[Active-l] (NEWS) Today's Cultural Warfare Update

[Dara (R'ykandar Korra'ti)]

Not linked to, because it's not an article, is Faith and Freedom  
Network calling Washington State's civil rights bill "same-sex marriage  
legislation." It's on their front page, and will no doubt be part of  
their "repeal" campaign with Tim Eyman. The direct quote: "Why Faith &  
Freedom opposes HB 2661 and other same-sex marriage legislation." Watch  
out for this in upcoming months. Incidentally, I ran into an Eyman  
signature gatherer on the $30 tabs thing (to gut transportation funding  
again) at Albertson's; he was collecting only for the tabs and said he  
wouldn't take signatures for the anti-civil-rights initiative. He said  
this after I told him that I'd never vote for another Tim Eyman  
initiative, no matter what it was, even if I agreed with it, because of  
his family-destroying initiative this year. He didn't look me in the  
eye on the way back out the grocery.

Meanwhile, here's today's news - or rather, Monday's and Tuesday's.  
Sorry I'm so late.

UK launches programme to counter US's anti-abortion stance overseas; I  
wonder what the fundamentalists will think of this?

Here's a first; I link to DailyKOS, which blogs about how Our Friends,  
the Saudis, blew the Danish cartoon series into an international  
crisis, in order to help deflect criticism of their government; I  
haven't linked to Juan Cole's Informed Comment, but he disagrees with  
portions of this analysis, pointing the finger more at the Syrian  
government; Omar, an Iraqi blogger at iraqthemodel.com also points at  
Syria, while also pointing at Iran;

Spiegel Online: Do not apologise;

New York Press editorial staff quits _en masse_ after publisher kills  
plans to run the 12 Danish cartoons as a protest;

Arabic youth set up apology site to Norway and Denmark for the actions  
of the fundamentalist Islamists; state they find the cartoons very  
offensive but condemn the violence in clear terms;

In the radical capital of the most liberal district of the most  
progressive city in the country, Capital Hill in Seattle, free-speech  
advocates have made the "bomb" cartoon into a symbol for the right to  
express unpopular opinions - Dan Savage blogs about it; I point this  
out because there's a meme going around Republican circles that lefties  
are pro-fundamentalist-Islamist on this one;

Focus on the Family: California group trying to get  
parental-notification initiative on the ballot;

FotF: Idaho State House passes anti-marriage amendment; moves now to  
Senate;

FotF's Citizen magazine runs scare-article against videogaming;  
particularly targets games like the Halo series, Doom, Quake - FPS in  
general; blames Resident Evil and Doom for the Columbine killings; etc,  
etc, etc;

FotF ACTION ITEM and article pushing anti-marriage amendment in New  
Hampshire;

Kansas Supreme Court rejects gubernatorial attempt to trawl through  
medical records of women who have had abortions, FotF spins it as a  
"complicated ruling" and claims partial victory; however, that's pretty  
much just spin;

Kentucky has 40 legislators signing on to an outright abortion ban,  
specifically to challenge Roe v. Wade;

FotF signals membership: don't vote for Bloomberg - he just donated  
significant money towards stem-cell research;

Concerned Women for America's Robert Knight whines about the "Baby  
Boomer decadence" of the Rolling Stones - it's pretty funny, and sad,  
so you should read it; the best part is when he recommends people read  
_The Picture of Dorian Grey_, clearly not aware that Oscar Wilde was as  
gay as a box of birds;

CWA reprints article by Tim Wilkins of Cross Ministry, who is of the  
so-called "ex-gay" movement; admits outright he still really wants men;  
compares Brokeback Mountain to offering alcoholics booze; refuses to  
see it;

Agape Press: "Thank God" that there are new justices on the Supreme  
Court, changing its makeup to suit fundamentalists; also, don't worry  
about that death penalty case, it was just whether to reverse a lower  
court's stay, it's not a sign Alito is flipping;

CWA's Jan LaRue talks about the Alito swearing-in ceremony; she was  
invited as a CWA rep;

Traditional Values Coalition: same-sex relationships "no different than  
tobacco or alcohol abuse"; pushes the usual lines about diseased fags  
spreading their filthy diseases and dying young; pushes "ex-gay"  
ministries;

TVC: American queers want to make "opposition to homosexual conduct"  
illegal; claims Europe is about to do so;

Family Research Council denounces Maryland Speaker of the House for  
stopping the anti-marriage bill there;

FRC ACTION ITEM to support anti-marriage efforts in New Hampshire;

American Family Association article with Canadian fundamentalist Brian  
Rushfeldt has Rushfeldt saying forget the free vote (because they'd  
lose it); now there should be a _national referendum_ on marriage  
rights. Meanwhile, public support for reopening the issue runs against  
and for the status quo, nearly 2:1;

AFA trumpets Southern Californian Episcopalian church leaving Episcopal  
Church USA for South American Diocese;

AFA: "Catholic Groups Protest Church Schools Supporting V-Monologues";

AFA claims victory, says they got a segment they consider "offensive"  
to Christians pulled from "Will and Grace"; NBC says the information  
was wrong to start with;

AFA ACTION ITEM to support anti-marriage "Marriage Protection  
Amendment" - they expect a Senate vote in MARCH;

Edmonton, Alberta paper columnist calls for Harper to use the  
Notwithstanding clause to void the Supreme Court decision on marriage  
which led to C-38;

Canada Family Action Coalition is clearly getting coaching from  
southern allies; talks now about the "medical consequences of  
[homosexuality]";


----- 1 -----
Britain defies US with funding to boost safe abortion services

· Attempt to replace lost dollars after 'global gag'
· 70,000 died last year in backstreet operations

Sarah Boseley
Monday February 6, 2006
The Guardian

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/development/story/0,,1703082,00.html? 
gusrc=rss

The British government will today publicly defy the United States by  
giving money for safe abortion services in developing countries to  
organisations that have been cut off from American funding.

Nearly 70,000 women and girls died last year because they went to  
back-street abortionists. Hundreds of thousands of others suffered  
serious injuries.

Critics of America's aid policy say some might have lived if the US had  
not withdrawn funding from clinics that provide safe services - or that  
simply tell women where to find them.

[More at URL]


----- 2 -----
Muslim Cartoon Controversy: What the Media Isn't Telling You
by Soj
Sun Feb 05, 2006 at 11:01:49 AM PDT

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/2/5/13149/60748

I had a friend over today who lives out of town and we switched on the  
traditional news media television and saw what most of you have  
probably seen - angry rioters protesting, burning flags and attacking  
various Danish embassies around the world.

Despite the spectaculor footage and a bevy of experts "weighing in" on  
the issue, I did not one single mention of what's actually going on.   
And so therefore, by my duty as a citizen journalist, I will now share  
it with all of you.

The issue has been framed by the traditional media as "Free  
Expression/Speech" in contrast with "Sensitivity to Religion".  Do  
newspapers in democratic societies have the right to publish offensive  
images?  Well that's something definitely worth debating, but it's  
overlooking an important step.

12 cartoons were published in the Danish newspaper Morgenavisen  
Jyllands-Posten, which you can see here.  Some were very bland, others  
seem to be unquestionably offensive.  Yet these cartons were published  
on September 30, 2005.  What the traditional media has failed to  
explain is why the protests are occuring now.

[More at URL]


----- 3 -----
Spiegel Online
Democracy in a Cartoon
By Ibn Warraq
February 3, 2006

http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,398853,00.html

Best-selling author and Muslim dissident Ibn Warraq argues that freedom  
of expression is our western heritage and we must defend it against  
attacks from totalitarian societies. If the west does not stand in  
solidarity with the Danish, he argues, then the Islamization of Europe  
will have begun in earnest.

The great British philosopher John Stuart Mill wrote in On Liberty,  
"Strange it is, that men should admit the validity of the arguments for  
free discussion, but object to their being 'pushed to an extreme'; not  
seeing that unless the reasons are good for an extreme case, they are  
not good for any case."

The cartoons in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten raise the most  
important question of our times: freedom of expression. Are we in the  
west going to cave into pressure from societies with a medieval  
mindset, or are we going to defend our most precious freedom -- freedom  
of expression, a freedom for which thousands of people sacrificed their  
lives?

A democracy cannot survive long without freedom of expression, the  
freedom to argue, to dissent, even to insult and offend. It is a  
freedom sorely lacking in the Islamic world, and without it Islam will  
remain unassailed in its dogmatic, fanatical, medieval fortress;  
ossified, totalitarian and intolerant. Without this fundamental  
freedom, Islam will continue to stifle thought, human rights,  
individuality; originality and truth.

Unless, we show some solidarity, unashamed, noisy, public solidarity  
with the Danish cartoonists, then the forces that are trying to impose  
on the Free West a totalitarian ideology will have won; the  
Islamization of Europe will have begun in earnest. Do not apologize.

[More at URL]


----- 4 -----
NY Press Kills Cartoons; Staff Walks Out
New York Observer
FILE UNDER: Newspapers

http://thepoliticker.observer.com/2006/02/ny-press-kills-cartoons- 
staff-walks-out.html

The editorial staff of the alternative weekly New York Press walked out  
today, en masse, after the paper's publishers backed down from printing  
the Danish cartoons that have become the center of a global free-speech  
fight.

Editor-in-Chief Harry Siegel emails, on behalf of the editorial staff:

New York Press, like so many other publications, has suborned its own  
professed principles. For all the talk of freedom of speech, only the  
New York Sun locally and two other papers nationally have mustered the
minimal courage needed to print simple and not especially offensive  
editorial cartoons that have been used as a pretext for great and  
greatly menacing violence directed against journalists, cartoonists,  
humanitarian aid workers, diplomats and others who represent the basic  
values and obligations of Western civilization. Having been ordered at  
the 11th hour to pull the now-infamous Danish cartoons from an issue  
dedicated to them, the editorial group—consisting of myself, managing  
editor Tim Marchman, arts editorJonathan Leaf and one-man city hall  
bureau Azi Paybarah, chose instead to resign our positions.

[More at URL]


----- 5 -----
To the People of Norway and Denmark

http://www.sorrynorwaydenmark.com/

In the middle of all the mayhem surrounding the Danish cartoons  
controversy, a group of Arab and Muslim youth have set up this website  
to express their honest opinion, as a small attempt to show the world  
that the images shown of Arab and Muslim anger around the world are not  
representative of the opinions of all Arabs.  We whole-heartedly  
apologize to the people of Denmark, Norway and all the European Union  
over the actions of a few, and we completely condemn all forms of  
vandalism and incitement to violence that the Arab and Muslim world  
have witnessed.  We hope that this sad episode will not tarnish the  
great friendship that our peoples have fostered over decades.

The problem with media representation of such issues tends to be that  
the media only picks up the loudest voices, ignoring the rational ones  
that do not generate as much noise.  Voices that seek tolerance,  
dialogue and understanding are always drowned out by the more  
sensationalist loud calls, giving viewers the impression that these  
views are representative of all the Arab public’s view.  This website  
is a modest attempt at redressing this wrong.  We would appreciate it  
if you could forward the word to as many of your friends as possible.

We will note that we find the cartoons to be incendiary, insulting and  
very abrasive.  We also take issue with the general stance of the  
Danish Newspaper Jyllands-Posten, which has a reputation for publishing  
inflammatory material.  Yet, it would be wrong to take away their  
freedom of expression, regardless of how horrid their material is.  We  
affirm our belief in freedom of expression and people’s right to  
express whatever opinions they hold.  However, at the same time there  
is a need to realize that freedom of expression is a responsibility  
that should not be used to gratuitously insult people’s beliefs.

[More at URL]


----- 5 -----
Danish Cartoon On Display in Seattle—Finally!
Posted by DAN SAVAGE at 01:06 PM

http://www.thestranger.com/blog/archives/2006/02/05-11.php#a004183

Okay, it’s on Seattle’s light poles, and not in any of Seattle’s  
newspapers—yet—but I was pleased to find this flyer tacked up on  
Capitol Hill this morning.

[Image at URL]

I’m not sure where the quote is from, or if the person or persons  
behind the poster wrote it. Either way, I love it. I couldn’t agree  
more. Bravo. If the folks who did this are reading this blog, keep  
putting ‘em up!

[More at URL]


----- 6 -----
Petitioners Seek to Place Parental Notification on California Ballot
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
February 7, 2006

[Received in email; no URL]

A drive for signatures aims to give voters in the Golden
State another chance to require parents to be notified 24
hours in advance if a minor daughter is seeking an
abortion, The Associated Press reported.

In a special election last November, a similar measure --
Proposition 73 -- failed to gain enough votes to pass.

Albin Rhomerg, spokesman for the Parents Right to Know and
Child Protection Initiative, said the turnout for that
special election was not representative of the people.

"The turnout was very high in the liberal areas of the
state and surprisingly low in some of the more
conservative areas," he said. "It would be foolish to not
put it before the voters in the larger general election."

Supporters of the new proposed ballot measure have until
July 3 to gather the 600,000 signatures required to place
it on the ballot.


----- 7 -----
Idaho One Step Closer to Preserving Marriage
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
February 7, 2006

[Received in email; no URL]

The Idaho State House approved a proposed constitutional
amendment Monday that would define marriage as a union
between one man and one woman, The Associated Press
reported.

Rep. Lawerence Dennery, R-Midvale, sponsored the bill.

"You cannot make people moral by legislation, but all of
our social laws are legislated morally," he said. "If we
don't set boundaries -- and let everyone do what is right
in their own eyes -- we lose our entire structure. We have
chaos."

The amendment states that "a marriage between a man and a
woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid
or recognized."

The bill must still pass the Senate to be placed on the
November ballot.


----- 8 -----
Point. Click. Kill.
SUMMARY: A father asks that you forgive him for what he is about to  
tell you.
by Jeff Hooten
Focus on the Family
Citizen Magazine
February 2006

(This article appears in the February issue of Citizen
magazine.)

http://www.family.org/cforum/citizenmag/features/a0039289.cfm

Forgive me, for I have killed.

I have used swords and shotguns, handguns and grenades. I
have shot, stabbed and bludgeoned. I have crushed skulls
with golf clubs and hammers and baseball bats. I have
slaughtered men and women, drug dealers and crime bosses,
soldiers and secret agents, mad scientists and aliens,
zombies and the pizza guy. I have killed hundreds, even
thousands -- so many that I lost count long ago.

I have taken up machine guns, plasma rifles and chainsaws.
I have learned to aim for the head. I have partaken of the
drive-by, and I have gone postal. I have fired on fallen
corpses from point-blank range just to see what would
happen. I have watched the flesh fragments scatter and a
cloud of blood dust fill the air.

I have killed with XBox and GameCube, Playstation and PC.
I have killed with joystick, mouse and keyboard. I have
killed for hours at a time, on screens big and small; on
laptops and high-resolution monitors. I have killed in my
basement, in my living room, at the local arcade, at a
neighbor's house, with a co-worker's teenage son. I have
killed late into the night, until three or four in the
morning, because my adrenaline was surging, because my
kids were safely in bed, because I was simply on a roll.
Because I was winning and they were dying.

[...]

Science also tells me that practice makes perfect, that my brain will  
learn from its mistakes, that it will formulate standardized responses  
to what is happening on the monitor, and my muscles, in turn, will pay  
attention. Not only does repetition change brain activity, to the point  
that it will show up on a brain scan, it also alters behavior. Shoot  
enough jump shots and the motion becomes hard-wired. Play a video game  
long enough and your muscles recognize instinctively what to do. And  
programmed muscles, science tells me, are ready and waiting to be used  
at any time, ready and waiting to make the move from fantasy to  
reality.

[More at URL]


----- 9 -----
HELP PROTECT MARRIAGE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
Constitutional amendment needed to define what marriage is.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
February 6, 2006
by Mona Passignano, state issues analyst

http://www.family.org/cforum/statenews/a0039444.cfm

A marriage amendment -- CACR 34 -- has been introduced in
the New Hampshire House and is in the Judiciary Committee.
But it is important that you get involved now by telling
your legislators how you feel about this issue.

The New Hampshire Legislature set up a commission in 2004
to study the debate over same-sex marriages. The
Commission looked at how marriage affects society while
also looking at the implications of same-sex marriages.

After 16 months, the Commission released its final report
on Dec. 1, 2005. A majority of members called for a
constitutional amendment protecting traditional marriage
in the state.

[...]

TAKE ACTION: To get contact information for your
legislators and for more information on what you can do to
help protect marriage in New Hampshire, go to Cornerstone
Policy Research and follow the instructions there.

Please consider attending the House Judiciary Committee
Hearing on the state marriage amendment, CACR 34. The
hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 7 in
Representatives Hall.  To get there, take the south
elevator to the second floor of the State House. For more
information, visit Cornerstone Policy Research.

http://www.nhcornerstone.org

[More at URL]


----- 10 -----
Kansas May See Prosecution of Crimes Not Reported by Abortion Clinics
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
February 6, 2006

[Received in email; no URL]

The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday ruled the state
attorney general cannot have complete access to the
medical records of women who had late-term abortions.

He had requested them to see whether crimes were
committed. The top court did order the lower court to
review records of concern to see if pursuit of prosecution
was warranted, The Associated Press reported.

The complicated ruling left both sides claiming victory,
but in the end it appears Kansas Attorney General Phill
Kline may get access to some clinic records -- records
which may contain evidence of crimes.

Kline originally asked a lower court for the records of 10
women who had late-term abortions in order to investigate
whether clinics were performing illegal abortions and to
determine whether clinics were failing to report crimes of
rape or incest. Upon further examination, the court
determined that the records of at least 90 individuals
merited further investigation. The abortion industry
refused to comply.

The case ended up before the state's high court, which
determined that Kline did have a right to pursue
prosecution of crimes, but that the records in question
would not include personal information until the lower
court could confirm that an investigation was justified.

David Gittrich, state development director for Kansans for
Life, said the abortion industry fought hard to keep
records from Kline.

"The abortion industry doesn't want to surrender the
records because they don't want people to know what they
are doing behind those closed doors," he said. "They've
been hiding these abortions on underage girls and they
didn't want Phill Kline to get his fingers on them."

He said that, despite the abortion industry's fight,
ultimately there will be prosecutions.

"He will gain access to some of those records where there
has got to be something wrong," Gittrich told CitizenLink.
"Those are the cases where probable cause will be enough
that the judge will turn them over to him. If you were a
judge and you saw that an 11-year-old girl was pregnant,
that in and of itself shows that there was some crime
committed."


----- 11 -----
Kentucky Lawmakers Eye Abortion Ban
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
February 6, 2006

[Received in email; no URL]

Nearly 40 members of the Kentucky House have signed on in
support of legislation that would ban abortion in the
state, The Associated Press reported.

Rep. Addia Wuchner, R-Burlington, is the sponsor of a bill
that would outlaw abortion and directly challenge the 1973
Supreme Court Roe v. Wade ruling.

"(To) create a challenge," Wuchner said, "is how change
begins -- and it begins right here at the state level."


----- 12 -----
Embryonic Stem-Cell Research Gets Boost From Bloomberg
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
February 6, 2006

[Received in email; no URL]

New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg donated $100 million
that he wants used for embryonic stem-cell research, CNN
reported.

President Bush limited federal funding of embryonic
stem-cell research to certain already existing lines in
August 2001.

The process to extract embryonic stem-cells always results
in the destruction of life.

Bloomberg, a billionaire, gave the donation to Johns
Hopkins University, where he is a former board chairman.
In endorsing the controversial research, he breaks from
his Republican counterparts.

Bloomberg, formerly a lifelong Democrat, switched to the
Republican Party in 2001 for the mayoral election.


----- 13 -----
The Best & Worst of Super Bowl XL
Concerned Women for America
2/7/2006
By Robert Knight

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/10090/CWA/misc/index.htm

You call this ‘Satisfaction’?

This article was published on February 6, 2006, on WorldNetDaily.com.

Some people's idea of Hell consists of having to repeat a pattern for  
eternity, never to escape.

I thought about that while watching Mick Jagger dance around the giant  
lips and tongue cutout on the floor of Ford Field during the Super Bowl  
XL halftime.

I don't mean us, the audience, repeating the pattern. I mean Mick. He's  
boasted out loud of cutting deals with the Devil, and you have to  
wonder whether the Devil is starting to call in his chips, even before  
the Grim Reaper makes the scene.

At 62 years old, would you want to be gyrating like a sexually confused  
teen on steroids, singing the same adolescent-themed songs you've sung  
for 40 years? Hmmm. Way too many of you out there, especially you guys  
in gray ponytails, said, “Yes.” We recommend that you read Oscar  
Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray – now.

[More at URL]


----- 14 -----
Why I won’t see “Brokeback Mountain”
Concerned Women for America
2/6/2006
By Tim Wilkins

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/10080/CWA/family/index.htm

What is disturbing to me is that men and women with unwanted homosexual  
attractions are seeing the movie.

With eight Oscar nominations, more than any other movie this year,  
Brokeback Mountain continues to gain momentum. And with the momentum  
comes increasing interest by evangelicals to see it.

I will avoid the movie like a slug avoids an overturned saltshaker and,  
for the life of me, cannot understand why any evangelical would see  
it—though there appear to be many. But what is more disturbing to me is  
that many men and women I know with unwanted homosexual attractions are  
seeing the movie.

A reporter from The Christian Post asked my thoughts about the movie  
and I obliged. My comments as a former homosexual were made from the  
reviews I had read—comments that generated numerous e-mails to me from  
individuals arguing that I could not make an intelligent comment on a  
movie I had not seen.

They suggested that my viewing the movie would be beneficial in  
responding to the reporter’s questions. I told them and the reporter  
that my going to see Brokeback Mountain would be similar to asking a  
former alcoholic to go to a liquor store to buy his neighbor a toddy  
for the body.

Opponents of ex-gay ministries will immediately shout "Aha – so you are  
still tempted with same-sex attractions!" I do not deny it! Martin  
Luther said it this way, "If your head is made of butter, stay away  
from the fire."

[More at URL]


----- 15 -----
Commentary & News Briefs
February 3, 2006
Compiled by Jenni Parker

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/2/32006h.asp

...Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America (CWA) says it is not  
surprising that two appeals courts have rejected a ban on partial-birth  
abortion. Nevertheless, the pro-life advocate is optimistic that the  
new makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court could bring about a reversal of  
those lower court decisions. The 2nd and 9th U.S. Circuit Courts of  
Appeals have ruled that the partial-birth abortion ban passed by  
Congress in 2003 is unconstitutional. "What we all had been hoping for  
when Congress passed the law and President Bush signed it," Wright  
says, "is that, by the time it ended up in front of the Supreme Court,  
there would be new justices on the court. Thank God -- thank God --  
that is now true." Now, what pro-lifers are hoping, the CWA spokeswoman  
adds, is that a just ruling will be forthcoming from the Supreme Court  
-- a ruling "that will set the record straight that it is not  
constitutional and it's certainly not right to kill unborn babies by  
partially delivering them and sucking their brains out." The Bush  
administration is already appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court a similar  
decision by the 8th Circuit in St. Louis, Missouri. [Rusty Pugh]

[More at URL, including notes on anti-marriage efforts in Florida,  
other states]


----- 16 -----
Samuel A. Alito Sworn in as U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Concerned Women for America
2/1/2006

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/10041/LEGAL/scourt/index.htm

[Most of this text is from their frontpage, but has no direct link:]

Supreme Gathering

Jan LaRue, CWA's Chief Counsel, was present at the White House for the  
Swearing-In Ceremony of Associate Justice Samuel Alito. CWA was honored  
to be part of this great celebration after months of hard work in  
support of this great Justice. Click here [  
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/10042/LEGAL/scourt/index.htm ] for a  
glimpse of CWA's involvement. Click here [  
http://www.cwfa.org/play.asp?id=cw20060202a ] for an audio interview  
with Jan.


----- 17 -----
The Real Tragedy Of ‘Brokeback Mountain’
By Rev. Louis P. Sheldon
Chairman, Traditional Values Coalition
For Publication On Or After February 6, 2006

http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2597

Washington, DC – The homosexual-themed film, “Brokeback Mountain” has  
received rave reviews from critics and is being showered with awards  
from various film groups. It has already received eight Oscar  
nominations. This is to be expected from a liberal/homosexual dominated  
film industry.

The self-selected and self-serving cabal who hand out awards know what  
they’re doing. They’re determined to normalize homosexuality by using  
every means possible—including creating sympathetic “cowboys” who are  
victims of “homophobia.”

What this film does not deal with is the dysfunctional nature and  
social consequences of the same-sex lifestyle. Homosexual behavior is  
no different than tobacco or alcohol abuse. All have serious emotional  
and physical consequences. Homosexual sex acts frequently result in the  
spread of STDs, including HIV.  And, crystal meth drug use is epidemic  
among homosexual populations.

Of course, until forced to by the government, the tobacco industry  
never talked about cancer. The alcohol industry seldom discusses the  
dangerous consequences of alcohol abuse on families. And, Hollywood  
carefully avoids revealing the consequences of homosexual  
behaviors—which frequently include a painful death at a young age.

[More at URL]


----- 18 -----
European Union To Criminalize ‘Homophobia’
This resolution could impact American law through the Supreme Court.
Traditional Values Coalition
[Undated]

http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2598

In January 2005, the European Union (EU) approved a resolution banning  
“homophobia” and urges the legalization of homosexual marriages  
throughout Europe.

The “Homophobia in Europe” resolution defines homophobia as “an  
irrational fear and aversion to homosexuality and of lesbian, gay,  
bisexual and transgender people based on prejudice, similar to racism,  
xenophobia, anti-Semitism, sexism.”

The resolution urges action against European nations that do not  
implement programs that favor homosexuals.

Franco Frattini, the justice minister of the EU has stated: “Homophobia  
is a violation of human rights and we are watching member states on  
this issue and reporting on cases in which our efforts have been  
unsuccessful.” The report warns that “...the Commission and the  
European Parliament seek to make any refusal to grant homosexual  
couples the same rights as a married couple a crime of ’homophobia.’”

Catholics in Europe are particularly outraged by this European Union  
resolution and fear what it will do to the traditional family. The  
secretary of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences, Msgr. Aldo  
Giordano reported on Vatican radio on January 19, that: “Sometimes it  
seems there is the domination (within the European Parliament) of a  
certain ideology of pluralism which sees everything that exists as  
something good. There really is lacking a reflection on what is truly  
human, what is human richness, what is good and evil, what is truth.”

Giordano also observed: “It should be clear that certain subjects,  
especially those relating to the family, are not within the direct  
competence of the European Union but are the recognized competence of  
nations.”

The European Union statement against “homophobia” came after the  
governments of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland ruled against  
homosexual “marriage.” In fact, in October 2005, the Polish Prime  
Minister, Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, stated: “If anybody tries to  
contaminate others with his homosexuality, the state should intervene  
against such an infringement of liberty.”

The European Union reacted to these actions against homosexual marriage  
by posting the following notice on its web site: “Following a series of  
worrying events which has recently taken place in a number of EU member  
states, …. from banning gay pride or equality marches to leading  
political and religious leaders’ inflammatory/hate/threatening  
language, MEPs [Members of European Parliament] strongly condemn  
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.”

‘Homophobia’ In the U.S.
The homosexual movement is determined to criminalize opposition to  
homosexual conduct as “homophobia” or to create a new mental illness of  
“homophobia” that will be adopted by the American Psychiatric  
Association for its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Of Mental  
Disorders (DSM).

[More at URL]


----- 19 -----
FRC Denounces Maryland House Speaker For Subverting Democratic Process
February 2, 2006 - Thursday
Family Research Council
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 2, 2006 CONTACT: J.P. Duffy or Bethanie  
Swendsen, (202) 393-2100

http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PR06B01

"The House Speaker's decision to block a vote on marriage now places  
the democratic process itself in jeopardy."
~ Peter Sprigg, Vice President for Policy, Family Research Council

Washington, D.C. - Earlier today, Maryland House Speaker Michael Busch  
recessed the House to block a vote on the Marriage Protection Act (HB  
48). He took this extreme action apparently after learning that the  
amendment had received enough petition signatures to bring the measure  
to a floor vote. Last month, Baltimore Circuit Court Judge M. Brooke  
Murdock, struck down Maryland's marriage law as unconstitutional.   
Peter Sprigg, Family Research Council's Vice President for Policy,  
released the following statement:

"It is stunning that Maryland House Speaker Michael Busch has chosen to  
join a Baltimore circuit judge in subverting the democratic process.  
The House Speaker's decision to block a vote on marriage now places the  
democratic process itself in jeopardy.

[More at URL]


----- 20 -----
Marriage in New Hampshire needs your help!
February 2, 2006 - Thursday
New Hampshire (more on this state)
Forward to a Friend!

http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=AL06B01

To safeguard marriage as defined in New Hampshire law from activist  
judges like those in Massachusetts and most recently Maryland, we need  
a constitutional amendment that states: "A marriage between one man and  
one woman shall be the only legal union that shall be valid or  
recognized in this state."

The New Hampshire House Judiciary Committee will hear the Marriage  
Amendment CACR 34 on Tuesday, February 7, 2006 at 10:00 a.m. in  
Representatives Hall. Take the South elevator to the second floor of  
the State House.

To take action you can do the following:

--Attend the hearing if possible and sign in on the blue sheets. The  
blue sheets will ask you to indicate if you support or oppose the bill.

--Contact your representative and ask them to support CACR 34 and to  
sign the Marriage Protection Pledge. For a copy go to:

[More at URL]


----- 21 -----
Citizens' Ballot Could Be Canada's Best Hope for Repealing Same-Sex  
'Marriage'
By Chad Groening
American Family Association
February 6, 2006

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/2/afa/62006d.asp

(AgapePress) - Canadian pro-family activist Brian Rushfeldt says he  
agrees with a recent survey that shows, despite the recent election of  
a new Conservative government, a vote to revoke the legalization of  
same-sex "marriage" would be a close one in Parliament.

Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper reports that a narrow majority of the  
current Members of Parliament (MPs) would agree to retain same-sex  
marriage, based on a tabulation of how returning members voted on the  
issue last June. Rushfeldt, co-founder and executive director of the  
Canada Family Action Coalition (CFAC), does not doubt the accuracy of  
the paper's predictions concerning how the national lawmakers would  
cast their ballots on homosexual marriage.

"If we leave it up to our Members of Parliament, I think we're going to  
have a fairly tight vote on it," the pro-family activist says. "We've  
got a number of new ones that we don't know where they stand.  
Certainly, of the ones that are already there, we know that there's 101  
Liberals and 29 Nds [New Democrats] that definitely are all in support  
of homosexual marriage."

Because of this, Rushfeldt believes a people's referendum on same-sex  
marriage would be a better course of action. "Forget about the members  
of Parliament deciding on such a crucial issue," he urges. "Let's have  
a referendum of the voices of the Canadian people on this; because, if  
the members of Parliament voted in line with what the people of Canada  
wanted, I don't think this would be a close vote."

Unlike outgoing Prime Minister Paul Martin, Canada's incoming national  
leader Stephen Harper would support the idea of a people's referendum,  
Rushfeldt contends. The current prime minister is more likely to  
understand that "politically, on this issue the right thing to do would  
be to let the Canadian people have a say, a free say," the pro-family  
activist insists.

"Steven Harper has promised a free vote, and that is one step in the  
right direction," Rushfeldt points out. "But a free vote does no good  
when you've got members of Parliament who are going to vote the way  
they want to vote, not the way their constituents want them to vote,"  
he says.

[More at URL]


----- 22 -----
ECUSA's Loss Is Gain for South American Diocese
By Jim Brown
February 7, 2006

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/2/afa/72006b.asp

(AgapePress) - Yet another conservative California parish has decided  
to leave the Episcopal Church USA over its rift with Anglicanism  
worldwide.

St. Anne's Church in Oceanside has left the Episcopal Diocese of San  
Diego and is now under the oversight of the bishop of the Diocese of  
Bolivia, Frank Lyons. The pastor of St. Anne's says his church has had  
a strong relationship with Bishop Lyons for years, having taken part in  
missions and healing missions in Bolivia once or twice a year.

Pastor Tony Baron says the overwhelming decision by his congregation to  
leave ECUSA came at the prompting of the Holy Spirit, as opposed to the  
prompting of the human spirit. "What it came down to is the Gospel --  
the Good News," says Baron. "And it came down to [a question of] who is  
Jesus Christ -- and we believe that Jesus Christ is the one and only  
Lord and Savior."

[More at URL]


----- 23 -----
Catholic Groups Protest Church Schools Supporting V-Monologues
By Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
February 6, 2006

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/2/afa/62006e.asp

(AgapePress) - Some Catholic colleges are being denounced for hosting a  
vulgar feminist play on their campuses. By recent counts, some 20  
Catholic institutions are allowing the controversial production, The  
Vagina Monologues, sometimes euphemistically referred to as "The  
V-Monologues," to be presented on their campuses this year.

Among other content problematic to critics, the infamous Monologues  
contains references to lesbianism, masturbation, and pedophilia as well  
as disparagement of Christians and Christianity. Protesting the  
offensive production are a number of conservative Catholic groups,  
including the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and  
Property (TFP) and the Cardinal Newman Society (CNS).

[More at URL]


----- 24 -----
Victory! NBC pulls offensive segment!
American Family Association
[Undated; first week February, 2006]

http://www.afa.net/nbc_victory.asp

Action by AFA Online supporters has caused NBC to pull the offensive  
segment scheduled for the April 6th episode of Will and Grace.

In an attempt to confuse the public, the network issued an  
intentionally misleading statement which left the impression that AFA  
had lied to our supporters. Here is the statement NBC sent to their  
affiliates for the affiliate to use in responding to emails and calls:

Some erroneous information was mistakenly included in a press release  
describing an upcoming episode of "Will & Grace" which, in fact, has  
yet to be written. The reference to "Cruci-fxins" will not be in the  
show and the storyline will not contain a Christian characterization at  
all.

NBC did not say that they (NBC) had issued the "erroneous information"  
but left the reader with the impression that AFA had issued the  
"erroneous information."

When NBC said that the script "has yet to be written," what they didn't  
tell you is that the "story board" had been completed and the offensive  
material was scheduled to be a part of the episode. The story board  
contains the outline of the program. That is the reason for the  
detailed description of the episode issued by NBC in their initial  
press release.

For a better understanding of this deception by NBC written by a third  
party, click here.

The bottom line is that the actions taken by AFA Online supporters like  
you caused them to rewrite the episode and remove the offensive  
segment!

Thanks for caring enough to get involved. If you think our efforts are  
worthy, would you consider making a small donation to help us continue.  
Please click here.
Sincerely,

Don

Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association

P.S. Please forward this e-mail message to your family and friends!


----- 25 -----
Senate To Vote On Homosexual Marriage Ban In Early March
Action Needed Today! Help Send U.S. Senate One Million Letters  
Supporting Marriage Protection Amendment
American Family Association
[Undated; first week February, 2006]

http://www3.capwiz.com/afanet/issues/alert/?alertid=8457061&type=CO

The U.S. Senate will vote on the Marriage Protection Amendment (MPA) in  
early March. This constitutional amendment will make marriage between  
one man and one woman the only legal marriage.

Your help is needed in sending one million emails to the Senate in  
support of the MPA.

Senators who vote against the MPA, or support a filibuster to avoid a  
vote on the MPA, are supporting homosexual marriage.

ACTION NEEDED TODAY!

Please enter your zip code above or below and click “GO” to send your  
two Senators an email, then forward this to your friends and family  
urging them to do the same. The “Tell A Friend” link found below is an  
easy way to pass this important message to your friends and family.  
Those favoring homosexual marriage are already contacting their  
Senators urging defeat of the MPA.

Time is short! Please send your letters of support today! Ask members  
of your Sunday School class and church to send an email in support of  
the MPA. Ask your pastor to put an announcement in the church bulletin  
and newsletter. They can send an email by clicking on AFA.net.

Simply enter your zip code above or below to send your emails to your  
two U.S. Senators. Remember, it is very important to forward this to  
friends and family if we are to reach our goal of one million. (Our  
system will not accept invalid email addresses.)

If you think our efforts are worthy, please help us promote traditional  
marriage with a small donation by clicking here.

Thanks for caring enough to get involved!

Sincerely,

Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association


----- 26 -----
Trudeau's law-and-order legacy:
Clearly, the notwithstanding clause is no Conservative plot to impose  
tyranny
The Edmonton Journal
15 Jan 2006, Page: A16
Byline: Lorne Gunter

http://www.familyaction.org/Articles/issues/2006election/trudeaus-law- 
and-order.htm

Pierre Elliot Trudeau -- Liberal saint and father of the Charter -- put  
troops on our streets.

Canadian cities. Soldiers with guns. In our cities. In Canada. I did  
not make this up.

Indeed, Trudeau is the only prime minister of Canada to declare martial  
law in peacetime.

During 1970's October Crisis, after a British diplomat and Quebec  
cabinet minister had been kidnapped by separatist terrorists -- and  
before one of them had been assassinated -- Trudeau invoked the War  
Measures Act and sent troops to occupy Montreal and several other  
Quebec cities.

Not even George Bush did that.

After 9/11.

After al-Qaeda killed 3,000 Americans.

But Trudeau did.

When asked about the arbitrary suspension of civil liberties and the  
arrest of some 450 Canadian citizens without warrants or even charges  
being laid, Trudeau shot back, famously, "There are a lot of bleeding  
hearts around who just don't like to see people with helmets and guns.  
All I can say is, go on and bleed, but it is more important to keep law  
and order in the society than to be worried about weak-kneed people."

Trudeau also took it for granted that Parliament would invoke the  
Charter's -- his Charter's -- notwithstanding clause from time to time  
to overrule Supreme Court decisions the federal government disagreed  
with.

[More at URL]


----- 27 -----
Should We Call Them Social Perverts?
By Stephen Gray
Canada Family Action Coalition
February 2, 2006

http://www.familyaction.org/Articles/issues/politics-law/government/ 
sopervs.htm

We read and hear the label social conservatives, or socons, put upon  
people who are opposed to the killing of the child in the womb, against  
abnormal lifestyles, and in favour of the traditional family. During  
the election campaign many of the media were working itself into a  
frenzy because there were “social conservatives” running for the  
Conservative Party. One media “bureau chief” being interviewed by the  
“news” reader on one TV station (both of them from the same corporate  
conglomerate kennel) was practically crying on air because “social  
conservatives” and “right wing Christians” were running and might even  
win some seats. This twosome of twaddle were each lofting politically  
correct questions and answers to each other that appeared to denigrate  
anyone opposed to their liberal philosophy. This was the way it came  
across, though it was done under the banner of “election news.”

It is fashionable by the media and their camp followers to sneer at  
what they like to call “social conservatives” and “right wing  
Christians” and use derogatory words as weapons to put them down.  
Imagine what would happen if these so-called journalists, announcers  
and radio hosts used the words "radical homosexual" or "right wing Jew"  
to describe people running for public office in the same way they use  
the words “social conservatives” and “rightwing Christians.” Ah, but  
they would not dare! Yet, it appears they can smear social  
conservatives and Christians generally, with impunity. If decent and  
moral people are called “social conservatives” by the media and their  
liberal allies, and sneered at for standing up for decent and normal  
family values, what then should we call the opponents of normalcy,  
decency and truth? Should we call them Social Perverts or Sopervs?

Take, for example, abortion which is supported by much of the media.

Should we call those in the media in favour of abortion social perverts  
or sopervs? This atrocity is disguised as a “womans right to choose” by  
the media. “Choose what?” a thinking person might ask? Though "sopervs"  
never ever finish their sentence after the word “choose.” If they did  
they would then have to explain what is being chosen and its  
consequences. Since the so called “searchers of truth” in the media  
won’t do this, let me enlighten them on the act of abortion. The child  
in the womb is dismembered by being suctioned out or cut to pieces, or  
in the case of a partial birth abortion its head is pierced by a sharp  
medical instrument and its brains suctioned out. Some babies have even  
been born alive after abortion but are left to die. But hey, this is  
called “freedom of choice” by our “knowledgeable” media. Surely the  
mutilation, butchering, and killing of the innocent child in the womb  
qualifies to be called a social perversion. And are those supporting it  
entitled to be called social perverts or sopervs?

( Go to: http://www.AbortionNo.org and see the truth about abortion )

Another issue it is not politically correct to oppose is so called  
“same-sex marriage.” Social Conservatives or socons are lambasted,  
attacked and reviled for daring to even question this absurdity. Any  
sane person knows that marriage can only be between a man and a woman,  
except of course, for our conglomerate owned media, the judicial  
jackasses on the benches and many brain challenged politicians who are  
declaring this as a “right. So should we call those in favour of this  
nonsense social perverts or sopervs? Surely a man “marrying” a ma! n is  
a not only bizarre behaviour but a social perversion? And this  
behaviour if practiced is surely unhealthy to its practitioners. The  
medical consequences of this behaviour are many.

[More at URL]