimes legislation that would grant gays special rights; and the Uniting American Families Act, which would allow gay Americans to petition for immigration sponsorship for their same-sex partners.
(Paid for by Focus on the Family Action)
----- 21 -----
California Assembly Approves Gay-Marriage Bill
Schwarzenegger, who vetoed similar legislation in 2005, has said he'll do it again.
by Jennifer Mesko, associate editor
Focus on the Family
6-6-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000004792.cfm
For the second time in two years, a bill to legalize same-sex marriage could be headed to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk.
The Assembly voted Tuesday, mostly along party lines, to allow gay couples to marry. The measure now heads to the Senate, which adopted a similar bill in 2005. Schwarzenegger vetoed that bill, and has said he will veto this one if it reaches his desk.
“There ought to be a few standards that stand the test of time, marriage being one of them,” Assemblyman Doug La Malfa, R-Chico, told The Associated Press. “An institution that has lasted thousands of years in one form, that we would change it in the Legislature is pretty arrogant of us.”
This chapter of the state's same-sex marriage debate is likely to be settled by California's Supreme Court this year or next, according to news reports. The court will rule on the application of Proposition 22, which was passed by voters in 2000.
"Once again, California legislators are thumbing their collective noses at the very people they purport to represent," said Carrie Gordon Earll, senior director of issues analysis for Focus on the Family Action.
"In 2000, a majority of Californians voted that only marriage between a man and a woman would be valid or recognized in that state. Yet, pro-homosexual lawmakers are determined to undermine marriage by declaring that homosexual 'marriage' should be allowed — regardless of what the people have spoken on the subject."
TAKE ACTION
If you live in California, urge your senator and Gov. Schwarzenegger to support traditional marriage. If you are a CitizenLink Daily Update subscriber, click on the blue "Take Action" button in the e-mail to be automatically logged in to our Action Center. Otherwise, click on this link.
(Paid for by Focus on the Family Action)
----- 22 -----
Lightning Punctuates Giuliani's Abortion Comments
Focus on the Family
6-6-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000004788.cfm
Lightning struck at Tuesday's Republican presidential debate just as candidate Rudy Giuliani stepped to the microphone to answer a question about his support for abortion, LifeSiteNews.com reported.
CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked Giuliani to address comments made by Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin, who had compared Giuliani to Pontius Pilate and said, "Rudy's public proclamations on abortion are pathetic and confusing. Even worse, they're hypocritical."
As Giuliani started to answer, lightning struck several times nearby, momentarily zapping the sound system and producing alternating static and silence. Giuliani raised his hands and glanced toward the heavens.
"For someone who went to parochial schools all his life," he chuckled, "this is a very frightening thing."
Nonetheless, he took his chances and expressed his personal opposition to abortion, but reaffirmed his belief that government should stay out of it.
(Paid for by Focus on the Family Action)
----- 23 -----
Physician Assistants Debate Help for Homosexuals
Group stops short of banning reparative therapy.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
6-4-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000004771.cfm
After much wrangling, the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) will allow its members to help patients who want to leave homosexuality.
A fight erupted at the AAPA’s annual meeting last week over a resolution brought by the "Committee on Diversity" that would essentially have banned therapy aimed at helping people escape unwanted homosexual attraction.
John Fields, a spokesman for the Fellowship of Christian Physician Assistants, said his group joined others in opposing the idea.
[...]
A resolution that passed states that the AAPA will not allow members to coerce patients into reparative therapy or view homosexuality as a mental disorder.
“We didn’t slam the door on the option of the therapy," Fields said, "but we still don’t have a mechanism in our policy that will allow a patient’s spiritual condition to be considered.”
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no subject
Date: 2007-06-20 01:00 pm (UTC)> Focus on the Family claims that discovery of functionality
> in "junk" DNA is "a strike against evolution," makes up the
> claim that "Darwinists" relied on "junk" DNA as "evidence of
> the randomness of evolution," then knocks down that strawman;
> "This is a strike against evolution".
Yes, inert sections in DNA is only weak evidence of evolution through DNA mutation, so from the viewpoint of the theory of genetic evolution knocking it over is just a strawman argument. However, the creationists like to believe that God would not put useless materials into his design; thus, the inert sections were a strong argument against intelligent design.
That they chose to call evidence supporting intelligent design "a strike against evolution" reflects that they think the debate has merely two sides, Biblical Creation vs. Darwinian Evolution. They don't understand that science repeatedly adapts its theories to the evidence and has pondered many versions of evolution.
Disclaimer: I am a Biblical literalist myself and believe that God created the world. But it appears that he created the world to look natural rather than artificial. So theories of natural evolution are a good way to understand the world.
Erin Schram
no subject
Date: 2007-06-20 06:01 pm (UTC)Have these people never heard of the appendix?
Science is a process, not dogma. It's _supposed_ to change with new data.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-21 11:16 pm (UTC)The AP article reinforced the persistent belief that the appendix is a useless organ, leftover from our evolutionary past, by claiming the appendix … has no real function.
We all might be dead, in fact, if we were born without an appendix.
You see, the appendix is a highly specialized organ with a rich blood supply, not what you would expect from a degenerate, useless structure. It has long been known that the appendix contains lymphatic tissue and has a role in controlling bacteria entering the intestines.
Given that people are routinely born without an appendix, and nobody notices until there's a laproscopy for some other reason entirely, I'm not sure I buy the 'we'd all be DEAD!!!!' argument, though.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-20 07:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-20 02:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-20 03:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-20 07:28 pm (UTC)No, no, you don't get it. People are NOT GAY. They're just confused. They should marry and let their spouse take care of them.
[/sarcasm]