Today's Cultural Warfare Update
Jul. 21st, 2007 12:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbird"Murder suspect says he was doing God's work" - he went looking for a gay man to kill, found one, and did. He insists he did the "right thing." This motive is, for those who are curious, exactly what kind of motive the fundamentalists are defending. Exactly. And I'm saying that as someone who is ambivalent about "hate crimes" laws. But I have the decency to be ambivalent about them in general, not just for some particular group I hate. (The various opposition groups are all fine with Federal hate crimes laws based on things like race and religion.) Anyway;
Fred Thompson lurches - harder - to the social right, trying to pick up theocon rank-and-file support;
NSA blamed two defector's traitorous activities on behalf of the USSR on their homosexuality - but oh look, turns out? Straight. And the NSA knew it;
I heard that the disturbing Nebraska judge declared a second mistrial in rape case after the woman who says she was raped used the word "rape" in testimony; here's Salon's article, on the whole thing;
Focus on the Family sends out a special Editor's Note with Friday's Focus on the Family political news update: an explanation that James Dobson still hates Harry Potter as much as any upright fundamentalist should, particularly for its "magical characters" such as "witches, wizards, ghosts, goblins, werewolfs, poltergeists, and so on," condemning "the trend towards witchcraft and New Age ideology";
Focus on the Family opposes any Israel "promise to give up land;" it's not clear whether they oppose any two-state solution or not; the reasons, of course, are "biblical";
Focus on the Family condemns Obama, Edwards for pledging to support legal abortion;
FotF applauds House of Representatives vote supporting amendment to ban Federal funds from being spent on "mandatory" HPV (cervical cancer) vaccination; given that they were calling the non-mandatory listing of the vaccine with standard school vaccination lists "mandatory" - this was a lie - I wonder what got passed here, as well;
Focus on the Family promotes "Revival Fires Ministries," which sends Bibles sent to US soldiers stationed in the middle east;
Focus on the Family sells their talking points against GBLT marriage rights for $15 a pop;
FotF condemns National Education Association for support of GBLT rights and also adding "sexual orientation" to Federal hate crimes law; Focus on the Family, as is standard, calls it "creation of a thought crime," ignoring that motive has always been a key part of law, period, end of story, and calls the bill an attempt "to muzzle people of faith who dare to express their moral and biblical concerns about homosexuality";
Focus on the Family reports a Zogby poll stating that 97% of US adults say "professor bias" is a problem; support for the statement is wildly political, with 91% of conservatives calling the problem "serious" vs. 3% of liberals. FotF supports state "legislation that would protect students from professors who have conflicting opinions." This is another permutation of wanting to avoid even being presented with conflicting data - c.f. the recent case of a fundamentalist suing the state of Massachusetts for asking about same-sex marriage in Massachusetts on their state bar exam; he demands the right not to be asked the question because the law conflicts with his religious beliefs. Zogby, interestingly, links to the Focus on the Family story;
FotF continues the Bush judicial nominee drumbeat;
FotF continues the Bush judicial nominee drumbeat, part II;
FotF condemns Democratic presidential candidates for attending the Human Rights Campaign's debate, declaring "Democratic Presidential Candidates Pander to Homosexual Lobby," asserts that there should be no such debate and that no one should attend it;
FotF supports both attempts to pass marriage bans via initiative in California, supports both, but links only to the one they like better; they quote their sockpuppet California Family Council, which is their state affiliate - they describe it as "associated" with Focus;
FotF news story against U. Florida having Dr. Jack Kevorkian speak on campus; "Bobby Schindler, brother of the late Terri Schiavo" is organising protests. You should remember Terri Schiavo and the brutal - and crazy - battle that Congress got into a couple of years ago. She's held up as a totem/martyr by the fundamentalist movement as "a handicapped woman starved to death";
FotF condemns one school's rejection of "ex-gay" bullshit, declaring that "'tolerance' equals censorship"; Focus on the Family condemns tolerance of queers again, of course; the anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund is getting involved.
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM to support amendment by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) to bar all Federal funds from going to Planned Parenthood in any capacity;
Focus on the Family promotes "Modesty Movement" and "Pure Fashion," which has as its motto, "from the shoulder to the knees, nobody touches, nobody sees." I can't wait to see their swimwear - or their new line of burkas; oh, and by the way, women not wearing enough clothing causes the decline of cultures;
Focus on the Family promotes the discredited "Gangs of Lesbians Raping Our Children" scare-story aired on a couple of local stations, then inflated by Bill O'Reilly to "hundreds of incidents"; Focus's story quotes liberally (GET IT?) from various versions, condemns GBLT groups for opposing the story. "They don't want this type of information to get out... because then they know people's eyes will be opened, they'll begin to see this whole situation for what it is really is," which, pulling out the barely-contained subtext, is the old newtype blood libel of queers raping your children for their devient sexual desires;
FotF condemns Oregon court for ruling that both lesbian partners have parental status of their child; also promotes attempt to repeal Oregon DP law by "Defense of Marriage and Family," DMF appears to consist of a Republican former state senator, "Restore America," of whom I'm not aware, and the chair of the Constitution Party of Oregon, which has moved sharply to the theocratic over the last several years;
FotF credits anti-abortion laws for lowering abortion rates in Alabama, is very happy about that;
FotF condemns Amnesty International for wanting "to be free of fear, threat and coercion as they manage all consequences of rape and other grave human rights violations," which they declare to be a statement in support of abortion, despite AI's position that it does not "promote abortion as a universal right and Amnesty International remains silent on the rights and wrongs of abortion," saying that if you're doing the former, you're endorsing abortion;
FotF promotes David Limbaugh's book, Persecution: How Liberals are Waging War Against Christians, condemns tolerance, describes the separation of church and state as "mythical" - not just a bad idea, but outright mythical - and urges people to fight for the "true religious freedom" of, presumably, official government support of their religious beliefs over others;
Faith and Freedom Network condemns gay vets working to overturn the ban on lesbian and gay soldiers in the military;
Faith and Freedom Network condemns allowing a Hindu clergyman to deliver the ceremonial opening prayer before the US Senate, quoting well-known fraud David Barton (a fundamentalist historian who has been caught faking source material and then defending the fakery as thematically accurate) as an authority; remember, when dealing with these guys, it's not "is it actually true" that matters, it's "does it support our position";
Faith and Freedom Network is one of the many groups repeating the "GAY ACTIVISTS TRY TO STOP TV NEWS STORY" line - the completely discredited story promoted on Bill O'Reilly's Fox TV show claiming that dozens to hundreds of lesbian gangs were gang-raping straight girls to turn them gay in schools across the country. This story was complete bullshit - but FFN is promoting as true, just as was Focus on the Family and LifeSite and all that, and condemning GLAAD and other GBLT groups for protesting the completely fictional story as news. FFN's repeat of the story is vaguely interesting as there's an extensive rebuttal first up in the comments which hasn't been deleted. However, the True Believers are supporting Gary, of course;
Faith and Freedom Network condemns makeup of American Psychological Association panel reviewing APA guidelines for treating GBLT people, because it has gay people on it. Also, who is PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians And Gays) according to FFN? They're "the folks who actively recruit young children under the guise of sex education";
Concerned Women for America's Matt Barber condemns Holsinger's distancing of himself from his previous statements; he (and CWA) wants a surgeon general who will condemn GBLT people, and to proclaim that queers are "demonstrably unnatural and unhealthy";
Concerned Women for America's Matt Barber condemns Democratic presidential candidates for showing up at the Human Rights Campaign's debate, condemns "the radical homosexual agenda," the "high-risk and destructive homosexual lifestyle," claims that "the CDC has determined that homosexuals — especially males — are by far at greatest risk for nearly all forms of sexually transmitted disease as well as other lifestyle related injuries" ("especially males" is clever excerpting there as lesbians are known for lower-than-average STD rates, but hey, what's a little reality got to do with "diseased fags" propaganda) and! and! invokes NAMBLA as a parallel. "Are presidential candidates going to be asked to participate in a debate on how to garner widespread acceptance of adultery or incest? Are members of the growing polygamy lobby and the pedophile group NAMBLA going to tap candidates for a televised debate to promote their chosen lifestyles?" What a dickweed.
----- 1 -----
Murder suspect says he was doing God's work
Cypress man is being held in the June death of flight attendant
By PAIGE HEWITT
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
July 15, 2007, 12:34AM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4968717.html
A Cypress man charged in the death of a Southwest Airlines flight attendant said Saturday that he was doing God's work when he went to a Montrose-area bar last month, hunting for a gay man to kill.
[...]
Mangum believed Cummings to be gay.
"I planned on sending him to hell," he said.
Cummings disappeared June 4. His charred remains were found June 16, buried on a 50-acre ranch near San Antonio owned by Mangum's 90-year-old grandfather.
[...]
Mangum — who claimed he has studied the Bible for "thousands and thousands and thousands of hours" — said God first commanded him to kill during a "visitation," or dream, while he was in prison in 2001. He said his victim must be a man because men "carry the harvest of the sinner."
[...]
"It's not that I'm a bad dude," he said, expressing concern that people might view him as "strange." Pausing briefly, he said, "I love God."
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
Thompson Reaches to the Right
Laying the groundwork for evangelical support
By Dan Gilgoff
US News and World Report
Posted 7/15/07
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070715/23thompson.htm
For months, conservative evangelical activists have been fretting over a Republican presidential field whose front-runners are the pro-abortion rights Rudy Giuliani, the formerly pro-gay rights Mitt Romney, and John McCain, who once lambasted Jerry Falwell. Activists took little consolation in more socially conservative candidates, like former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee or Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, who seemed doomed by low name recognition. Now the Christian right is eyeing former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson, who is thought to be on the verge of entering the race. And Thompson is waging a rigorous behind-the-scenes effort to win its support.
[...]
The success of the effort is by no means ensured; in March, Focus on the Family's James Dobson told U.S. News that he doubted Thompson was really a Christian. But Dobson and Thompson have since talked, with Dobson rumored to be reassessing Thompson. And prominent social conservative Paul Weyrich, who met recently with Thompson and evangelical activists, said the former senator "was in agreement with us on almost everything."
[...]
Thompson is emphasizing his eight-year record as a senator from Tennessee and his campaign endorsements from the National Right to Life Committee. "It didn't look like he was saying what a group of Christian consultants told him to say," says Harry Jackson, a black pastor who met recently with Thompson. "He seemed to be saying, 'I'm one of you.'"
[More at URL]
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The Worst Internal Scandal in NSA History Was Blamed on Cold War Defectors’ Homosexuality
But what if they weren’t gay?
By Rick Anderson
Seattle Weekly
http://www.seattleweekly.com/2007-07-18/news/the-worst-internal-scandal-in-nsa-history-was-blamed-on-cold-war-defectors-homosexuality.php
To some of his detractors, William Hamilton Martin was something of an amusing figure on the streets of Washington, D.C., in the 1960s, a bookish mathematician with a crew cut who walked with a Groucho Marx–like waddle. But what others remembered most was that lean, blue-eyed "Ham" Martin, a University of Washington graduate and the son of an Ellensburg meatpacker, was a meticulous dresser, spoke "slightly effeminately," and may have had a thing for a Stanford grad named Bernon Mitchell. Furthermore, the belief among some officials, politicians, and the press was that because Martin and Mitchell might be homosexual, they did the unthinkable: In the midst of the Cold War, the two National Security Agency code breakers defected to Russia and went to work for the Soviet government.
On June 25, 1960, after four years as trusted employees of America's largest spy agency, Martin, then 29, and Mitchell, then 31, flew out of Washington, D.C., with one-way tickets to Mexico City. From there, they quietly slipped off to Havana and took a Russian freighter to the Soviet Union, following a plan that had evolved over a year. The case stunned politicians and intelligence officials alike. Looking back, some of the defectors' neighbors and co-workers told investigators that if they'd been more vigilant about the pair's sexual proclivities, maybe they'd have been more suspicious of their patriotism.
[...]
But according to the NSA's own investigative files, obtained exclusively by Seattle Weekly, there's one major problem with the flaming traitor theory: Martin and Mitchell weren't gay. The formerly classified Pentagon and NSA documents, which reveal previously unpublished details of the historic spy-agency saga, appear to clear Martin and Mitchell of the sexual charges that rocked the country 47 years ago this summer and led to landmark NSA policy changes.
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
Gag OrderA Nebraska judge bans the word rape from his courtroom.
By Dahlia Lithwick
Posted Wednesday, June 20, 2007, at 7:27 PM ET
Slate
http://slate.com/id/2168758/
Usually we leave it up to the linguists and philosophers to muse on the crazy relationship between words and their meanings. In the law, words—the important ones, at least—are defined narrowly, and judges, lawyers, and jurors are trusted to understand their meanings. It's precisely because language is so powerful in a courtroom that we treat it so reverently.
Yet a Nebraska district judge, Jeffre Cheuvront, suddenly finds himself in a war of words with attorneys on both sides of a sexual assault trial. More worrisome, he appears to be at war with language itself, and his paradoxical answer is to ban it: Last fall, Cheuvront granted a motion by defense attorneys barring the use of the words rape, sexual assault, victim, assailant, and sexual assault kit from the trial of Pamir Safi—accused of raping Tory Bowen in October 2004.
[...]
Bowen testified for 13 hours at Safi's first trial last October, all without using the words rape or sexual assault. She claims, not unreasonably, that describing what happened to her as sex is almost an assault in itself. "This makes women sick, especially the women who have gone through this," Bowen told the Omaha World-Herald. "They know the difference between sex and rape."
[...]
Do a Lexis search on the influence of inflammatory language on juror perceptions. Try to find some social science data on the effect of loaded courtroom words on conviction rates. Not much out there, notes Murphy. That's one of the things that makes the Nebraska case so maddening. If judges are going to take it upon themselves to issue blanket orders that would have witnesses testifying that black is white, one might hope that they are trying to remedy some well-documented evidentiary problem.
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
Citizenlink
Daily Update
Editor's Note
19 July 2007
[Received in email; no URL]
Dr. James Dobson wants all friends of Focus on the Family to know about an error involving him that appeared on Page 1 of Wednesday's Washington Post. In a story about Christians' views on the Harry Potter books and films, reporter Jacqueline Salmon wrote that "Christian parenting guru James Dobson has praised the Potter books." This is the exact opposite of Dr. Dobson's opinion -- in fact, he said a few years ago on his daily radio broadcast that "We have spoken out strongly against all of the Harry Potter products." His rationale for that statement: Magical characters – witches, wizards, ghosts, goblins, werewolves, poltergeists, and so on – fill the Harry Potter stories, and given the trend toward witchcraft and New Age ideology in the larger culture, it’s difficult to ignore the effects such stories (albeit imaginary) might have on young, impressionable minds.
Ms. Salmon has not only acknowledged, but apologized for, the mistake and has promised the Post will correct it Friday. It seems she simply repeated misinformation that appeared in a less high-profile publication; she acknowledged she should have contacted us directly to make sure the assertion was true -- and we appreciate her humility and professionalism in saying so.
The correction will also be offered to papers that subscribe to the Post's wire service and which may have also published the piece.
Dr. Dobson and the entire Focus family thank you for your continued interest in and support of our ministry.
----- 5 -----
Evangelicals Urged to Defend Israel
Pressure to give up land is a “move in the wrong direction.”
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
7-19-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000005086.cfm
More than 3,000 evangelicals met in Washington, D.C., this week for the Christians United for Israel Summit, where they heard about the increasing pressures against the historic and biblical country.
Gary Bauer, president of American Values, said the Bush administration’s pressure on Israel to give up land is a “move in the wrong direction.”
[...]
Bill Koenig, author of Eye to Eye – Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel, said standing with Israel is biblical.
“Genesis 12:3 talks about those who stand with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their decedents will be blessed,” he told Family News in Focus. “And those who do not will be cursed, and if you look at the end of that Scripture, it talks about all families on earth.”
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
Edwards, Obama Pledge Abortion Support
The candidates’ health-care plans would cover “pregnancy termination” and “reproductive health.”
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
7-19-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000005087.cfm
At the Planned Parenthood Action Fund presidential candidate forum earlier this week, the John Edwards and Barack Obama campaigns promised to include abortion coverage in their universal health care plans.
Elizabeth Edwards said her husband’s plan would cover “all reproductive health care, including pregnancy termination.” Obama said his would cover “reproductive health services,” which his campaign later confirmed includes abortion.
Kelly Shackelford, chief counsel of Liberty Legal Institute, told Family News in Focus the Edwards and Obama plans could void state pro-life laws.
”Under the U.S. Constitution, there’s what’s called the Supremacy Clause, which says that the federal law is the supreme law of the land – that if the federal government has authority under the Constitution, their law will trump the state law,” Shackleford said.
That could include parental-notification laws, clinic regulations, informed-consent laws and laws that require women be offered ultrasound services. Pro-life legal organizations would have their hands full.
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
Amendment Keeps Taxpayers from Funding Mandatory HPV Vaccines
Focus on the Family
7-19-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000005084.cfm
The U.S. House passed an amendment Wednesday that will keep the government from funding mandatory vaccination against the human papillomavirus (HPV).
Republican Reps. Phil Gingrey of Georgia and Jim Jordan of Ohio introduced the amendment following efforts across the country to require young girls to receive the vaccine to attend school.
[More at URL]
----- 8 -----
Bibles Lead Troops to Faith
Focus on the Family
7-19-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000005082.cfm
Following a Fourth of July campaign, Revival Fires Ministries will send another 2,500 Bibles to soldiers stationed in the Middle East. Already the ministry has donated 140,000 to U.S. troops, the American Family Association reported.
Tim Todd, president of Revival Fires, is asking people to consider assisting the ministry in its mission.
"Bibles are better than bullets in Iraq and Afghanistan," he said. "That is the life-changing power of the Word of God — and it's making a difference in the lives of our soldiers."
Lt. Brian K. Waite, a command chaplain, told Revival Fires that when people are faced with their own mortality, they turn to the Word of God.
"I saw more than 60 combat-hardened men come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ,” he said. “In fact, I had the privilege of baptizing them in the Tigris River on Easter Sunday."
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Click here to learn more about Revival Fires Ministries
----- 9 -----
Ten Persuasive Answers to the Question ... "Why Not Gay Marriage?"
Glenn T. Stanton
Online as of 20 July 2007
http://resources.family.org/product/id/102435.do?code=OL07XFARC3
Focus on the Family defends natural marriage and opposes same-sex marriage whenever and wherever we're invited. Over time, we've learned which arguments have been most persuasive. In this concise and convincing set, Senior Analyst Glenn Stanton will share with you what he's learned in many college campus debates. Master these responses, and you'll be well suited to defend the family with love and compassion.
[More at URL]
----- 10 -----
NEA Votes for Gay Agenda
Teachers union does not reflect beliefs of many of its members.
by Candi Cushman, education analyst
Focus on the Family
7-18-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/clcommentary/A000005070.cfm
Some teachers got an unwelcome surprise this year when they returned home from the National Education Association’s annual convention, held in Philadelphia over the Fourth of July weekend.
They learned their NEA leaders had quietly adopted a recommendation to “develop public and member support” for the “creation, amendment and/or passage of federal hate-crimes legislation” and other pro-homosexual measures.
The revelation comes at an interesting time: Democrats are trying to ramrod a “hate-crimes” bill. They hope to force President Bush to sign it by attaching it to military spending legislation.
If the strategy works, we will have a federal law that punishes crimes based on thoughts, not actions. In short, we will have official “thought crimes.”
Dr. James C. Dobson, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family Action, has warned that “the true intent of the legislation is not to punish what is already illegal. It is to muzzle people of faith who dare to express their moral and biblical concerns about homosexuality.”
[More at URL]
----- 11 -----
Professor Bias Troubles Students and Parents
97 percent of U.S. adults say it's a problem.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
7-18-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000005075.cfm
Do you worry your child will be fed a spoonful of political correctness in college? According to a new Zogby poll, you’re not alone. Ninety-seven percent of adults in the U.S. say professor bias is a problem at colleges and universities.
Notably, 91 percent of conservatives polled called professor bias a “serious” problem; but only 3 percent of liberals agreed.
Sara Dogan, national campus director with Students for Academic Freedom, hears complaints from students on a daily basis.
“There’s been a greater realization in recent years on the part of students that the education they’re getting is very much slanted," she told Family News in Focus. "Students are beginning to wake up to the fact that they can fight this.”
One way to take action: a “Student’s Bill of Rights.” Dogan’s group is promoting state legislation that would protect students from professors who have conflicting opinions. Candi Cushman, education analyst with Focus on the Family Action, applauded the effort.
[More at URL]
[Zogby poll press release: http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1334 ]
----- 12 -----
Senator Specter Defends Judicial Nominee Southwick
'There is not any reason that this man should not be confirmed,' he tells colleagues.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
7-18-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000005076.cfm
Judicial nominations are once again the center of attention in the Senate, but this time leading Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who was formerly on the fence with regard to conservative appointees, is speaking out in their favor.
Specter took the floor Tuesday to plead the case of Leslie Southwick.
[...]
Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said Specter is appealing to his colleagues from the other side of the aisle.
“There are two key meetings this week of the Judiciary Committee," he told Family News in Focus, "and Specter wants to use those opportunities to convince one or more Democrats to vote for Southwick, get him out of committee and send him to the floor of the Senate.”
[More at URL]
----- 13 -----
Administration Nominates Four More to Courts
Focus on the Family
7-18-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000005073.cfm
The White House announced four nominees to the U.S. Courts of Appeals on Tuesday – bringing the number pending in the Senate to nine.
* Robert Conrad of North Carolina is nominated for the 4th Circuit seat vacated by the retirement of James Phillips.
* Catharina Haynes of Texas is nominated for the 5th Circuit seat vacated by the retirement of Harold DeMoss.
* Shalom D. Stone of New Jersey is nominated for the 3rd Circuit seat vacated by Samuel Alito.
* John Daniel Tinder of Indiana is nominated for the 7th Circuit seat vacated by the retirement of Daniel Manion.
Curt Levey, executive director of The Committee for Justice, said that leaves six unfilled vacancies and one pending vacancy on the appeals courts.
Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for Focus on the Family Action, applauded the White House for taking action by nominating judges to these critical appellate court vacancies.
"At the same time, we urge the Democrat-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee to stop obstructing the nominees already before it," Hausknecht said.
[More at URL]
----- 14 -----
Democratic Presidential Candidates Pander to Homosexual Lobby
Debate to be devoted solely to gay issues.
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
Focus on the Family
7-18-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000005078.cfm
The homosexual-activist group Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and MTV's gay cable network Logo are sponsoring a presidential candidate forum focused on one topic: homosexuality. While HRC is calling it a historic event, pro-family experts call it nothing more than political pandering.
The 90-minute event is scheduled for Aug. 9 in Los Angeles. According to HRC, all major Democratic and Republican presidential candidates were invited. The list of those who have accepted: Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.; Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.; former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C.; former Sen. Mike Gravel, D-Alaska; Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio; and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.
[...]
Connie Mackey, senior vice president of FRC Action, said a debate focused solely on homosexuality with an audience of gay activists is "clearly a setup."
"It's not good politics," she said. "The only positive I see out of it is that if enough Americans actually watch the Democratic candidates answer some of these questions, they're going to understand something about them that they probably have not understood before."
In other words, Mackey said, the gay agenda will come across loud and clear.
"The questions will be posed in such a way that it looks mean if you're not for it," she said. "So, they'll pose those questions strategically."
Carrie Gordon Earll, senior director of issue analysis for Focus on the Family Action, said the fact that Democratic presidential candidates have agreed to debate such a socially divisive topic "really shows where these particular candidates are coming from."
"By all appearances, this is political pandering at its worst," she said. "With so many critical issues facing our country – everything from the war to health care – this is a poor use of time and national attention."
[More at URL]
----- 15 -----
California Marriage Amendment Drive Takes Shape
Golden State may join the 27 that have changed their constitutions to protect traditional unions.
by Jennifer Mesko, associate editor
7-19-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000005088.cfm
This week, the official title and summary language for several marriage-protection initiatives has been approved by the California attorney general. Two strategies are in play, and two groups may battle for the same conservative population.
"An amendment to the California Constitution, which requires a vote of the people, is the only way to stop the politicians, and especially the courts, from redefining marriage against the will of the majority of Californians," said Ron Prentice, executive director of the California Family Council, which is associated with Focus on the Family.
[...]
"This incessant attack on marriage is precisely why Californians need to support the ProtectMarriage.com initiative to get traditional marriage enshrined in the state Constitution," said Mona Passignano, state issues analyst for Focus on the Family Action.
[...]
“Many churches and organizations are ready to get started, and we are thankful for the volunteer network committed to the signature-gathering process," Prentice said. "However, the release of official petitions for circulation depends on first obtaining significant financial backing. This is in process.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Visit the Protect Marriage Web site.
[More at URL]
----- 16 -----
Kevorkian speech protested
Focus on the Family
7-20-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000005093.cfm
Bobby Schindler, brother of the late Terri Schiavo, has launched a petition drive to persuade the University of Florida (Gainesville) to rescind its invitation to convicted killer Jack Kevorkian to speak on campus Oct. 11.
“It is unacceptable for the University of Florida to give a platform to Jack Kevorkian, a man who willfully helped take people’s lives, some of whose only ailment was depression, and pay him $50,000 to spread his violent message of ‘mercy killing’ to the students of the University of Florida,” Schindler’s petition states.
[More at URL]
----- 17 -----
‘Tolerance’ equals censorship in public school district
Official tells group to ‘stay out of our schools.'
by Candi Cushman, education analyst
7-20-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000005098.cfm
A group that supports people trying to leave homosexuality is “like the KKK but only in the form of religion,” according to a teacher at Montgomery County, Md.’s Thomas S. Wootton High School.
[...]
Using a school-issued e-mail account, the teacher sent those messages to PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-gays and Gays), after the organization distributed fliers to students in compliance with school policy.
So much for “tolerance.”
Which is what the Montgomery County public school district claims it’s promoting by introducing a pro-gay curriculum in all of its middle and high schools this fall.
[...]
“They are essentially telling the kids that unless they accept homosexuality, there is something wrong with them,” said Michelle Turner, a mother of six with two in the school district. “These kids have no ability to voice their objection,” she said. “These lessons are so tightly scripted, there is really no discussion that is permitted to take place in the classroom.”
Turner is the spokeswoman for a local parents’ coalition called Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum (CRC). The parents received bad news in June when the Maryland State Board of Education denied their appeal, ruling that the district’s controversial lesson plans do not violate the law because “teaching tolerance of diversity is a civic value” with a secular purpose.
The message was clear: Anything taught in the name of “tolerance” trumps parental rights — as well as free speech and religious freedom rights. Other parents need to wake up to this trend, warned Turner. “This ‘tolerance’ is a guise for an agenda that’s being pushed on the school system.
[...]
ADF sent a letter this week to the president of Montgomery County’s education board, citing federal court rulings that clearly forbid schools from singling out one group for censorship, while allowing the viewpoints of others.
[More at URL]
----- 18 -----
Pence Deserves Thanks for Taking on Planned Parenthood
Amendment would have kept taxpayer money out of abortion provider's hands.
by Jennifer Mesko, associate editor
Focus on the Family
7-20-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000005097.cfm
Late Thursday afternoon, Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., offered an amendment to the Labor-Health and Human Services Appropriations bill that would prevent taxpayer dollars from being used to fund Planned Parenthood or its affiliates.
Unfortunately, 231 representatives in the U.S. House voted to continue to send millions of dollars in taxpayer money to Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the world. Joining Pence in voting for the amendment were 188 lawmakers.
Pence deserves our thanks, said Ashley Horne, federal policy analyst for Focus on the Family Action.
"We applaud Rep. Pence for boldly offering this important pro-life amendment," she said.
TAKE ACTION
Thank Rep. Mike Pence for taking a stand against Planned Parenthood. Call his office at (202) 225-3021.
----- 19 -----
‘Modesty Movement’ Gains Momentum
Author tells girls that their choices could transform our nation.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
7-20-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000005095.cfm
Despite the devastating influence of today's culture, some are trying to teach girls they don’t have to dress immodestly in order to be true women.
The word modesty strikes fear in the heart of every girl who likes to wear the latest fashions, but doesn’t want to compromise her beliefs in the process. And while some in the modesty movement are more about frump than style, others believe you can wear cute clothes and still maintain your dignity.
“It’s fine to follow some of the fashions just as long as we realize that you don’t want anything too tight, nothing too clingy, nothing too sheer and just make sure that ‘from the shoulder to the knees, nobody touches, nobody sees,’” author Colleen Hammond told Family News in Focus.
She said girls need to understand that their choices can influence others.
“We’ve learned from history that as the morality of women declines, the culture follows with it,” Hammond said.
Pure Fashion attempts to help girls with modest choices and has hosted 13 modest fashion shows around the country this year.
“We’re not necessarily afraid of the body. God created the body, and it is good and it is holy, and it is sacred,” said Brenda Sharman, national director of Pure Fashion. “It’s just that we want to have a reverence and a respect for the human body.”
----- 20 -----
Gay Activists Try to Stop TV Report on Lesbian Gang Attacks
High school students are the victims.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
7-17-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000005067.cfm
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has apparently threatened to sue a Tennessee TV station for airing a report on lesbian gangs attacking students.
Jack Peck, general manager of WPTY in Memphis, said the station agreed to make some rewrites before the story aired in February, but that wasn't enough to satisfy GLAAD.
The story featured an interview with Shelby County Gang Unit specialist Beverly Cobb, who said girls are being attacked in high school bathrooms and stairwells by members of a gang called GTO or "Gays Taking Over."
“They are forcing themselves on our young girls in all our schools," Cobb said in the televised report.
The station gave GLAAD an advance viewing of the story. The group declared it “sensationalistic and homophobic.”
Peter LaBarbera, with Americans for Truth, said the station manager told him the group definitely did not want the story to air.
“A senior staffer told him several times, ‘We’re going to take you to court if you air this report,’ ” he said.
Similar gang activity is reported in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. Linda Jernigan, a former homosexual, said that’s why GLAAD is making such an issue of the Memphis story. [Editor's note: There is no actual evidence of any of this.]
“They don’t want this type of information to get out," she told Family News in Focus, "because then they know people’s eyes will be opened, they’ll begin to see this whole situation for what it really is.”
[Editor's note: There is no actual evidence of any such epidemic; even Bill O'Reilly eventually backed down from his version of the story, which Focus nonetheless references here. Variations on this particular newtype blood libel story are all over the theoconservative and fundamentalist propaganda spheres - Americans for Truth, GayWrongs, Catholic News Agency, Lifesite, World Net Daily - it's everywhere.]
----- 21 -----
Lesbian Partner Granted Parental Status
Focus on the Family
7-17-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000005065.cfm
An Oregon woman whose lesbian partner gave birth will be listed on the child's birth certificate as the second parent, The Oregonian reported.
Multnomah County Circuit Judge Eric Bloch ruled Friday that Jeana Frazzini has a legal right to be declared the second parent. K.D. Parman, who conceived by artificial insemination, is the birth mother.
In his ruling, Bloch said the state constitution does not allow same-sex marriage, therefore does not provide a remedy for same-sex parents.
Oregon lawmakers passed a domestic-partnership law this year that will take effect Jan. 1. Bloch said that would solve the so-called inequity.
[...]
Defense of Marriage and Family is collecting signatures in Oregon to place a measure on the 2008 ballot challenging the domestic-partnership law.
[More at URL]
----- 22 -----
Alabama Abortions Down Nearly 50 Percent Since 1980
Focus on the Family
7-17-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000005066.cfm
Abortions in Alabama have been cut nearly in half over the past two decades, public health records show, dropping from 21,000 in 1980 to 11,656 procedures last year, The Birmingham News reports.
"There's no doubt in my mind that the passage and enforcement of incremental pro-life laws like parental consent, 24-hour reflection period and mandated ultrasound before an abortion is performed have contributed to Alabama's drop in abortions," said Carrie Gordon Earll, senior analyst for bioethics at Focus on the Family Action. "Such incremental laws save lives and move the culture toward a day when abortion is no longer accepted or desired."
[More at URL]
----- 23 -----
Amnesty International Announces Support for Abortion
Critics say life is the most basic human right.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
7-17-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000005068.cfm
Human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) has shifted from a neutral stance on abortion to a positive one, now classifying it as a "human right." Pro-life groups, including Democrats for Life, are urging AI to reconsider.
Officially, AI states that it wants women "to be free of fear, threat and coercion as they manage all consequences of rape and other grave human rights violations.”
Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats for Life, said support for such a contentious issue is disrespectful to AI's constituents.
"I just think that’s a great disservice to those who want to support Amnesty International and the good work they are doing,” she told Family News in Focus. “The Catholic Bishops have come out and opposed this new idea that they have to include abortion.”
[...]
In a statement, AI maintained it does not "promote abortion as a universal right and Amnesty International remains silent on the rights and wrongs of abortion."
White took issue with that.
“They can’t say they are not for abortion, but then they are demanding for abortion to be legal and for women to have the right to have an abortion,” she said. “If women are being hurt in wartime because of rape and those kinds of things, then we need to do more actions to prevent rape and incest.”
[More at URL]
----- 24 -----
Persecution
How Liberals are Waging War Against Christians
David Limbaugh
Hardcover
http://resources.family.org/product/id/101737.do?code=OL07XFARC3
Author David Limbaugh exposes the subtle but pervasive discrimination against biblical Christianity in our culture. Using real, sometimes shocking, examples from Hollywood, public schools and other venues, he shows how terms like "tolerance" and the mythical "separation of church and state" have been used to portray Christianity as repressive, ignorant and offensive. This is a call to action for those who want to exercise their right to influence popular culture and find true religious freedom.
[More at URL]
----- 25 -----
Gay Vets Gather in Seattle
Faith and Freedom Network
Thursday, July 19, 2007
http://www.faithandfreedom.us/weblog/2007/07/gay-vets-gather-in-seattle.html
Gay veterans met in Seattle yesterday. This was the latest stop on a national tour urging repeal of the military’s, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay civil rights organization, sponsored the event.
They said their objective is to make the policy a priority issue in the 2008 presidential election.
What struck me was their take on the policy in regard to national security. They say in some of their literature that, “This discriminatory policy hurts the military readiness and national security while putting American soldiers fighting overseas at risk.”
Yet the policy – Policy Concerning Homosexuals in the Armed Services (Public Law 103-160 – Nov. 30, 1993 – § 546, 107 Stat. 1670 (1993) (codified at 10 U.S.C. A. § 654). clearly shows that the findings of Congress stand in total disagreement with the idea that the policy hurts the military or national security.
In fact, the lengthy findings by Congress state, among other things, that there is no constitutional rights to serve in the military (2), military life is fundamentally different from civilian life (3), the prohibition against homosexual conduct is a long-standing element of military law that continues to be necessary in the unique circumstances of military services (13) and the presence in the armed forces of persons who demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability (15).
[Editor's note: These political findings were political findings, not evidentiary findings, and were declarations of the bill, not reasons for it. Faith and Freedom Network is misrepresenting a bill written by fundamentalist-backed Republicans as factual findings; it's like quoting Focus on the Family of CWA's policy statement as evidence. It's just not.]
----- 26 -----
Hindu opens U.S. Senate with prayer
Faith and Freedom Network
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
http://www.faithandfreedom.us/weblog/2007/07/hindu-opens-us-senate-with-prayer.html
Last week a Hindu chaplain from Reno, Nevada gave the opening prayer in the U.S. Senate.
Rajan Zed told the Las Vegas Sun that in his prayer he would likely include references to the ancient Hindu scriptures. And he delivered. (See CNN Video).
Thousands of calls, letters and email to the Senate leadership asking them to reconsider were ignored. Protestors were escorted from the chamber as the first Hindu prayer was offered – the first ever at the Senate since it was formed in 1789.
David Barton, the leading Christian historian in America, is questioning why the U.S. Government is seeking the invocation of a non-monotheistic god. Barton points out that since Hindus worship multiple gods; the prayer was completely outside the American paradigm, flying in the face of the American motto, “One nation under God.”
You have to wonder what Harry Reid and the Democratic Senate leadership were thinking. Barton says, given the fact that Hindus represent a very tiny constituency of the American public, you must ask what was the message and why is that message needed?
[...]
No one can legitimately challenge the fact that the God America refers to in the pledge, our national motto and other places is the monotheistic God of the Jewish and Christian faith, yet the present leadership in our legislature once again is attempting to lead us away from this God and His principles that have provided blessing and prosperity for this country.
God help us.
[More at URL]
----- 27 -----
GAY ACTIVISTS TRY TO STOP TV NEWS STORY
Faith and Freedom Network
Friday, July 20, 2007
http://www.faithandfreedom.us/weblog/2007/07/gay-activists-try-to-stop-tv-news-story.html
The Gay And Liesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has apparently threatened to sue a Tennessee TV station for airing a report on lesbian gangs attacking students.
Focus on the Family was told by the station manager that they had agreed to rewrite some of the story, but that still did not satisfy the activists.
We also spoke to the station and from what I heard, airing the story was not a pleasant experience.
There has actually been a blacklash against some of the reporters at the Memphis station from members of the homosexual community.
The story featured an interview with Shelby County Gang Unit specialist, Beverly Cobb, who said, "Girls are being attacked in high school bathrooms by members of a gang called GTO or 'Gays Taking Over.'"
Cobb said in the television story that,"They are forcing themselves on our young girls in all our schools."
[Editor's note: lots of this are taken almost verbatim from Focus on the Family's version of this particular newtype blood libel. Again, this story was false.]
[More at URL]
----- 28 -----
APA -- Reviewing 10-year-old policy on gay counseling
Faith and Freedom Network
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
http://www.faithandfreedom.us/weblog/2007/07/apa-reviewing-10-year-old-policy-on-gay.html
While taking the last couple of weeks off to vacation with my family, I tried to take a break from most of the news stories; however, a couple of them caught my attention.
The American Psychological Association (APA) is revisiting its 10-year-old policy on counseling gays and lesbians.
While this exercise of review could have easily been lost in the sea of conferences and meetings that are typically held this time of year, fortunately it was not. It was not lost to the gay-rights activists who saw the review as another opportunity nor to a number of Christian leaders, counselors and religious organizations who see the review as a blatant move to advance the gay agenda.
The disingenuous way the review panel was seated is almost unbelievable.
[...]
Five out of six people chosen for the review task force are committed gay–affirmative activists who are openly hostile to the reality that individuals with unwanted same-sex attraction can be helped.
The six people chosen include Dr. Judith M. Glassgold, a board member of the Journal of Gay and Lesbian Psychotherapy and Dr. Jack Dreshcher, a gay activist psychiatrist who strongly opposes reparative therapy for gays. Another member, Dr. A. Beckstead is openly skeptical of reorientation therapy and Dr. Roger L. Worthington received an award in 2001 from the LGBT Resource Center at the University of Missouri for “speaking up and out and often regarding LGBT issues.”
And these gays will decide if gays can receive counseling if they want to change?
This is a case of the foxes guarding the hen house.
The findings of this task force are already predetermined, much like several of Washington State gay-rights laws were given predetermination by legislators and committees even before hearings were held in Olympia.
[...]
The current APA policy currently opposes any counseling that treats homosexuality as a mental illness, but does not explicitly denounce reparative therapy.
Fortunately, a number of Christian and religious leaders, including the Southern Baptist Convention and Focus on the Family, have written a letter to the APA expressing their concern that the task force’s proposals would not properly accommodate gays and lesbians whose religious beliefs condemn gay sex. They said, “We believe that psychologists should assist clients to develop lives that they value, even if that means they decline to identify as homosexual.”
Jody Huckaby, PFLAG executive director, said that reparative therapy has been particularly harmful for young gays whose parents insist on trying to change their sexual orientation. This, of course, from the folks who actively recruit young children under the guise of sex education.
[More at URL]
----- 29 -----
Should Bush’s Surgeon General Pick Make the Cut?
We’re left not knowing where Dr. Holsinger stands on important hot-button issues.
Concerned Women for America
7/18/2007
By J. Matt Barber
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/13471/CWA/family/index.htm
In July, The U.S. Senate held hearings on Dr. James Holsinger, President Bush’s Surgeon General nominee. Holsinger has been unfairly and viciously attacked by the left for both his religious views — he’s a Christian, heaven forbid — and for daring, in a 1991 paper he penned, to address the devastating medical consequences of the homosexual lifestyle. Those consequences are well documented — among other sources — by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and are irrefutable.
During his testimony, Dr. Holsinger stated that he would resign if ever asked to place politics over science. Unfortunately, while addressing questions relative to hot-button issues such as homosexuality and destructive embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) this time around, Dr. Holsinger appeared to do just that. He appeared to place political correctness over scientific substance.
When asked if he still believed that homosexual behaviors are “unhealthy” and “unnatural,” as he demonstrated in his 1991 paper, he played dodge ball and offered a series of non-answers. He clearly tried to distance himself from the paper by saying, “First of all, the paper does not represent where I am today. It does not represent who I am today.”
What does that mean? Does it mean that Dr. Holsinger now believes that homosexual behaviors are “natural” and “healthy”? That’s certainly how the mainstream media is playing his response. It’s being widely reported that he has “disavowed” his prior position on homosexuality.
But there are additional questions about Dr. Holsinger’s medical opinions. For instance, what is his position on ESCR and cloning? Statements he made in 2002 in support of relaxing restrictions on both ESCR and cloning concern many conservatives who oppose the destruction of innocent human life.
[...]
Call me a pie-in-the-sky dreamer, but when asked by Senator Ted “flip-and-fly” Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) whether he still believes that homosexuality is “unnatural” and “unhealthy,” Dr. Holsinger could have said, “It doesn’t matter what I believe. Let’s see what the medical facts tell us. For instance, the CDC has revealed in its most recent 2005 report that male homosexuals account for at least 71 percent of all adult and adolescent males living with deadly HIV/AIDS. These numbers are up 11 percent from 2001 despite — if not due to — ‘comprehensive’ condom based ‘safe-sex’ education.
“Furthermore,” says Holsinger in my pie-in-the-sky scenario, “astronomical HIV/AIDS statistics represent only one small aspect of the homosexual lifestyle — especially among males. CDC statistics also indicate that homosexuals are, by far, most susceptible to nearly all forms of sexually transmitted disease, as well as other lifestyle-related medical injuries. So yes, Senator Kennedy, homosexual behaviors are demonstrably unnatural and unhealthy.”
Dr. Holsinger could have shared this information with the Senate committee. He didn’t. Instead, he dodged questions about homosexuality altogether. I was there. I heard it. And I was left unimpressed.
[More at URL]
----- 30 -----
Homosexual Immorality: What’s the Debate?
Concerned Women for America
7/20/2007
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/13486/MEDIA/family/index.htm
Washington, D.C. — On August 9, MTV’s homosexual cable network, Logo, is hosting the first-ever presidential debate intended to promote the homosexual and transgender (gender identity disorder) lifestyles. All major presidential candidates have been invited to participate. To date, all Republican presidential candidates have declined, while all major Democratic candidates have accepted. Those candidates who have accepted are Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-New York), Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois), former Sen. John Edwards (D-North Carolina), Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut), former Sen. Mike Gravel (D-Alaska), and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio).
Both Joe Solmonese, president of the homosexual “Human Rights Campaign” and lesbian singer/activist Melissa Etheridge have been selected as panelists.
Matt Barber, CWA’s Policy Director for Cultural Issues, said, “This debate is clearly designed to advance the radical homosexual agenda and to promote social and governmental acceptance and celebration of the high-risk and destructive homosexual lifestyle.
“It’s disgraceful that our nation’s moral standards have now dipped so low that it’s considered ‘tolerant’ to hold a debate organized entirely around the promotion of sexual immorality. What’s next? Are presidential candidates going to be asked to participate in a debate on how to garner widespread acceptance of adultery or incest? Are members of the growing polygamy lobby and the pedophile group NAMBLA going to tap candidates for a televised debate to promote their chosen lifestyles?
“Thousands of years of history, every major world religion, the unambiguous science of human biology and good old fashioned common sense have established that homosexual behaviors are both immoral and destructive to the lives, health and spiritual well being of those who choose to participate in those behaviors. For instance, the CDC has recently determined that 71 percent of all males living with deadly HIV/AIDS were infected with the disease through homosexual behaviors,” said Barber, “Furthermore, the CDC has determined that homosexuals — especially males — are by far at greatest risk for nearly all forms of sexually transmitted disease as well as other lifestyle related injuries.
“Will any of the presidential candidates bring up any of these facts during the debate? Organizers are expecting them to fall all over themselves trying to prove to the world who’s most sympathetic to the left’s twisted version of ‘tolerance’ and ‘diversity.’ But there’s nothing to debate here. These candidates should play it straight, so to speak, and call it like it is. Immorality is immorality,” concluded Barber.
For Information Contact:
Jennifer Fedor
(202) 488-7000
media.cwfa.org
Fred Thompson lurches - harder - to the social right, trying to pick up theocon rank-and-file support;
NSA blamed two defector's traitorous activities on behalf of the USSR on their homosexuality - but oh look, turns out? Straight. And the NSA knew it;
I heard that the disturbing Nebraska judge declared a second mistrial in rape case after the woman who says she was raped used the word "rape" in testimony; here's Salon's article, on the whole thing;
Focus on the Family sends out a special Editor's Note with Friday's Focus on the Family political news update: an explanation that James Dobson still hates Harry Potter as much as any upright fundamentalist should, particularly for its "magical characters" such as "witches, wizards, ghosts, goblins, werewolfs, poltergeists, and so on," condemning "the trend towards witchcraft and New Age ideology";
Focus on the Family opposes any Israel "promise to give up land;" it's not clear whether they oppose any two-state solution or not; the reasons, of course, are "biblical";
Focus on the Family condemns Obama, Edwards for pledging to support legal abortion;
FotF applauds House of Representatives vote supporting amendment to ban Federal funds from being spent on "mandatory" HPV (cervical cancer) vaccination; given that they were calling the non-mandatory listing of the vaccine with standard school vaccination lists "mandatory" - this was a lie - I wonder what got passed here, as well;
Focus on the Family promotes "Revival Fires Ministries," which sends Bibles sent to US soldiers stationed in the middle east;
Focus on the Family sells their talking points against GBLT marriage rights for $15 a pop;
FotF condemns National Education Association for support of GBLT rights and also adding "sexual orientation" to Federal hate crimes law; Focus on the Family, as is standard, calls it "creation of a thought crime," ignoring that motive has always been a key part of law, period, end of story, and calls the bill an attempt "to muzzle people of faith who dare to express their moral and biblical concerns about homosexuality";
Focus on the Family reports a Zogby poll stating that 97% of US adults say "professor bias" is a problem; support for the statement is wildly political, with 91% of conservatives calling the problem "serious" vs. 3% of liberals. FotF supports state "legislation that would protect students from professors who have conflicting opinions." This is another permutation of wanting to avoid even being presented with conflicting data - c.f. the recent case of a fundamentalist suing the state of Massachusetts for asking about same-sex marriage in Massachusetts on their state bar exam; he demands the right not to be asked the question because the law conflicts with his religious beliefs. Zogby, interestingly, links to the Focus on the Family story;
FotF continues the Bush judicial nominee drumbeat;
FotF continues the Bush judicial nominee drumbeat, part II;
FotF condemns Democratic presidential candidates for attending the Human Rights Campaign's debate, declaring "Democratic Presidential Candidates Pander to Homosexual Lobby," asserts that there should be no such debate and that no one should attend it;
FotF supports both attempts to pass marriage bans via initiative in California, supports both, but links only to the one they like better; they quote their sockpuppet California Family Council, which is their state affiliate - they describe it as "associated" with Focus;
FotF news story against U. Florida having Dr. Jack Kevorkian speak on campus; "Bobby Schindler, brother of the late Terri Schiavo" is organising protests. You should remember Terri Schiavo and the brutal - and crazy - battle that Congress got into a couple of years ago. She's held up as a totem/martyr by the fundamentalist movement as "a handicapped woman starved to death";
FotF condemns one school's rejection of "ex-gay" bullshit, declaring that "'tolerance' equals censorship"; Focus on the Family condemns tolerance of queers again, of course; the anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund is getting involved.
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM to support amendment by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) to bar all Federal funds from going to Planned Parenthood in any capacity;
Focus on the Family promotes "Modesty Movement" and "Pure Fashion," which has as its motto, "from the shoulder to the knees, nobody touches, nobody sees." I can't wait to see their swimwear - or their new line of burkas; oh, and by the way, women not wearing enough clothing causes the decline of cultures;
Focus on the Family promotes the discredited "Gangs of Lesbians Raping Our Children" scare-story aired on a couple of local stations, then inflated by Bill O'Reilly to "hundreds of incidents"; Focus's story quotes liberally (GET IT?) from various versions, condemns GBLT groups for opposing the story. "They don't want this type of information to get out... because then they know people's eyes will be opened, they'll begin to see this whole situation for what it is really is," which, pulling out the barely-contained subtext, is the old newtype blood libel of queers raping your children for their devient sexual desires;
FotF condemns Oregon court for ruling that both lesbian partners have parental status of their child; also promotes attempt to repeal Oregon DP law by "Defense of Marriage and Family," DMF appears to consist of a Republican former state senator, "Restore America," of whom I'm not aware, and the chair of the Constitution Party of Oregon, which has moved sharply to the theocratic over the last several years;
FotF credits anti-abortion laws for lowering abortion rates in Alabama, is very happy about that;
FotF condemns Amnesty International for wanting "to be free of fear, threat and coercion as they manage all consequences of rape and other grave human rights violations," which they declare to be a statement in support of abortion, despite AI's position that it does not "promote abortion as a universal right and Amnesty International remains silent on the rights and wrongs of abortion," saying that if you're doing the former, you're endorsing abortion;
FotF promotes David Limbaugh's book, Persecution: How Liberals are Waging War Against Christians, condemns tolerance, describes the separation of church and state as "mythical" - not just a bad idea, but outright mythical - and urges people to fight for the "true religious freedom" of, presumably, official government support of their religious beliefs over others;
Faith and Freedom Network condemns gay vets working to overturn the ban on lesbian and gay soldiers in the military;
Faith and Freedom Network condemns allowing a Hindu clergyman to deliver the ceremonial opening prayer before the US Senate, quoting well-known fraud David Barton (a fundamentalist historian who has been caught faking source material and then defending the fakery as thematically accurate) as an authority; remember, when dealing with these guys, it's not "is it actually true" that matters, it's "does it support our position";
Faith and Freedom Network is one of the many groups repeating the "GAY ACTIVISTS TRY TO STOP TV NEWS STORY" line - the completely discredited story promoted on Bill O'Reilly's Fox TV show claiming that dozens to hundreds of lesbian gangs were gang-raping straight girls to turn them gay in schools across the country. This story was complete bullshit - but FFN is promoting as true, just as was Focus on the Family and LifeSite and all that, and condemning GLAAD and other GBLT groups for protesting the completely fictional story as news. FFN's repeat of the story is vaguely interesting as there's an extensive rebuttal first up in the comments which hasn't been deleted. However, the True Believers are supporting Gary, of course;
Faith and Freedom Network condemns makeup of American Psychological Association panel reviewing APA guidelines for treating GBLT people, because it has gay people on it. Also, who is PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians And Gays) according to FFN? They're "the folks who actively recruit young children under the guise of sex education";
Concerned Women for America's Matt Barber condemns Holsinger's distancing of himself from his previous statements; he (and CWA) wants a surgeon general who will condemn GBLT people, and to proclaim that queers are "demonstrably unnatural and unhealthy";
Concerned Women for America's Matt Barber condemns Democratic presidential candidates for showing up at the Human Rights Campaign's debate, condemns "the radical homosexual agenda," the "high-risk and destructive homosexual lifestyle," claims that "the CDC has determined that homosexuals — especially males — are by far at greatest risk for nearly all forms of sexually transmitted disease as well as other lifestyle related injuries" ("especially males" is clever excerpting there as lesbians are known for lower-than-average STD rates, but hey, what's a little reality got to do with "diseased fags" propaganda) and! and! invokes NAMBLA as a parallel. "Are presidential candidates going to be asked to participate in a debate on how to garner widespread acceptance of adultery or incest? Are members of the growing polygamy lobby and the pedophile group NAMBLA going to tap candidates for a televised debate to promote their chosen lifestyles?" What a dickweed.
----- 1 -----
Murder suspect says he was doing God's work
Cypress man is being held in the June death of flight attendant
By PAIGE HEWITT
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
July 15, 2007, 12:34AM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4968717.html
A Cypress man charged in the death of a Southwest Airlines flight attendant said Saturday that he was doing God's work when he went to a Montrose-area bar last month, hunting for a gay man to kill.
[...]
Mangum believed Cummings to be gay.
"I planned on sending him to hell," he said.
Cummings disappeared June 4. His charred remains were found June 16, buried on a 50-acre ranch near San Antonio owned by Mangum's 90-year-old grandfather.
[...]
Mangum — who claimed he has studied the Bible for "thousands and thousands and thousands of hours" — said God first commanded him to kill during a "visitation," or dream, while he was in prison in 2001. He said his victim must be a man because men "carry the harvest of the sinner."
[...]
"It's not that I'm a bad dude," he said, expressing concern that people might view him as "strange." Pausing briefly, he said, "I love God."
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
Thompson Reaches to the Right
Laying the groundwork for evangelical support
By Dan Gilgoff
US News and World Report
Posted 7/15/07
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070715/23thompson.htm
For months, conservative evangelical activists have been fretting over a Republican presidential field whose front-runners are the pro-abortion rights Rudy Giuliani, the formerly pro-gay rights Mitt Romney, and John McCain, who once lambasted Jerry Falwell. Activists took little consolation in more socially conservative candidates, like former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee or Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, who seemed doomed by low name recognition. Now the Christian right is eyeing former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson, who is thought to be on the verge of entering the race. And Thompson is waging a rigorous behind-the-scenes effort to win its support.
[...]
The success of the effort is by no means ensured; in March, Focus on the Family's James Dobson told U.S. News that he doubted Thompson was really a Christian. But Dobson and Thompson have since talked, with Dobson rumored to be reassessing Thompson. And prominent social conservative Paul Weyrich, who met recently with Thompson and evangelical activists, said the former senator "was in agreement with us on almost everything."
[...]
Thompson is emphasizing his eight-year record as a senator from Tennessee and his campaign endorsements from the National Right to Life Committee. "It didn't look like he was saying what a group of Christian consultants told him to say," says Harry Jackson, a black pastor who met recently with Thompson. "He seemed to be saying, 'I'm one of you.'"
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
The Worst Internal Scandal in NSA History Was Blamed on Cold War Defectors’ Homosexuality
But what if they weren’t gay?
By Rick Anderson
Seattle Weekly
http://www.seattleweekly.com/2007-07-18/news/the-worst-internal-scandal-in-nsa-history-was-blamed-on-cold-war-defectors-homosexuality.php
To some of his detractors, William Hamilton Martin was something of an amusing figure on the streets of Washington, D.C., in the 1960s, a bookish mathematician with a crew cut who walked with a Groucho Marx–like waddle. But what others remembered most was that lean, blue-eyed "Ham" Martin, a University of Washington graduate and the son of an Ellensburg meatpacker, was a meticulous dresser, spoke "slightly effeminately," and may have had a thing for a Stanford grad named Bernon Mitchell. Furthermore, the belief among some officials, politicians, and the press was that because Martin and Mitchell might be homosexual, they did the unthinkable: In the midst of the Cold War, the two National Security Agency code breakers defected to Russia and went to work for the Soviet government.
On June 25, 1960, after four years as trusted employees of America's largest spy agency, Martin, then 29, and Mitchell, then 31, flew out of Washington, D.C., with one-way tickets to Mexico City. From there, they quietly slipped off to Havana and took a Russian freighter to the Soviet Union, following a plan that had evolved over a year. The case stunned politicians and intelligence officials alike. Looking back, some of the defectors' neighbors and co-workers told investigators that if they'd been more vigilant about the pair's sexual proclivities, maybe they'd have been more suspicious of their patriotism.
[...]
But according to the NSA's own investigative files, obtained exclusively by Seattle Weekly, there's one major problem with the flaming traitor theory: Martin and Mitchell weren't gay. The formerly classified Pentagon and NSA documents, which reveal previously unpublished details of the historic spy-agency saga, appear to clear Martin and Mitchell of the sexual charges that rocked the country 47 years ago this summer and led to landmark NSA policy changes.
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
Gag OrderA Nebraska judge bans the word rape from his courtroom.
By Dahlia Lithwick
Posted Wednesday, June 20, 2007, at 7:27 PM ET
Slate
http://slate.com/id/2168758/
Usually we leave it up to the linguists and philosophers to muse on the crazy relationship between words and their meanings. In the law, words—the important ones, at least—are defined narrowly, and judges, lawyers, and jurors are trusted to understand their meanings. It's precisely because language is so powerful in a courtroom that we treat it so reverently.
Yet a Nebraska district judge, Jeffre Cheuvront, suddenly finds himself in a war of words with attorneys on both sides of a sexual assault trial. More worrisome, he appears to be at war with language itself, and his paradoxical answer is to ban it: Last fall, Cheuvront granted a motion by defense attorneys barring the use of the words rape, sexual assault, victim, assailant, and sexual assault kit from the trial of Pamir Safi—accused of raping Tory Bowen in October 2004.
[...]
Bowen testified for 13 hours at Safi's first trial last October, all without using the words rape or sexual assault. She claims, not unreasonably, that describing what happened to her as sex is almost an assault in itself. "This makes women sick, especially the women who have gone through this," Bowen told the Omaha World-Herald. "They know the difference between sex and rape."
[...]
Do a Lexis search on the influence of inflammatory language on juror perceptions. Try to find some social science data on the effect of loaded courtroom words on conviction rates. Not much out there, notes Murphy. That's one of the things that makes the Nebraska case so maddening. If judges are going to take it upon themselves to issue blanket orders that would have witnesses testifying that black is white, one might hope that they are trying to remedy some well-documented evidentiary problem.
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
Citizenlink
Daily Update
Editor's Note
19 July 2007
[Received in email; no URL]
Dr. James Dobson wants all friends of Focus on the Family to know about an error involving him that appeared on Page 1 of Wednesday's Washington Post. In a story about Christians' views on the Harry Potter books and films, reporter Jacqueline Salmon wrote that "Christian parenting guru James Dobson has praised the Potter books." This is the exact opposite of Dr. Dobson's opinion -- in fact, he said a few years ago on his daily radio broadcast that "We have spoken out strongly against all of the Harry Potter products." His rationale for that statement: Magical characters – witches, wizards, ghosts, goblins, werewolves, poltergeists, and so on – fill the Harry Potter stories, and given the trend toward witchcraft and New Age ideology in the larger culture, it’s difficult to ignore the effects such stories (albeit imaginary) might have on young, impressionable minds.
Ms. Salmon has not only acknowledged, but apologized for, the mistake and has promised the Post will correct it Friday. It seems she simply repeated misinformation that appeared in a less high-profile publication; she acknowledged she should have contacted us directly to make sure the assertion was true -- and we appreciate her humility and professionalism in saying so.
The correction will also be offered to papers that subscribe to the Post's wire service and which may have also published the piece.
Dr. Dobson and the entire Focus family thank you for your continued interest in and support of our ministry.
----- 5 -----
Evangelicals Urged to Defend Israel
Pressure to give up land is a “move in the wrong direction.”
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
7-19-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000005086.cfm
More than 3,000 evangelicals met in Washington, D.C., this week for the Christians United for Israel Summit, where they heard about the increasing pressures against the historic and biblical country.
Gary Bauer, president of American Values, said the Bush administration’s pressure on Israel to give up land is a “move in the wrong direction.”
[...]
Bill Koenig, author of Eye to Eye – Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel, said standing with Israel is biblical.
“Genesis 12:3 talks about those who stand with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their decedents will be blessed,” he told Family News in Focus. “And those who do not will be cursed, and if you look at the end of that Scripture, it talks about all families on earth.”
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
Edwards, Obama Pledge Abortion Support
The candidates’ health-care plans would cover “pregnancy termination” and “reproductive health.”
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
7-19-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000005087.cfm
At the Planned Parenthood Action Fund presidential candidate forum earlier this week, the John Edwards and Barack Obama campaigns promised to include abortion coverage in their universal health care plans.
Elizabeth Edwards said her husband’s plan would cover “all reproductive health care, including pregnancy termination.” Obama said his would cover “reproductive health services,” which his campaign later confirmed includes abortion.
Kelly Shackelford, chief counsel of Liberty Legal Institute, told Family News in Focus the Edwards and Obama plans could void state pro-life laws.
”Under the U.S. Constitution, there’s what’s called the Supremacy Clause, which says that the federal law is the supreme law of the land – that if the federal government has authority under the Constitution, their law will trump the state law,” Shackleford said.
That could include parental-notification laws, clinic regulations, informed-consent laws and laws that require women be offered ultrasound services. Pro-life legal organizations would have their hands full.
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
Amendment Keeps Taxpayers from Funding Mandatory HPV Vaccines
Focus on the Family
7-19-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000005084.cfm
The U.S. House passed an amendment Wednesday that will keep the government from funding mandatory vaccination against the human papillomavirus (HPV).
Republican Reps. Phil Gingrey of Georgia and Jim Jordan of Ohio introduced the amendment following efforts across the country to require young girls to receive the vaccine to attend school.
[More at URL]
----- 8 -----
Bibles Lead Troops to Faith
Focus on the Family
7-19-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000005082.cfm
Following a Fourth of July campaign, Revival Fires Ministries will send another 2,500 Bibles to soldiers stationed in the Middle East. Already the ministry has donated 140,000 to U.S. troops, the American Family Association reported.
Tim Todd, president of Revival Fires, is asking people to consider assisting the ministry in its mission.
"Bibles are better than bullets in Iraq and Afghanistan," he said. "That is the life-changing power of the Word of God — and it's making a difference in the lives of our soldiers."
Lt. Brian K. Waite, a command chaplain, told Revival Fires that when people are faced with their own mortality, they turn to the Word of God.
"I saw more than 60 combat-hardened men come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ,” he said. “In fact, I had the privilege of baptizing them in the Tigris River on Easter Sunday."
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Click here to learn more about Revival Fires Ministries
----- 9 -----
Ten Persuasive Answers to the Question ... "Why Not Gay Marriage?"
Glenn T. Stanton
Online as of 20 July 2007
http://resources.family.org/product/id/102435.do?code=OL07XFARC3
Focus on the Family defends natural marriage and opposes same-sex marriage whenever and wherever we're invited. Over time, we've learned which arguments have been most persuasive. In this concise and convincing set, Senior Analyst Glenn Stanton will share with you what he's learned in many college campus debates. Master these responses, and you'll be well suited to defend the family with love and compassion.
[More at URL]
----- 10 -----
NEA Votes for Gay Agenda
Teachers union does not reflect beliefs of many of its members.
by Candi Cushman, education analyst
Focus on the Family
7-18-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/clcommentary/A000005070.cfm
Some teachers got an unwelcome surprise this year when they returned home from the National Education Association’s annual convention, held in Philadelphia over the Fourth of July weekend.
They learned their NEA leaders had quietly adopted a recommendation to “develop public and member support” for the “creation, amendment and/or passage of federal hate-crimes legislation” and other pro-homosexual measures.
The revelation comes at an interesting time: Democrats are trying to ramrod a “hate-crimes” bill. They hope to force President Bush to sign it by attaching it to military spending legislation.
If the strategy works, we will have a federal law that punishes crimes based on thoughts, not actions. In short, we will have official “thought crimes.”
Dr. James C. Dobson, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family Action, has warned that “the true intent of the legislation is not to punish what is already illegal. It is to muzzle people of faith who dare to express their moral and biblical concerns about homosexuality.”
[More at URL]
----- 11 -----
Professor Bias Troubles Students and Parents
97 percent of U.S. adults say it's a problem.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
7-18-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000005075.cfm
Do you worry your child will be fed a spoonful of political correctness in college? According to a new Zogby poll, you’re not alone. Ninety-seven percent of adults in the U.S. say professor bias is a problem at colleges and universities.
Notably, 91 percent of conservatives polled called professor bias a “serious” problem; but only 3 percent of liberals agreed.
Sara Dogan, national campus director with Students for Academic Freedom, hears complaints from students on a daily basis.
“There’s been a greater realization in recent years on the part of students that the education they’re getting is very much slanted," she told Family News in Focus. "Students are beginning to wake up to the fact that they can fight this.”
One way to take action: a “Student’s Bill of Rights.” Dogan’s group is promoting state legislation that would protect students from professors who have conflicting opinions. Candi Cushman, education analyst with Focus on the Family Action, applauded the effort.
[More at URL]
[Zogby poll press release: http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1334 ]
----- 12 -----
Senator Specter Defends Judicial Nominee Southwick
'There is not any reason that this man should not be confirmed,' he tells colleagues.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
7-18-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000005076.cfm
Judicial nominations are once again the center of attention in the Senate, but this time leading Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who was formerly on the fence with regard to conservative appointees, is speaking out in their favor.
Specter took the floor Tuesday to plead the case of Leslie Southwick.
[...]
Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said Specter is appealing to his colleagues from the other side of the aisle.
“There are two key meetings this week of the Judiciary Committee," he told Family News in Focus, "and Specter wants to use those opportunities to convince one or more Democrats to vote for Southwick, get him out of committee and send him to the floor of the Senate.”
[More at URL]
----- 13 -----
Administration Nominates Four More to Courts
Focus on the Family
7-18-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000005073.cfm
The White House announced four nominees to the U.S. Courts of Appeals on Tuesday – bringing the number pending in the Senate to nine.
* Robert Conrad of North Carolina is nominated for the 4th Circuit seat vacated by the retirement of James Phillips.
* Catharina Haynes of Texas is nominated for the 5th Circuit seat vacated by the retirement of Harold DeMoss.
* Shalom D. Stone of New Jersey is nominated for the 3rd Circuit seat vacated by Samuel Alito.
* John Daniel Tinder of Indiana is nominated for the 7th Circuit seat vacated by the retirement of Daniel Manion.
Curt Levey, executive director of The Committee for Justice, said that leaves six unfilled vacancies and one pending vacancy on the appeals courts.
Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for Focus on the Family Action, applauded the White House for taking action by nominating judges to these critical appellate court vacancies.
"At the same time, we urge the Democrat-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee to stop obstructing the nominees already before it," Hausknecht said.
[More at URL]
----- 14 -----
Democratic Presidential Candidates Pander to Homosexual Lobby
Debate to be devoted solely to gay issues.
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
Focus on the Family
7-18-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000005078.cfm
The homosexual-activist group Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and MTV's gay cable network Logo are sponsoring a presidential candidate forum focused on one topic: homosexuality. While HRC is calling it a historic event, pro-family experts call it nothing more than political pandering.
The 90-minute event is scheduled for Aug. 9 in Los Angeles. According to HRC, all major Democratic and Republican presidential candidates were invited. The list of those who have accepted: Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.; Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.; former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C.; former Sen. Mike Gravel, D-Alaska; Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio; and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.
[...]
Connie Mackey, senior vice president of FRC Action, said a debate focused solely on homosexuality with an audience of gay activists is "clearly a setup."
"It's not good politics," she said. "The only positive I see out of it is that if enough Americans actually watch the Democratic candidates answer some of these questions, they're going to understand something about them that they probably have not understood before."
In other words, Mackey said, the gay agenda will come across loud and clear.
"The questions will be posed in such a way that it looks mean if you're not for it," she said. "So, they'll pose those questions strategically."
Carrie Gordon Earll, senior director of issue analysis for Focus on the Family Action, said the fact that Democratic presidential candidates have agreed to debate such a socially divisive topic "really shows where these particular candidates are coming from."
"By all appearances, this is political pandering at its worst," she said. "With so many critical issues facing our country – everything from the war to health care – this is a poor use of time and national attention."
[More at URL]
----- 15 -----
California Marriage Amendment Drive Takes Shape
Golden State may join the 27 that have changed their constitutions to protect traditional unions.
by Jennifer Mesko, associate editor
7-19-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000005088.cfm
This week, the official title and summary language for several marriage-protection initiatives has been approved by the California attorney general. Two strategies are in play, and two groups may battle for the same conservative population.
"An amendment to the California Constitution, which requires a vote of the people, is the only way to stop the politicians, and especially the courts, from redefining marriage against the will of the majority of Californians," said Ron Prentice, executive director of the California Family Council, which is associated with Focus on the Family.
[...]
"This incessant attack on marriage is precisely why Californians need to support the ProtectMarriage.com initiative to get traditional marriage enshrined in the state Constitution," said Mona Passignano, state issues analyst for Focus on the Family Action.
[...]
“Many churches and organizations are ready to get started, and we are thankful for the volunteer network committed to the signature-gathering process," Prentice said. "However, the release of official petitions for circulation depends on first obtaining significant financial backing. This is in process.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Visit the Protect Marriage Web site.
[More at URL]
----- 16 -----
Kevorkian speech protested
Focus on the Family
7-20-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000005093.cfm
Bobby Schindler, brother of the late Terri Schiavo, has launched a petition drive to persuade the University of Florida (Gainesville) to rescind its invitation to convicted killer Jack Kevorkian to speak on campus Oct. 11.
“It is unacceptable for the University of Florida to give a platform to Jack Kevorkian, a man who willfully helped take people’s lives, some of whose only ailment was depression, and pay him $50,000 to spread his violent message of ‘mercy killing’ to the students of the University of Florida,” Schindler’s petition states.
[More at URL]
----- 17 -----
‘Tolerance’ equals censorship in public school district
Official tells group to ‘stay out of our schools.'
by Candi Cushman, education analyst
7-20-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000005098.cfm
A group that supports people trying to leave homosexuality is “like the KKK but only in the form of religion,” according to a teacher at Montgomery County, Md.’s Thomas S. Wootton High School.
[...]
Using a school-issued e-mail account, the teacher sent those messages to PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-gays and Gays), after the organization distributed fliers to students in compliance with school policy.
So much for “tolerance.”
Which is what the Montgomery County public school district claims it’s promoting by introducing a pro-gay curriculum in all of its middle and high schools this fall.
[...]
“They are essentially telling the kids that unless they accept homosexuality, there is something wrong with them,” said Michelle Turner, a mother of six with two in the school district. “These kids have no ability to voice their objection,” she said. “These lessons are so tightly scripted, there is really no discussion that is permitted to take place in the classroom.”
Turner is the spokeswoman for a local parents’ coalition called Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum (CRC). The parents received bad news in June when the Maryland State Board of Education denied their appeal, ruling that the district’s controversial lesson plans do not violate the law because “teaching tolerance of diversity is a civic value” with a secular purpose.
The message was clear: Anything taught in the name of “tolerance” trumps parental rights — as well as free speech and religious freedom rights. Other parents need to wake up to this trend, warned Turner. “This ‘tolerance’ is a guise for an agenda that’s being pushed on the school system.
[...]
ADF sent a letter this week to the president of Montgomery County’s education board, citing federal court rulings that clearly forbid schools from singling out one group for censorship, while allowing the viewpoints of others.
[More at URL]
----- 18 -----
Pence Deserves Thanks for Taking on Planned Parenthood
Amendment would have kept taxpayer money out of abortion provider's hands.
by Jennifer Mesko, associate editor
Focus on the Family
7-20-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000005097.cfm
Late Thursday afternoon, Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., offered an amendment to the Labor-Health and Human Services Appropriations bill that would prevent taxpayer dollars from being used to fund Planned Parenthood or its affiliates.
Unfortunately, 231 representatives in the U.S. House voted to continue to send millions of dollars in taxpayer money to Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the world. Joining Pence in voting for the amendment were 188 lawmakers.
Pence deserves our thanks, said Ashley Horne, federal policy analyst for Focus on the Family Action.
"We applaud Rep. Pence for boldly offering this important pro-life amendment," she said.
TAKE ACTION
Thank Rep. Mike Pence for taking a stand against Planned Parenthood. Call his office at (202) 225-3021.
----- 19 -----
‘Modesty Movement’ Gains Momentum
Author tells girls that their choices could transform our nation.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
7-20-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000005095.cfm
Despite the devastating influence of today's culture, some are trying to teach girls they don’t have to dress immodestly in order to be true women.
The word modesty strikes fear in the heart of every girl who likes to wear the latest fashions, but doesn’t want to compromise her beliefs in the process. And while some in the modesty movement are more about frump than style, others believe you can wear cute clothes and still maintain your dignity.
“It’s fine to follow some of the fashions just as long as we realize that you don’t want anything too tight, nothing too clingy, nothing too sheer and just make sure that ‘from the shoulder to the knees, nobody touches, nobody sees,’” author Colleen Hammond told Family News in Focus.
She said girls need to understand that their choices can influence others.
“We’ve learned from history that as the morality of women declines, the culture follows with it,” Hammond said.
Pure Fashion attempts to help girls with modest choices and has hosted 13 modest fashion shows around the country this year.
“We’re not necessarily afraid of the body. God created the body, and it is good and it is holy, and it is sacred,” said Brenda Sharman, national director of Pure Fashion. “It’s just that we want to have a reverence and a respect for the human body.”
----- 20 -----
Gay Activists Try to Stop TV Report on Lesbian Gang Attacks
High school students are the victims.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
7-17-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000005067.cfm
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has apparently threatened to sue a Tennessee TV station for airing a report on lesbian gangs attacking students.
Jack Peck, general manager of WPTY in Memphis, said the station agreed to make some rewrites before the story aired in February, but that wasn't enough to satisfy GLAAD.
The story featured an interview with Shelby County Gang Unit specialist Beverly Cobb, who said girls are being attacked in high school bathrooms and stairwells by members of a gang called GTO or "Gays Taking Over."
“They are forcing themselves on our young girls in all our schools," Cobb said in the televised report.
The station gave GLAAD an advance viewing of the story. The group declared it “sensationalistic and homophobic.”
Peter LaBarbera, with Americans for Truth, said the station manager told him the group definitely did not want the story to air.
“A senior staffer told him several times, ‘We’re going to take you to court if you air this report,’ ” he said.
Similar gang activity is reported in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. Linda Jernigan, a former homosexual, said that’s why GLAAD is making such an issue of the Memphis story. [Editor's note: There is no actual evidence of any of this.]
“They don’t want this type of information to get out," she told Family News in Focus, "because then they know people’s eyes will be opened, they’ll begin to see this whole situation for what it really is.”
[Editor's note: There is no actual evidence of any such epidemic; even Bill O'Reilly eventually backed down from his version of the story, which Focus nonetheless references here. Variations on this particular newtype blood libel story are all over the theoconservative and fundamentalist propaganda spheres - Americans for Truth, GayWrongs, Catholic News Agency, Lifesite, World Net Daily - it's everywhere.]
----- 21 -----
Lesbian Partner Granted Parental Status
Focus on the Family
7-17-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000005065.cfm
An Oregon woman whose lesbian partner gave birth will be listed on the child's birth certificate as the second parent, The Oregonian reported.
Multnomah County Circuit Judge Eric Bloch ruled Friday that Jeana Frazzini has a legal right to be declared the second parent. K.D. Parman, who conceived by artificial insemination, is the birth mother.
In his ruling, Bloch said the state constitution does not allow same-sex marriage, therefore does not provide a remedy for same-sex parents.
Oregon lawmakers passed a domestic-partnership law this year that will take effect Jan. 1. Bloch said that would solve the so-called inequity.
[...]
Defense of Marriage and Family is collecting signatures in Oregon to place a measure on the 2008 ballot challenging the domestic-partnership law.
[More at URL]
----- 22 -----
Alabama Abortions Down Nearly 50 Percent Since 1980
Focus on the Family
7-17-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000005066.cfm
Abortions in Alabama have been cut nearly in half over the past two decades, public health records show, dropping from 21,000 in 1980 to 11,656 procedures last year, The Birmingham News reports.
"There's no doubt in my mind that the passage and enforcement of incremental pro-life laws like parental consent, 24-hour reflection period and mandated ultrasound before an abortion is performed have contributed to Alabama's drop in abortions," said Carrie Gordon Earll, senior analyst for bioethics at Focus on the Family Action. "Such incremental laws save lives and move the culture toward a day when abortion is no longer accepted or desired."
[More at URL]
----- 23 -----
Amnesty International Announces Support for Abortion
Critics say life is the most basic human right.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
7-17-2007
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000005068.cfm
Human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) has shifted from a neutral stance on abortion to a positive one, now classifying it as a "human right." Pro-life groups, including Democrats for Life, are urging AI to reconsider.
Officially, AI states that it wants women "to be free of fear, threat and coercion as they manage all consequences of rape and other grave human rights violations.”
Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats for Life, said support for such a contentious issue is disrespectful to AI's constituents.
"I just think that’s a great disservice to those who want to support Amnesty International and the good work they are doing,” she told Family News in Focus. “The Catholic Bishops have come out and opposed this new idea that they have to include abortion.”
[...]
In a statement, AI maintained it does not "promote abortion as a universal right and Amnesty International remains silent on the rights and wrongs of abortion."
White took issue with that.
“They can’t say they are not for abortion, but then they are demanding for abortion to be legal and for women to have the right to have an abortion,” she said. “If women are being hurt in wartime because of rape and those kinds of things, then we need to do more actions to prevent rape and incest.”
[More at URL]
----- 24 -----
Persecution
How Liberals are Waging War Against Christians
David Limbaugh
Hardcover
http://resources.family.org/product/id/101737.do?code=OL07XFARC3
Author David Limbaugh exposes the subtle but pervasive discrimination against biblical Christianity in our culture. Using real, sometimes shocking, examples from Hollywood, public schools and other venues, he shows how terms like "tolerance" and the mythical "separation of church and state" have been used to portray Christianity as repressive, ignorant and offensive. This is a call to action for those who want to exercise their right to influence popular culture and find true religious freedom.
[More at URL]
----- 25 -----
Gay Vets Gather in Seattle
Faith and Freedom Network
Thursday, July 19, 2007
http://www.faithandfreedom.us/weblog/2007/07/gay-vets-gather-in-seattle.html
Gay veterans met in Seattle yesterday. This was the latest stop on a national tour urging repeal of the military’s, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay civil rights organization, sponsored the event.
They said their objective is to make the policy a priority issue in the 2008 presidential election.
What struck me was their take on the policy in regard to national security. They say in some of their literature that, “This discriminatory policy hurts the military readiness and national security while putting American soldiers fighting overseas at risk.”
Yet the policy – Policy Concerning Homosexuals in the Armed Services (Public Law 103-160 – Nov. 30, 1993 – § 546, 107 Stat. 1670 (1993) (codified at 10 U.S.C. A. § 654). clearly shows that the findings of Congress stand in total disagreement with the idea that the policy hurts the military or national security.
In fact, the lengthy findings by Congress state, among other things, that there is no constitutional rights to serve in the military (2), military life is fundamentally different from civilian life (3), the prohibition against homosexual conduct is a long-standing element of military law that continues to be necessary in the unique circumstances of military services (13) and the presence in the armed forces of persons who demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability (15).
[Editor's note: These political findings were political findings, not evidentiary findings, and were declarations of the bill, not reasons for it. Faith and Freedom Network is misrepresenting a bill written by fundamentalist-backed Republicans as factual findings; it's like quoting Focus on the Family of CWA's policy statement as evidence. It's just not.]
----- 26 -----
Hindu opens U.S. Senate with prayer
Faith and Freedom Network
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
http://www.faithandfreedom.us/weblog/2007/07/hindu-opens-us-senate-with-prayer.html
Last week a Hindu chaplain from Reno, Nevada gave the opening prayer in the U.S. Senate.
Rajan Zed told the Las Vegas Sun that in his prayer he would likely include references to the ancient Hindu scriptures. And he delivered. (See CNN Video).
Thousands of calls, letters and email to the Senate leadership asking them to reconsider were ignored. Protestors were escorted from the chamber as the first Hindu prayer was offered – the first ever at the Senate since it was formed in 1789.
David Barton, the leading Christian historian in America, is questioning why the U.S. Government is seeking the invocation of a non-monotheistic god. Barton points out that since Hindus worship multiple gods; the prayer was completely outside the American paradigm, flying in the face of the American motto, “One nation under God.”
You have to wonder what Harry Reid and the Democratic Senate leadership were thinking. Barton says, given the fact that Hindus represent a very tiny constituency of the American public, you must ask what was the message and why is that message needed?
[...]
No one can legitimately challenge the fact that the God America refers to in the pledge, our national motto and other places is the monotheistic God of the Jewish and Christian faith, yet the present leadership in our legislature once again is attempting to lead us away from this God and His principles that have provided blessing and prosperity for this country.
God help us.
[More at URL]
----- 27 -----
GAY ACTIVISTS TRY TO STOP TV NEWS STORY
Faith and Freedom Network
Friday, July 20, 2007
http://www.faithandfreedom.us/weblog/2007/07/gay-activists-try-to-stop-tv-news-story.html
The Gay And Liesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has apparently threatened to sue a Tennessee TV station for airing a report on lesbian gangs attacking students.
Focus on the Family was told by the station manager that they had agreed to rewrite some of the story, but that still did not satisfy the activists.
We also spoke to the station and from what I heard, airing the story was not a pleasant experience.
There has actually been a blacklash against some of the reporters at the Memphis station from members of the homosexual community.
The story featured an interview with Shelby County Gang Unit specialist, Beverly Cobb, who said, "Girls are being attacked in high school bathrooms by members of a gang called GTO or 'Gays Taking Over.'"
Cobb said in the television story that,"They are forcing themselves on our young girls in all our schools."
[Editor's note: lots of this are taken almost verbatim from Focus on the Family's version of this particular newtype blood libel. Again, this story was false.]
[More at URL]
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APA -- Reviewing 10-year-old policy on gay counseling
Faith and Freedom Network
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
http://www.faithandfreedom.us/weblog/2007/07/apa-reviewing-10-year-old-policy-on-gay.html
While taking the last couple of weeks off to vacation with my family, I tried to take a break from most of the news stories; however, a couple of them caught my attention.
The American Psychological Association (APA) is revisiting its 10-year-old policy on counseling gays and lesbians.
While this exercise of review could have easily been lost in the sea of conferences and meetings that are typically held this time of year, fortunately it was not. It was not lost to the gay-rights activists who saw the review as another opportunity nor to a number of Christian leaders, counselors and religious organizations who see the review as a blatant move to advance the gay agenda.
The disingenuous way the review panel was seated is almost unbelievable.
[...]
Five out of six people chosen for the review task force are committed gay–affirmative activists who are openly hostile to the reality that individuals with unwanted same-sex attraction can be helped.
The six people chosen include Dr. Judith M. Glassgold, a board member of the Journal of Gay and Lesbian Psychotherapy and Dr. Jack Dreshcher, a gay activist psychiatrist who strongly opposes reparative therapy for gays. Another member, Dr. A. Beckstead is openly skeptical of reorientation therapy and Dr. Roger L. Worthington received an award in 2001 from the LGBT Resource Center at the University of Missouri for “speaking up and out and often regarding LGBT issues.”
And these gays will decide if gays can receive counseling if they want to change?
This is a case of the foxes guarding the hen house.
The findings of this task force are already predetermined, much like several of Washington State gay-rights laws were given predetermination by legislators and committees even before hearings were held in Olympia.
[...]
The current APA policy currently opposes any counseling that treats homosexuality as a mental illness, but does not explicitly denounce reparative therapy.
Fortunately, a number of Christian and religious leaders, including the Southern Baptist Convention and Focus on the Family, have written a letter to the APA expressing their concern that the task force’s proposals would not properly accommodate gays and lesbians whose religious beliefs condemn gay sex. They said, “We believe that psychologists should assist clients to develop lives that they value, even if that means they decline to identify as homosexual.”
Jody Huckaby, PFLAG executive director, said that reparative therapy has been particularly harmful for young gays whose parents insist on trying to change their sexual orientation. This, of course, from the folks who actively recruit young children under the guise of sex education.
[More at URL]
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Should Bush’s Surgeon General Pick Make the Cut?
We’re left not knowing where Dr. Holsinger stands on important hot-button issues.
Concerned Women for America
7/18/2007
By J. Matt Barber
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/13471/CWA/family/index.htm
In July, The U.S. Senate held hearings on Dr. James Holsinger, President Bush’s Surgeon General nominee. Holsinger has been unfairly and viciously attacked by the left for both his religious views — he’s a Christian, heaven forbid — and for daring, in a 1991 paper he penned, to address the devastating medical consequences of the homosexual lifestyle. Those consequences are well documented — among other sources — by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and are irrefutable.
During his testimony, Dr. Holsinger stated that he would resign if ever asked to place politics over science. Unfortunately, while addressing questions relative to hot-button issues such as homosexuality and destructive embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) this time around, Dr. Holsinger appeared to do just that. He appeared to place political correctness over scientific substance.
When asked if he still believed that homosexual behaviors are “unhealthy” and “unnatural,” as he demonstrated in his 1991 paper, he played dodge ball and offered a series of non-answers. He clearly tried to distance himself from the paper by saying, “First of all, the paper does not represent where I am today. It does not represent who I am today.”
What does that mean? Does it mean that Dr. Holsinger now believes that homosexual behaviors are “natural” and “healthy”? That’s certainly how the mainstream media is playing his response. It’s being widely reported that he has “disavowed” his prior position on homosexuality.
But there are additional questions about Dr. Holsinger’s medical opinions. For instance, what is his position on ESCR and cloning? Statements he made in 2002 in support of relaxing restrictions on both ESCR and cloning concern many conservatives who oppose the destruction of innocent human life.
[...]
Call me a pie-in-the-sky dreamer, but when asked by Senator Ted “flip-and-fly” Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) whether he still believes that homosexuality is “unnatural” and “unhealthy,” Dr. Holsinger could have said, “It doesn’t matter what I believe. Let’s see what the medical facts tell us. For instance, the CDC has revealed in its most recent 2005 report that male homosexuals account for at least 71 percent of all adult and adolescent males living with deadly HIV/AIDS. These numbers are up 11 percent from 2001 despite — if not due to — ‘comprehensive’ condom based ‘safe-sex’ education.
“Furthermore,” says Holsinger in my pie-in-the-sky scenario, “astronomical HIV/AIDS statistics represent only one small aspect of the homosexual lifestyle — especially among males. CDC statistics also indicate that homosexuals are, by far, most susceptible to nearly all forms of sexually transmitted disease, as well as other lifestyle-related medical injuries. So yes, Senator Kennedy, homosexual behaviors are demonstrably unnatural and unhealthy.”
Dr. Holsinger could have shared this information with the Senate committee. He didn’t. Instead, he dodged questions about homosexuality altogether. I was there. I heard it. And I was left unimpressed.
[More at URL]
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Homosexual Immorality: What’s the Debate?
Concerned Women for America
7/20/2007
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/13486/MEDIA/family/index.htm
Washington, D.C. — On August 9, MTV’s homosexual cable network, Logo, is hosting the first-ever presidential debate intended to promote the homosexual and transgender (gender identity disorder) lifestyles. All major presidential candidates have been invited to participate. To date, all Republican presidential candidates have declined, while all major Democratic candidates have accepted. Those candidates who have accepted are Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-New York), Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois), former Sen. John Edwards (D-North Carolina), Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut), former Sen. Mike Gravel (D-Alaska), and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio).
Both Joe Solmonese, president of the homosexual “Human Rights Campaign” and lesbian singer/activist Melissa Etheridge have been selected as panelists.
Matt Barber, CWA’s Policy Director for Cultural Issues, said, “This debate is clearly designed to advance the radical homosexual agenda and to promote social and governmental acceptance and celebration of the high-risk and destructive homosexual lifestyle.
“It’s disgraceful that our nation’s moral standards have now dipped so low that it’s considered ‘tolerant’ to hold a debate organized entirely around the promotion of sexual immorality. What’s next? Are presidential candidates going to be asked to participate in a debate on how to garner widespread acceptance of adultery or incest? Are members of the growing polygamy lobby and the pedophile group NAMBLA going to tap candidates for a televised debate to promote their chosen lifestyles?
“Thousands of years of history, every major world religion, the unambiguous science of human biology and good old fashioned common sense have established that homosexual behaviors are both immoral and destructive to the lives, health and spiritual well being of those who choose to participate in those behaviors. For instance, the CDC has recently determined that 71 percent of all males living with deadly HIV/AIDS were infected with the disease through homosexual behaviors,” said Barber, “Furthermore, the CDC has determined that homosexuals — especially males — are by far at greatest risk for nearly all forms of sexually transmitted disease as well as other lifestyle related injuries.
“Will any of the presidential candidates bring up any of these facts during the debate? Organizers are expecting them to fall all over themselves trying to prove to the world who’s most sympathetic to the left’s twisted version of ‘tolerance’ and ‘diversity.’ But there’s nothing to debate here. These candidates should play it straight, so to speak, and call it like it is. Immorality is immorality,” concluded Barber.
For Information Contact:
Jennifer Fedor
(202) 488-7000
media.cwfa.org
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2007-07-21 02:52 pm (UTC)Also, thank you for doing these, and congratulations on your taste in music.
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Date: 2007-07-21 04:32 pm (UTC)Yeah, I've noticed that, too.
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Date: 2007-07-21 05:00 pm (UTC)