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

[Dara (R'ykandar Korra'ti)]

Tim Eyman to file state initiative to repeal GBLT civil rights  
protections in Washington State before the governor's ink is even _on_  
the paper;

"God's Senator" - Rolling Stone interview with and article about  
Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas); Brownback is the man lots of the  
theocons want as the next Republican nominee for president; you should  
read the whole thing;

Religious groups get "nearly one-quarter" of Bush administration AIDS  
money;

"More than a dozen states" are considering right-of-refusal for health  
care workers; about half are aimed at allowing pharmacists to refuse  
contraception prescribed and abortion services; the others are broad  
enough to permit refusal of any treatment for any moral reason,  
including refusal to treat queers; you've seen this before on this  
update, but now it's making it into the major newspapers;

Faith and Freedom Network asks for "God to STAY this issue from being  
put into effect"; "this issue" is the bill passed last week to ban  
anti-GBLT discrimination in housing, hiring, and lending;

Muslim fundamentalist reaction against a page of cartoons continues to  
grow; fundamentalism is the problem in _any_ religion;

Newer story: Tim Eyman has filed BOTH an initiative AND a referendum to  
repeal GBLT civil rights protections; I still don't have the language  
of either, however; the referendum needs fewer signatures but has a  
shorter deadline; Eyman calls the bill's passage a "disgusting display  
of arrogance and selfishness";

Focus on the Family article on Alito debate cloture vote today;

Sen. Kent Conrad (D - North Dakota) to vote for Alito confirmation;

Wendy Wright appointed new president of Concerned Women for America;

Indiana house committee passes bill mandating that doctors tell  
patients that "life begins at conception";

Episcopal Diocese in Washington, DC approves same-sex blessing  
ceremonies; they're on hold pending a national convention; unofficial  
ceremonies have been around for a while but this is still a change;

Concerned Women for America story on a boy wearing a skirt to school to  
protest the dress code turns into a bizarre ramble about women in the  
military, the false idea of gender equity, a rant against women in  
sports (particularly Title IX rules), and the ACLU as the "American  
Sexual Confusion Union";

CWA Announces New President;

Human Events says left's "Culture of Death" gets little traction;

CWA congratulates Senate on cloture vote, calls for immediate  
confirmation vote on Alito;

Family Research Council's top-of-site page is about expecting President  
Bush to re-endorse a Federal anti-marriage-rights amendment to the US  
Constitution;

FRC anti-marriage-rights brochure says marrying your same-sex partner  
is the same as marrying a horse, will lead to bestiality, goes on to  
say that "homosexuality is rightly viewed as unnatural"; says lesbians  
are violent batterers, gay men are incapable of long-term  
relationships, all the usual things;

FRC attacks Senator Chafee (R-Rhode Island) for planned "no" vote on  
Alito over executive-power and reproductive choice issues;

Traditional Values Coalition links to WorldNetDaily columnist:  
homosexuality is "a public health disaster," quotes all kinds of  
laundered Paul Cameron studies and others of similar bogosity, but  
filtered - but I recognise these numbers and claims; still, the point  
is the propaganda: gayfolk are diseased perverts;

Eyman starts using "special rights" language of fundamentalists to  
define anti-discrimination protection; gets endorsement of Christian  
Coalition, who will work with him on his anti-gay initiative or  
referendum or both;




----- 1 -----
Eyman plans to file initiative Monday against gay-rights bill
BY BRAD SHANNON
THE OLYMPIAN
January 29, 2006

http://159.54.227.3/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060129/NEWS/60129061

Tim Eyman says he will file an initiative Monday to repeal the  
gay-rights bill narrowly adopted Friday by the state Senate.

The longtime initiative promoter said in an e-mail to supporters and  
the media late Sunday, “Politicians aren’t thinking about what the  
voters want. Let the voters decide.”

“Politicians are deciding based on special interest group pressure and  
their own re-election calculations,” Eyman added. “The voters have  
watched this disgusting display of arrogance and selfishness for weeks.  
The issue has become hopelessly politicized.”

“It’s sad. It’s appalling. It’s anti-American,” state Sen. Karen  
Fraser, D-Thurston County, said late Sunday when told of Eyman’s latest  
ballot proposal. “It’s bullying, and it’s a money-making scheme for his  
organization. It looks like he expects to make a lot of money from  
bullying innocent people. I think everybody should decline to sign.”

[More at URL]


----- 2 -----
God's Senator
Who would Jesus vote for? Meet Sam Brownback
Rolling Stone

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/9178374/gods_senator? 
rnd=1138489413546&has-player=true&version=6.0.8.1024

Nobody in this little church just off Times Square in Manhattan thinks  
of themselves as political. They're spiritual -- actors and athletes  
and pretty young things who believe that every word of the Bible is  
inerrant dictation from God. They look down from the balcony of the  
Morning Star, swaying and smiling at the screen that tells them how to  
sing along. Nail-pierced hands, a wounded side. This is love, this is  
love! But on this evening in January, politics and all its worldly  
machinations have entered their church. Sitting in the darkness of the  
front row is Sam Brownback, the Republican senator from Kansas. And  
hunched over on the stage in a red leather chair is an old man named  
Harald Bredesen, who has come to anoint Brownback as the Christian  
right's next candidate for president.

Over the last six decades, Bredesen has prayed with so many presidents  
and prime ministers and kings that he can barely remember their names.  
He's the spiritual father of Pat Robertson, the man behind the  
preacher's vast media empire. He was one of three pastors who laid  
hands on Ronald Reagan in 1970 and heard the Pasadena Prophecy: the  
moment when God told Reagan that he would one day occupy the White  
House. And he recently dispatched one of his proteges to remind George  
W. Bush of the divine will -- and evangelical power -- behind his  
presidency.

Tonight, Bredesen has come to breathe that power into Brownback's  
presidential campaign. After little more than a decade in Washington,  
Brownback has managed to position himself at the very center of the  
Christian conservative uprising that is transforming American politics.  
Just six years ago, winning the evangelical vote required only a veneer  
of bland normalcy, nothing more than George Bush's vague assurance that  
Jesus was his favorite philosopher. Now, Brownback seeks something far  
more radical: not faith-based politics but faith in place of politics.  
In his dream America, the one he believes both the Bible and the  
Constitution promise, the state will simply wither away. In its place  
will be a country so suffused with God and the free market that the  
social fabric of the last hundred years -- schools, Social Security,  
welfare -- will be privatized or simply done away with. There will be  
no abortions; sex will be confined to heterosexual marriage. Men will  
lead families, mothers will tend children, and big business and the  
church will take care of all.

[...]

He tells a story about a chaplain who challenged a group of senators to  
reconsider their conception of democracy. "How many constituents do you  
have?" the chaplain asked. The senators answered: 4 million, 9 million,  
12 million. "May I suggest," the chaplain replied, "that you have only  
one constituent?"

Brownback pauses. That moment, he declares, changed his life. "This" --  
being senator, running for president, waving the flag of a Christian  
nation -- "is about serving one constituent." He raises a hand and  
points above him.

Brownback is unlikely to receive the Republican presidential nomination  
-- but as the candidate of the Christian right, he may well be in a  
position to determine who does, and what they include in their  
platform. "What Sam could do very effectively," says the Rev. Rob  
Schenck, an evangelical activist, is hold the nomination hostage until  
the Christian right "exacts the last pledge out of the more popular  
candidate."

The nation's leading evangelicals have already lined up behind  
Brownback, a feat in itself. A decade ago, evangelical support for a  
Catholic would have been unthinkable. Many evangelicals viewed the Pope  
as the Antichrist and the Roman Catholic Church as the Whore of  
Babylon. But Brownback is the beneficiary of a strategy known as  
co-belligerency -- a united front between conservative Catholics and  
evangelicals in the culture war. Pat Robertson has tapped the  
"outstanding senator from Kansas" as his man for president. David  
Barton, the Christian right's all-but-official presidential historian,  
calls Brownback "uncompromising" -- the highest praise in a movement  
that considers intransigence next to godliness. And James Dobson, the  
movement's strongest chieftain, can find no fault in Brownback. "He has  
fulfilled every expectation," Dobson says. Even Jesse Helms, now in  
retirement in North Carolina, recognizes a kindred spirit. "The most  
effective senators are those who are truest to themselves," Helms says.  
"Senator Brownback is becoming known as that sort of individual."

[...]

Every Tuesday, before his evening meeting with his prayer brothers,  
Brownback chairs another small cell -- one explicitly dedicated to  
altering public policy. It is called the Values Action Team, and it is  
composed of representatives from leading organizations on the religious  
right. James Dobson's Focus on the Family sends an emissary, as does  
the Family Research Council, the Eagle Forum, the Christian Coalition,  
the Traditional Values Coalition, Concerned Women for America and many  
more. Like the Fellowship prayer cell, everything that is said is  
strictly off the record, and even the groups themselves are forbidden  
from discussing the proceedings. It's a little "cloak-and-dagger," says  
a Brownback press secretary. The VAT is a war council, and the enemy,  
says one participant, is "secularism."

The VAT coordinates the efforts of fundamentalist pressure groups,  
unifying their message and arming congressional staffers with the data  
and language they need to pass legislation. Working almost entirely in  
secret, the group has directed the fights against gay marriage and for  
school vouchers, against hate-crime legislation and for "abstinence  
only" education. The VAT helped win passage of Brownback's broadcast  
decency bill and made the president's tax cuts a top priority. When it  
comes to "impacting policy," says Tony Perkins of the Family Research  
Council, "day to day, the VAT is instrumental."

[...]

Since Brownback took over leadership of the VAT in 2002, he has used it  
to consolidate his position in the Christian right -- and his influence  
in the Senate. If senators -- even leaders like Bill Frist or Rick  
Santorum -- want to ask for backing from the group, they must talk to  
Brownback's chief of staff, Robert Wasinger, who clears attendees with  
his boss. Wasinger is from Hays, Kansas, but he speaks with a Harvard  
drawl, and he is still remembered in Cambridge twelve years after  
graduation for a fight he led to get gay faculty booted. He was  
particularly concerned about the welfare of gay men; or rather, as he  
wrote in a campus magazine funded by the Heritage Foundation, that of  
their innocent sperm, forced to "swim into feces." As gatekeeper of the  
VAT, he's a key strategist in the conservative movement. He makes sure  
the religious leaders who attend VAT understand that Brownback is the  
boss -- and that other senators realize that every time Brownback  
speaks, he has the money and membership of the VAT behind him.

VAT is like a closed communication circuit with Brownback at the  
switch: The power flows through him. Every Wednesday at noon, he trots  
upstairs from his office to a radio studio maintained by the Republican  
leadership to rally support from Christian America for VAT's agenda.  
One participant in the broadcast, Salem Radio Network News, reaches  
more than 1,500 Christian stations nationwide, and Focus on the Family  
offers access to an audience of 1.5 million. During a recent broadcast  
Brownback explains that with the help of the VAT, he's working to  
defeat a measure that would stiffen penalties for violent attacks on  
gays and lesbians. Members of VAT help by mobilizing their flocks: An  
e-mail sent out by the Family Research Council warned that the  
hate-crime bill would lead, inexorably, to the criminalization of  
Christianity.

[...]

Brownback finds the issue of finances distasteful. He refuses to  
discuss his backers, smoothly turning the issue to matters of faith.  
"Pat got me elected," he says, referring to Robertson's network of  
Christian-right organizations. Sitting in his corner office in the  
Senate, Brownback returns to one of his favorite subjects: the scourge  
of homosexuality. The office has just been remodeled and the  
high-ceilinged room is almost barren. On Brownback's desk, adrift at  
the far end of the room, there's a Bible open to the Gospel of John.

It doesn't bother Brownback that most Bible scholars challenge the idea  
that Scripture opposes homosexuality. "It's pretty clear," he says,  
"what we know in our hearts." This, he says, is "natural law," derived  
from observation of the world, but the logic is circular: It's wrong  
because he observes himself believing it's wrong.

[...]

Although Brownback converted to Catholicism in 2002 through Opus Dei,  
an ultraorthodox order that, like the Fellowship, specializes in  
cultivating the rich and powerful, the source of much of his religious  
and political thinking is Charles Colson, the former Nixon aide who  
served seven months in prison for his attempt to cover up Watergate. A  
"key figure," says Brownback, in the power structure of Christian  
Washington, Colson is widely acknowledged as the Christian right's  
leading intellectual. He is the architect behind faith-based  
initiatives, the negotiator who forged the Catholic-evangelical unity  
known as co-belligerency, and the man who drove sexual morality to the  
top of the movement's agenda.

"When I came to the Senate," says Brownback, "I sought him out. I had  
been listening to his thoughts for years, and wanted to get to know him  
some."

The admiration is mutual. Colson, a powerful member of the Fellowship,  
spotted Brownback as promising material not long after he joined the  
group's cell for freshman Republicans. At the time, Colson was holding  
classes on "biblical worldview" for leaders on Capitol Hill, and  
Brownback became a prize pupil. Colson taught that abortion is only a  
"threshold" issue, a wedge with which to introduce fundamentalism into  
every question. The two men soon grew close, and began coordinating  
their efforts: Colson provides the strategy, and Brownback translates  
it into policy. "Sam has been at the meetings I called, and I've been  
at the meetings he called," Colson says.

[More at URL]


----- 3 -----
Religious groups get nearly one-quarter of Bush administration's AIDS  
money
Monday, January 30, 2006 - Page updated at 12:00 AM
By RITA BEAMISH
The Associated Press

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002770853_aids30.html

President Bush's $15 billion effort to fight AIDS has handed out nearly  
one-quarter of its grants to religious groups, and officials are  
aggressively pursuing new church partners that often emphasize disease  
prevention through abstinence and fidelity over condom use.

Award recipients include a Christian relief organization famous for its  
televised appeals to feed hungry children, a well-known Catholic  
charity and a group run by the son of evangelist Billy Graham,  
according to the State Department.

The outreach to nontraditional AIDS players comes in the midst of a  
debate over how best to prevent the spread of HIV, the virus that  
causes AIDS. The debate has activated groups on both ends of the  
political spectrum and created a vast competition for money.

[...]

The emphasis on abstinence, some longtime AIDS volunteers say, has led  
to a confusing message and added to the stigma of condom use in parts  
of Africa. Village volunteers in Swaziland maintain a supply of free  
condoms but say they have few takers.

"This drive for abstinence is putting a lot of pressure on girls to get  
married earlier," said Dr. Abeja Apunyo, the Uganda representative for  
Pathfinder International, a reproductive-health nonprofit group based  
in Massachusetts.

"For years now we have been trying to tell our daughters that they  
should finish their education and train in a profession before they get  
married. Otherwise they have few options if they find themselves  
separated from their husbands for some reason."

[More at URL]


----- 4 -----
Health workers may get the right to refuse to act
Monday, January 30, 2006 - Page updated at 12:00 AM
By Rob Stein
The Washington Post

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/ 
2002770851_refuse30.html

WASHINGTON — More than a dozen states are considering new laws to  
protect health workers who do not want to provide care that conflicts  
with their personal beliefs, a surge of legislation that reflects the  
intensifying tension between asserting individual religious values and  
defending patients' rights.

About half of the proposals would shield pharmacists who refuse to fill  
prescriptions for birth control and "morning-after" pills because they  
believe the drugs cause abortions.

But many are far broader measures that would shelter any doctor, nurse,  
aide, technician or other employee who objects to any therapy. That  
might include in-vitro fertilization, physician-assisted suicide,  
embryonic stem cells, and perhaps even providing treatment to gays and  
lesbians.

[More at URL]


----- 5 -----
Galleries Explode as HB 2661 - Sexual Orientation Bill Passes
Faith and Freedom Network
Saturday, January 28, 2006

http://faithandfreedom.us/lobby_wa/2006/01/galleries-explode-as-hb 
-2661-sexual.html

When the final vote was announced in the Senate on Friday, the gallery  
exploded in cheers and applause. As the lobbyist for Faith & Freedom,  
this is the first time I have ever witnessed this type of expression in  
the gallery.

The Senators that debated the bill were very candid, polite, and  
cordial to each other. The testimony was very specific. Those in  
opposition spoke about the Biblical description of "an abomination."  
Some gave testimony about children who had "chosen" the homosexual  
lifestyle, and how they loved them but not their chosen lifestyle.  
Those supporting HB 2661 debated the bill did not endorse same sex  
marriage, that it wasn't an agenda, and that every human should have  
the right to live their lives as they see fit.

[...]

This is a sad day for the State of Washington. For 30 years those in  
favor of giving special rights to the gay community have been pushing  
for a bill such as this. Until now, it has been defeated every time.  
Businesses, landlords, and schools could all very well feel the  
negative impact of this bill as early as Tuesday when the Governor  
signs the bill into law. It will become effective in 90 days unless  
someone files a Referendum to stay the implementation.

Please continue to pray for God to STAY this issue from being put into  
effect.

[More at URL]


----- 6 -----
Protests Over Muhammad Cartoon Grow
By DONNA ABU-NASR, Associated Press Writer
Associated Press
Mon Jan 30, 1:26 PM ET

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060130/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ 
mideast_prophet_drawings_5

BEIRUT, Lebanon - The controversy over Danish caricatures of Prophet  
Muhammad escalated Monday as gunmen seized an EU office in Gaza and  
Muslims appealed for a trade boycott of Danish products. Denmark called  
for its citizens in the Middle East to exercise vigilance.

Denmark-based Arla Foods, which has been the target of a widespread  
boycott in the Middle East, reported that two of its employees in Saudi  
Arabia were beaten by angry customers. Aid groups, meanwhile, pulled  
workers out of Gaza, citing the threat of hostilities.

The 12 drawings — published in a Danish paper in September and in a  
Norwegian paper this month — included an image of the prophet wearing a  
turban shaped as a bomb with a burning fuse. Islamic tradition bars any  
depiction of the prophet, even respectful ones, out of concern that  
such images could lead to idolatry.

Danish government officials have expressed regret over the furor but  
have refused to get involved, citing freedom of expression. The  
Jyllands-Posten newspaper has refused to apologize for publishing the  
drawings and has said it did not mean to insult Islam.

[...]

In Gaza, masked gunmen briefly took over an office used by the EU,  
demanding an apology from Denmark and Norway. The gunmen said citizens  
of the two countries would be prevented from entering the Gaza Strip.  
No one was hurt.

The Danish Red Cross said it was evacuating two employees from Gaza and  
one from Yemen.

"There have been concrete threats against our employees. The fact that  
they are Danish nationals has made the difference," Danish Red Cross  
spokesman Anders Ladekarl said.

[More at URL]


----- 7 -----
Challenge to gay rights bill filed by Eyman
By Andrew Garber
Seattle Times staff reporter
Monday, January 30, 2006 - Page updated at 01:23 PM

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/ 
2002771908_webeyman30.html

Tim Eyman filed an initiative and a referendum this morning aimed at  
getting rid of the gay rights bill passed by the Legislature on Friday.

[...]

"Politicians are deciding based on special interest group pressure and  
their own reelection calculations," Eyman said in a statement emailed  
to reporters. "The voters have watched this disgusting display of  
arrogance and selfishness for weeks."

[...]

Referendums, intended to give voters a say on laws passed by the  
Legislature, need 112,440 valid signatures to get on the ballot. The  
signatures have to be turned in within 90 days after the session ends.  
March 9 is the final day of this year's regular session.

Initiatives, on the other hand, are generally used to get new laws on  
the ballot but can be used to change existing law. Eyman would need  
224,880 valid signatures to get an initiative to the people on the  
ballot, but has more time to do so. The signatures for an initiative  
don't have to be turned in until July 7.

[More at URL]


----- 8 -----
SENATE ENDS ALITO DEBATE AND PROCEEDS TO FINAL VOTE
Up-or-down vote on Supreme Court nominee slated for Tuesday morning.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
January 30, 2006

http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0039357.cfm

Members of the U.S. Senate cleared the way this afternoon
for the final showdown over Judge Samuel Alito by voting
72-25 to invoke cloture -- or to shut off debate -- on his
Supreme Court nomination.

Pro-family legal experts like American Center for Law and
Justice Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow applauded the Senate for
clearing the way for the president's pick to replace
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the nation's highest court.

[...]

Those Democrats voting for cloture included some known
quantities, such as Robert Byrd of West Virginia, but also
some surprises, such as Maria Cantwell of Washington;
Daniel Akaka of Hawaii; Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and
Herb Kohl of Wisconsin.

[More at URL]


----- 9 -----
Sen. Conrad Listens, Will Vote for Alito
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
January 20, 2006

[Received in email; no URL]

Your comments continue to make a difference. Sen. Kent
Conrad, D-N.D., announced today he will join Sens. Ben
Nelson, D-Neb.; Tim Johnson, D-S.D.; and Robert Byrd,
D-W.Va., and cross party lines to vote in favor of Judge
Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court.

Conrad said he reached his decision after careful
consideration -- acknowledging he had heard loud and clear
from North Dakotans.

"(I)t is clear that both the majority of my constituents
and the majority of the American people are in favor of
Judge Alito's confirmation," he said, in a statement.

Conrad added he will not support a filibuster of the
nominee.


----- 10 -----
CWA Gets New President
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
January 20, 2006

[Received in email; no URL]

Concerned Women for America (CWA) announced today the
appointment of Wendy Wright as its new president. She had
been serving as the organization's executive vice
president since September.

"Wendy is an incisive policy strategist and eloquent
spokesman for the issues we all care deeply about. Her
leadership in defense of the family and the most
vulnerable victims of the culture war is well-known," said
Beverly LaHaye, CWA’s founder and chairman. "But, what has
always impressed me most is Wendy’s consistent Christian
commitment and integrity. That combined with a striking
humility make a unique presence in the halls of power here
in Washington and at the United Nations where she has
served with such dignity.

"CWA will benefit from Wendy’s gracious acceptance of this
appointment and I look forward to working closely with
her."

Since she joined CWA in 1999, Wright has specialized in
pro-life issues and worked with all six core areas of
concern to CWA: sanctity of life, definition of the
family, religious liberty, pornography, education and
national sovereignty.

She serves as CWA’s representative at the United Nations
and played a key role in earning CWA’s nongovernmental
organization status there. Prior to joining CWA, Wright
worked at the television outreach arm of the Free Congress
Foundation and as an Operation Rescue spokesman. She also
has worked on political campaigns, volunteered with
community programs, taught English at a national Bible
college in Sri Lanka and served as a short-term missionary
there.

"I am excited about CWA’s future and am honored to walk
side-by-side with Beverly LaHaye in our efforts to make a
difference for all Americans," Wright said. "CWA’s vision
is one I’ve long shared – ‘for women and like-minded men
from all walks of life to come together and restore the
family to its traditional purpose and thereby allow each
member of the family to realize their God-given potential
and be more responsible citizens.’ "


----- 11 -----
State Abortion Bill Would Let Women Know When Life Begins
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
January 20, 2006

[Received in email; no URL]

A bill now in the Indiana House would let women know that
abortion ends a life.

According to the Indianapolis Star, House Bill 1172, which
cleared committee last week, would require doctors to
inform women preparing for abortions that life begins at
conception. If it becomes law, Indiana would join South
Dakota as the only states with such a requirement.

The South Dakota law was challenged in federal court, and
a judge prevented it from going into effect.

It would also require abortionists to inform women that
their preborn baby will feel pain.

Roger Evans, a Planned Parenthood lawyer, maintained the
proposed requirement is not based on science.

"The fundamental legal issue is whether or not the state
can compel a physician or anybody to be its mouthpiece for
delivering a message that is fraught with religious and
moral value judgments that are not objective, truthful,
nonmisleading facts," he said.

Richard Stith, a professor at Valparaiso University's
School of Law, predicted the Indiana legislation would
survive a court challenge.

He pointed to Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a landmark 1992
U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld the concept of
informed consent, which means states can require women to
receive certain information before they can agree to an
abortion.

"They can't say something that isn't true," he said, "but
the (Supreme Court) has never said that life begins after
conception."


----- 12 -----
D.C. Episcopal Diocese OKs Same-Sex Ceremonies
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
January 20, 2006

[Received in email; no URL]

The Episcopal Diocese of Washington voted Saturday to
approve same-sex blessing ceremonies at its annual
convention at the Washington National Cathedral.

The Washington Times reported that the diocese
unofficially allowed same-sex ceremonies for years, and
had a same-sex rite on the books since 2004.

However, that rite has been put on hold until a meeting of
the Episcopal General Convention in June in Ohio, when the
denomination's future stance on homosexual clergy and
same-sex blessings will be decided.

A majority of the world's Anglican bishops have partially
or completely sundered ties with the Episcopal Church over
its 2003 consecration of openly homosexual New Hampshire
Bishop V. Gene Robinson.


----- 13 -----
Boy Wins ‘Right’ to Wear a Skirt to School
Concerned Women for America
1/28/2006

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/10000/CWA/misc/index.htm

A male Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey high school student has won his  
battle with the school district to wear skirts to class. Bob Knight,  
Director of CWA’s Culture & Family Institute, says this battle is  
another feather in cap of the American Civil Liberties Union who took  
up the boy’s case. It also points to larger issues of gender confusion  
and a culture that refuses to acknowledge differences between the  
sexes. Click here to listen.

[Robert Knight: "This is another typical ACLU story... the ACLU brought  
the case, and bullied the school into letting this boy wear this girl's  
skirt to class.. the kid is not doing it for the usual reasons... he's  
doing it to protest the school's ban on wearing shorts... but for  
whatever reason, it's going to be disruptive..."

"I think he's just kind of using the ACLU and their radical agenda to  
grandstand for his own cause, but what's most interesting is that he  
first wore a costume dress, to try to make a point, and he was sent  
home... the district superintendent then advised him to purchase an  
everyday dress or skirt to wear. That's their way of accommodating  
him..."

[In other places, there are even women who are campaigning for the  
right to go topless.] "In California, last fall, Senate Majority Leader  
Gloria Romero, a Democrat from Los Angeles, said she would introduce  
legislation to end sex discrimination in public displays of the human  
body. In short, she meant women ought to be able to go topless, because  
after all, men can go topless and she saw this as discriminatory. She  
actually gave a press conference on the steps of the capitol building  
and announced that, 'well, it's legal for men to go shirtless in public  
in California, women risk being classifed as sex offenders for baring  
the same body parts. This is not about pornography, this is about the  
equity of the law of California.'" [etc] "This is the Senate majority  
leader in California who can't figure out why women should cover their  
tops!"

[Talks about dress codes in the military] "This false idea of equity is  
really not about equality, it's about sameness, and we see that it's  
really taken its toll on things like men's sports. And college after  
college is canceling men's sports programmes, because Title IX, the  
Federal law, guarantees equity between the sexes in terms of sports  
programmes, and even though men are _far_ more interested in sports  
than women. They historically have been more interested, they have  
greater need to compete in sports, to work out their greater aggression  
- instead of having the funds to fund women's programmes, a lot of  
men's sports are being cancelled, like wrestling, for instances, it's  
hard to find a good wrestling programme anymore. And Boston University  
cancelled its football programme, back in 1997, after some women  
complained that there isn't an equivalent programme for women's sports.  
So the losers are men, and the universities, because as they've driven  
men's sports out of universities, in the same time, fewer and fewer men  
are attending college. They're perceiving there's a less friendly  
atmosphere for masculine activities. And women are beginning to  
dominate colleges."

"Because most of these cases centre around breaking down social norms,  
the ACLU really ought to rename itself the... AC.. no... the ASCU, the  
American Sexual Confusion Union, because I think that's really what  
they're all about, everything from forcing homosexual scoutmasters into  
the boy scouts, to enforcing the right of gay clubs to come into  
schools that don't want them, to picking on any institution that  
resists the homosexual lobby in any fashion - that's what they're all  
about these days."]


----- 14 -----
CWA Announces New President
Concerned Women for America
1/30/2006

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/10013/MEDIA/misc/index.htm

Washington, D.C. – Concerned Women for America (CWA) announced today  
the appointment of Wendy Wright as its new President. The Board of  
Trustees unanimously selected Wendy Wright, a seasoned activist and a  
long-valued part of CWA’s team, at its meeting on January 26. Miss  
Wright had been serving as Executive Vice President since September.

“Wendy is an incisive policy strategist and eloquent spokesman for the  
issues we all care deeply about. Her leadership in defense of the  
family and the most vulnerable victims of the culture war is  
well-known,” said Beverly LaHaye, CWA’s founder and chairman. “But,  
what has always impressed me most is Wendy’s consistent Christian  
commitment and integrity. That combined with a striking humility make a  
unique presence in the halls of power here in Washington and at the  
United Nations where she has served with such dignity.

“CWA will benefit from Wendy’s gracious acceptance of this appointment  
and I look forward to working closely with her.”

Since she joined CWA in 1999, Miss Wright has specialized in pro-life  
issues and worked with all six core areas of concern to CWA: sanctity  
of life, definition of the family, religious liberty, pornography,  
education and national sovereignty.

[More at URL]


----- 15 -----
Left's 'Agenda' Gets Little Traction
by Janice Shaw Crouse
Human Events
Posted Jan 27, 2006

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=11959

Despite all the problems facing President Bush and the leaders of the  
Republican Party, liberals continue to have difficulty getting traction  
with their agenda. Perhaps this is because it consists largely of  
saying little more than "Bush is to blame." Nothing was more pathetic  
and farcical during the confirmation hearings of Judge Samuel Alito  
than the sight of aging liberal lions of the Senate misrepresenting the  
judge’s writings. They only embarrassed themselves and showed how  
beholden they were to radical special-interest groups.

Does this portend yet another ineffective effort by liberals in the  
2006 congressional elections? Perhaps. It depends in part upon how well  
conservatives respond to the challenges ahead. One thing is certain,  
however: Liberals will never concede defeat. Politics is their  
religion, and they are not going to abandon anti-Americanism or their  
embrace of the culture of death.

[More at URL]


----- 16 -----
CWA: On with the Vote-Phony Filibuster Attempt Fails
Concerned Women for America
1/30/2006

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/10019/MEDIA/misc/index.htm

Washington, D.C. – Concerned Women for America (CWA) commends the U.S.  
Senate for invoking cloture this afternoon, thereby halting the left’s  
attempt at filibustering the nomination of Supreme Court nominee Judge  
Samuel Alito.

“Senators did what is necessary in order to give Judge Alito an ‘up’ or  
‘down’ vote tomorrow morning,” said Jan LaRue, CWA’s Chief Counsel.  
“The idea of filibustering a fine nominee like Judge Alito is beyond  
ridiculous—it’s an abuse of the advice-and-consent process and defies  
the will of the American people.

“There is absolutely nothing in Judge Alito’s past, present or  
foreseeable future that would justify the first-ever filibuster of a  
Supreme Court nominee in U.S. history. Everything we have learned about  
this man confirms the fact that he should be seated on the Supreme  
Court.

"We look forward to a final Senate vote tomorrow morning so that we can  
welcome Judge Alito as our next Supreme Court Justice.”


For Information Contact:
Stacey Holliday
(202) 488-7000
media.cwfa.org


----- 17 -----
Eyes on the Prize
Family Research Council
January 30, 2006

http://www.frc.org/ [Top of page]
Permalink: http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WA06A75#WA06A75

Beltway pundits are all buzzing about what President Bush will include  
in his sixth State of the Union Address on Tuesday.

I cannot emphasize strongly enough that the President must reach out to  
the Values Voters who put him and so many of his congressional allies  
in office. No better way could be found than to offer his strong  
support for protecting marriage. Congress needs to approve the Marriage  
Protection Amendment and send it to the states for ratification.

Read more on FRC Pres. Tony Perkins' Washington Update.

Brochure: The Slippery Slope of Same-Sex 'Marriage'

[More at URL]


----- 18 -----
The Slippery Slope of Same-Sex "Marriage"
by: Timothy J. Dailey, Ph. D.
Family Research Council

http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=BC04C02&v=PRINT

A Man and His Horse

In what some call a denial of a basic civil right, a Missouri man has  
been told he may not marry his long-term companion. Although his  
situation is unique, the logic of his argument is remarkably similar to  
that employed by advocates of homosexual marriage.

The man claims that the essential elements of marriage--love and  
commitment--are indeed present:"She's gorgeous. She's sweet. She's  
loving. I'm very proud of her. ... Deep down, way down, I'd love to  
have children with her."1

Why is the state of Missouri, as well as the federal government,  
displaying such heartlessness in denying the holy bonds of wedlock to  
this man and his would-be "wife"?

It seems the state of Missouri is not prepared to indulge a man who  
waxes eloquent about his love for a 22-year-old mare named Pixel.

[More at URL]


----- 19 -----
FRC Calls Chafee 'No' Vote on Alito 'Pandering to Liberal Groups'
January 30, 2006 - Monday
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 30, 2006 CONTACT: Amber Hildebrand,  
(202) 393-2100
FOR RADIO: J.P. Duffy

http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PR06A30&f=PG03I03

Washington, D.C. - Today, Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) announced his  
opposition to the confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito as 110th Associate  
Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Tony Perkins, President of Family  
Research Council, issued the following statement:

"Senator Chafee's announced opposition to Judge Alito is the worst  
possible form of pandering to liberal groups. In the mind of Senator  
Chafee, left-wing talking points take precedence over the highly  
regarded qualifications of a judicial nominee.

"Judge Alito represents 15 years of judicial experience as well as a  
fair and restrained judicial temperament. During his service, Judge  
Alito has sworn loyalty to the Constitution and fealty to the rule of  
law. In adding a political litmus test, Senator Chafee neglects the  
standard which has guided the confirmation process for more than 200  
years, thus doing great disservice to the independence of our courts.

"Faced with an intense battle for re-election this fall, Senator Chafee  
must now explain to the voters of Rhode Island why he is allowing their  
best interests to be undermined by the radical interests lurking in  
Washington D.C."


-30-


----- 20 -----
Homosexuality: A public health disaster
Posted: January 28, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By David Bass
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48542

The raging debate over homosexual marriage took another interesting  
turn this week when Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge M. Brooke  
Murdock struck down Maryland's state law defining marriage as the union  
of one man and one woman. The decision, handed down Jan. 20, claimed  
that Family Law §2-201 unfairly abridged the fundamental marriage  
rights of the nine homosexual couples who filed the lawsuit.

[More at URL]


----- 21 -----
Eyman files initiative, referendum to reverse gay civil rights bill
BY BRAD SHANNON
THE OLYMPIAN

http://159.54.227.3/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060130/NEWS0402/ 
60130065/1018

Tim Eyman plunked down two $5 bills today to file both an initiative  
and a referendum that would erase anti-discrimination protections for  
gays contained in a bill Gov. Christine Gregoire plans to sign into law  
Tuesday morning.

Eyman, the Snohomish County activist who says he has qualified nine  
proposals for the statewide ballot, told a morning press conference at  
the Secretary of State's Office that voters in Washington don't want to  
allow "special rights" for minorities.

Although Eyman said he hadn't decided yet whether to run a referendum  
or initiative, which have different signature requirements and  
deadlines, he said voters rather than lawmakers should make the  
decision on the underlying law: gay rights.

[...]

He said Eyman, who previously has been known for tax work and a bit of  
Libertarian, had finally let people "see who he really is" -- an  
associate and activist with the far-right religious extremists.

Rick Forcier, executive director of Olympia-based Christian Coalition  
of Washington, said his group plans to support Eyman's efforts and he  
does not expect other groups to run separate initiatives or referenda.  
The coalition's help would range from volunteer signature gatherers to  
sending advocates door-to-door to talk about why the law needs to be  
overturned.

[More at URL]