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

[Dara (R'ykandar Korra'ti)]

Focus on the Family sets up a new website - "ivotevalues.org" - aimed  
at cranking up fundamentalist turnout in the 2006 election;

FotF promotes Priests for Life's "Election Prayer Campaign," focused  
partly on prayer but mostly on turning out as many anti-abortion voters  
as possible in 2006;

That weird incident in Florida where a policeman appears to have  
harassed an anti-gay signature gathering effort has gone to their PD's  
internal affairs department;

FotF condemns California governor Schwarzenegger for meeting with the  
Log Cabin Republicans, saying that he has "crossed the line";

FotF promotes bill banning legal fee payments to plaintiffs in  
successful religious establishment cases; the point is to make it  
harder to sue to stop state religious support; includes ACTION ITEM to  
support the bill; they don't even have a single sponsour in the Senate  
yet, I wouldn't worry too much about this one right now;

FotF reports on Hamilton County (Ohio) judge ordering Planned  
Parenthood to turn over confidential patient information - they're  
looking for records that might indicate abortions being performed  
without adequate legal parental notification;

FotF hopes desperately for an Episcopal schism;

Vatican to Amnesty International: shut the hell up about reproductive  
rights;

Family Research Council ACTION ITEM to support the anti-marriage  
amendment in Massachusetts;

FRC ACTION ITEM to support the so-called "Public Expression of Religion  
Act," which is the bill described above as pushed by Focus on the  
Family; the number is HR 2679;

FRC attacks Sen. Hagel of Nebraska for not showing up for the  
anti-marriage Federal amendment vote;

American Family Association/Agape Press: "ex-gay" fundamentalists to  
have a booth at the NEA annual meeting in Florida;

Local fundamentalists in Michigan get a school to take down all club  
flag displays because of a Diversity Club's pride flag being in theirs;  
this is apparently a great victory, as far as they're concerned;

AFA condemns Pennsylvania anti-marriage amendment because its previous  
ban on all forms of civil unions and domestic partnerships has been  
stripped out in the state Senate; they want a blanket ban on all forms  
of recognition;

LifeNews condemns Warren Buffet's donation of money to the Bill and  
Melinda Gates Foundation because Bill and Melinda are pro-choice;  
includes ACTION ITEM to urge the Gates Foundation to stop support for  
any group which in any way deals with abortion;

Faith and Freedom Network tells the PI they're considering another  
attempt to overturn the Washington State Basic Civil Rights Code  
insofar as it applies to GBLT people;

FFN starts work on replacing Washington State Supreme Court justices,  
in anticipation of a possible marriage-rights ruling;

Canada Family Action Coalition reprints some anti-marriage material  
from a US anti-marriage-rights group;

Focus on the Family Canada reports on MP Paul Steckle's attempt to  
create an abortion debate in Canada;

Focus Canada issues a Take Action - unusually, it's not just in email,  
it's also on their website - on the effort to raise the age of consent;

Focus on the Family Canada reverts to more standard form; on the  
website, a story about schools needing tighter internet filters; in the  
email, there's also a Take Action not found on the web page.


----- 1 -----
Explore Importance of Voting Your Values
New Focus on the Family Web site allows you to register to vote,  
explains the importance of casting a ballot based on the issues you  
care about.
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
Focus on the Family
June 26, 2006

http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0041022.cfm

"Values voters" heavily influenced the 2004 election, not only  
returning President Bush to office but passing 11 marriage-protection  
amendments and electing seven new pro-lifers to the Senate.

To help even more Americans join the influential ranks of these  
ballot-casters, Focus on the Family has launched its iVoteValues.org  
Web site. Its goal: to motivate people concerned about the moral issues  
at play in the culture to be involved in getting values-oriented  
candidates elected to public office.

[...]

* Church-bulletin inserts that can be easily printed and used to spread  
the word at each service.

* Sermon notes that offer talking points to church leaders who want to  
present a godly explanation for involvement in the elective process.

* Graphics and posters files are reproducible and will assist in  
spreading the word about the importance of voting.

* Legal do's and don'ts that will help you and your church determine  
what activities are acceptable and what would be deemed illegal.

[More at URL]


----- 2 -----
Election Prayer Campaign Launching
Priests for Life spearheads 18-week effort to seek God's will for  
November's races.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
June 26, 2006

http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0041018.cfm

With Election Day just a few months away, a pro-family group is  
launching an 18-week prayer campaign early next month designed to see  
God's will done when voters go to the polls in November.

"Prayer brings us the grace of a clarity of mind that we can see issues  
the way God sees them, that we can discern the proper hierarchy of  
importance," explained Father Frank Pavone, national director of  
Priests for Life.

[...]

"If they commit to say the prayer every day, they're thinking about it  
everyday," he told Family News in Focus. "That will lead to them  
talking more about it and doing more about it."

So the call is to activate believers to vote, focusing on the primacy  
of the right to life as an election issue.

[More at URL]


----- 3 -----
Police Probe Charges Family Advocates Were Harassed
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
June 26, 2006

http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0041032.cfm

Police in Sunrise, Fla., have launched an internal affairs  
investigation into allegations that an off-duty officer harassed  
volunteers who were collecting signatures for the proposed Florida  
Marriage Protection Amendment during a Promise Keepers event in the Ft.  
Lauderdale suburb two weeks ago.

[More at URL]


----- 4 -----
Schwarzenegger to Speak at Gay-Activist Meeting
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
June 26, 2006

http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0041030.cfm

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will address the Log Cabin  
Republicans at a fund-raising event later this week — a move that has  
pro-family groups extremely disappointed, World Net Daily reported.

[...]

Mona Passignano, state issues analyst for Focus on the Family Action,  
said Schwarzenegger has crossed the line.

[More at URL]


----- 5 -----
Bill Would Protect Religious Speech
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
June 23, 2006

http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0041004.cfm

Legislation now in the House would ban legal fees being awarded to  
groups that sue Christians for publicly acknowledging God.

Congress is considering banning the legal fees awarded to groups that  
sue Christians who express their faith in public.

American Legion Commander Rees Lloyd told a congressional hearing this  
week that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has taken  
religious-establishment litigation to a new and absurd level. He was  
involved in a suit against a 72-year-old veteran's memorial in the  
Mojave Desert.

[...]


TAKE ACTION
Please urge your congressman to support the Public Expression of  
Religious Act, and ask your U.S. senators to consider sponsoring the  
legislation. You'll find contact information, including an easy-to-use  
e-mail form, in the CitizenLink Action Center. (NOTE: When promoted to  
suggest a subject for your e-mail, please select "Other.")

[More at URL]


----- 6 -----
Ohio Abortion Clinic Must Hand Over Files on Underage Clients
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
June 23, 2006

http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0041005.cfm

An Ohio judge has told a Planned Parenthood clinic it must release  
records on abortion patients under 18 in order to see if the group  
routinely performs abortions on minors without the parental consent  
required by state law, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

The parents of a teen who received an abortion in 2004 filed a suit  
against Planned Parenthood, claiming the organization failed to obtain  
their consent or notify them before their daughter's abortion. It also  
charges the abortion provider with failing to notify authorities that a  
21-year-old man had been in a sexual relationship with a minor.

Becki Brenner, president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Southwest  
Ohio Region, said medical information should not be viewed by outside  
parties.

"We're very concerned about the exposure of private medical  
information," she said.

[More at URL]


----- 7 -----
Episcopal Church Split All But Certain
As the smoke clears from the recent general convention, traditional  
Episcopalians reel at the events of recent days.
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
June 22, 2006

http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0041000.cfm

Leaders of the Episcopal Church of the USA have adopted a resolution  
urging the church's dioceses not to appoint bishops whose "manner of  
life" would "pose a challenge" to the Anglican Communion.

But The Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner, an orthodox conservative Episcopal  
theologian, said the statement approved by the church's general  
convention in Columbus, Ohio, is weak and doesn't come close to what  
the Worldwide Anglican Communion asked of the American church — that it  
"repent" for having consecrated a homosexual bishop in 2003 and pledge  
that it won't elect any more gay bishops.

"They were also asked to deal with the problem of same-sex blessings,"  
Radner said, "and they chose not to deal with that at all, which is a  
problem."

The statement may — or may not — keep the larger world church from  
distancing itself from the American branch of Anglicanism.

[More at URL]


----- 8 -----
Vatican Warns Amnesty International to Stay Away From Abortion
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
June 22, 2006

http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0040995.cfm

Cardinal Renato Martino, head of the Pontifical Council for Peace and  
Justice, told the human-rights advocacy group Amnesty International  
(AI) that if the group becomes involved in the killing of preborn  
babies, it will lose the support of the Catholic Church, LifeSite News  
reported.

AI has recently proposed using its resources to promote "reproductive  
rights," a term used by liberals to talk about abortion rights.

[...]

Martino said that if AI supports abortion, it gives up the right to  
claim to be a human-rights organization.

[More at URL]


----- 9 -----
ACT NOW!
Call your Massachusetts state senator and encourage him/her to allow  
the people to vote on marriage!
Effort to allow a vote on marriage in Massachusetts underway
Family Research Council
June 23, 2006 - Friday

http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=AL06F04&f=PG03I03

The citizens of Massachusetts are engaged in a lengthy battle to  
restore traditional marriage in their state through a constitutional  
amendment to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.  
Recent polls indicate that 75 percent of Massachusetts voters want to  
vote on marriage, but legislators with ties to the homosexual lobby are  
trying to prevent a vote from ever taking place.

In order for the Protection of Marriage Amendment (PMA) to appear on  
the ballot, it must receive 50 votes at the Constitutional Convention  
that is scheduled for July 12th. State legislators, and especially the  
legislative leadership, need to hear from their constituents in  
Massachusetts.

To have your voice heard on marriage in Massachusetts please call  
Senate President Robert Travaglini at: 617-722-1500 and House Speaker  
Salvatore DiMasi at: 617-722-2500. Tell them you want a fair up-or-down  
vote on the Marriage Amendment on July 12 with no procedural tricks or  
maneuvers to prevent a vote. Then contact your own state legislators by  
visiting this page where you will find your legislators' names, their  
direct phone numbers, and talking points for background information.

Please forward this email to your friends and family members  
immediately and encourage them to take action. Massachusetts is the  
only state in the nation which legally condones and encourages  
homosexual "marriage." If we can join together as a nation to defeat it  
there, it will send a strong message to our political leadership  
nationwide. Defeating homosexual marriage in liberal Massachusetts will  
set the tone for the next vote on the federal Marriage Protection  
Amendment (MPA), and show swing legislators just how out of touch the  
homosexual lobby truly is.

For more information on additional ways you can contribute to this  
campaign, please click the link below.

Thank you for your help in defending marriage in Massachusetts.


----- 10 -----
ACT NOW!
Contact your Representative today and tell them to support H.R. 2679.
Support the 'Public Expression of Religion Act'
Family Research Council
June 23, 2006 - Friday

http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=AL06F06&f=PG03I03

The "Public Expression of Religion Act," commonly known as PERA, amends  
42 U.S.C. sections 1983 and 1988 to prevent the use of the legal system  
in a manner that extorts money from State and local governments and  
inhibits their constitutional actions.

PERA will level the playing field against groups such as the ACLU who  
have won millions of dollars in attorney's fees while extorting state  
and local governments into suppressing the religious speech and free  
exercise of religion of private individuals, tearing down veterans'  
memorials that happen to have religious symbols on them, removing the  
Ten Commandments from public buildings, booting the Boy Scouts off  
public property, and blotting out crosses from official county seals.

[More at URL]


----- 11 -----
Why Did Hagel Vanish for Marriage Vote?
Family Research Council
by: Peter Sprigg
The "conventional wisdom" just can't explain Nebraska.

http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PV06F01&f=PG03I03

The "conventional wisdom" (read: liberal media spin) on last week's  
U.S. Senate vote regarding the Marriage Protection Amendment to the  
U.S. Constitution was that the vote was scheduled for purely political  
reasons--to mobilize the Republican Party's conservative base for the  
November midterm congressional elections. A majority of Democrats  
opposed the "cloture" motion to bring the amendment to a real vote.  
They charged that the two days of debate on the measure were a waste of  
time, given the urgency of issues like rising gas prices.

But if the marriage amendment was brought up to boost Republicans,  
Nebraska's Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel must not have gotten the memo.  
He didn't even bother to show up for Wednesday's vote on the amendment.  
He later issued a statement saying that he would have voted to end  
debate on the measure (as he did in 2004)--but added that he would have  
voted against its passage because "it's a state issue and should stay  
that way," as the Associated Press put it.

[More at URL]


----- 12 -----
Former Lesbian Brings Ex-'Gay' Message to 2006 NEA Annual Meeting
By Jim Brown
American Family Association/Agape Press
June 26, 2006

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/6/afa/262006b.asp

(AgapePress) - A former lesbian who now runs a Christian ministry in  
Minnesota will be holding the first ever ex-"gay" exhibit at the  
National Education Association Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida.

Janet Boynes lived a lesbian lifestyle for 14 years but later turned  
her life over to Christ and is now spreading the message that there is  
hope for homosexuals through a relationship with Jesus. She will be  
joining members of the NEA Ex-Gay Educators Caucus at the NEA annual  
meeting and will have a display booth there promoting her outreach,  
Janet Boynes Ministries.

[More at URL]


----- 13 -----
Parents' Persistent Protest Pays Off; Clubs' Flags Removed
By Jim Brown
American Family Association/Agape Press
June 26, 2006

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/6/afa/262006e.asp

(AgapePress) - A pro-family group is hailing the removal of a  
"homosexual pride" flag from the wall of a Michigan high school.

For almost two years, conservatives have been protesting the presence  
of a rainbow flag displayed by the Diversity Club at Howell High  
School. Students even formed a Traditional Values Club in response to  
the school's allowance of homosexual activism on campus. Last Thursday  
(June 22) officials at the school took down the rainbow flag, the  
Christian flag displayed by the Traditional Values Club, and those of  
all other campus clubs.

[More at URL]


----- 14 -----
Pro-Family Activist Blasts Penn. Senate's Civil Union Compromise
By Allie Martin
American Family Association/Agape Press
June 26, 2006

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/6/afa/262006d.asp

(AgapePress) - The president of the American Family Association (AFA)  
of Pennsylvania says lawmakers in her state have voted to destroy  
traditional marriage. The pro-family group is decrying a move by  
Pennsylvania senators that weakened a proposed state marriage  
protection amendment by stripping from it a ban on civil unions.

Last week, the state Senate voted 38-12 in favor of a proposed  
constitutional amendment protecting marriage but removed language  
prohibiting civil unions. That June 21 vote follows one earlier this  
month, in which Pennsylvania House members approved a proposed  
constitutional amendment that not only defines marriage as being  
between a man and a woman but also outlaws other domestic partnerships.

[More at URL]


----- 15 ------
William Buffett Donation to Bill Gates' Foundation Means Millions for  
Abortion
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
June 26, 2006

http://www.lifenews.com/nat2369.html

Omaha, NE (LifeNews.com) -- Investment guru Warren Buffett says he will  
donate the bulk of his fortune to the pro-abortion foundation set up by  
Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife. That the world's second  
richest man would leave about 80 percent of his estate to the Gates'  
foundation is a huge concern for pro-life advocates because of the  
groups it supports.

[...]

The donation causes huge concerns for pro-life advocates as the Gates  
Foundation has given the Planned Parenthood Federation of America  
abortion business almost $12.5 million since 1998, including funds to  
persuade teenagers to support abortion and to lobby the United Nations  
to advance pro-abortion proposals.

[...]

ACTION: Contact the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and urge it to  
stop supporting Planned Parenthood and abortion. Contact: Bill &  
Melinda Gates Foundation, PO Box 23350, Seattle, WA 98102, (206)  
709-3140, info at gatesfoundation.org

[More at URL]


----- 16 -----
Anti-bias law still at risk
Initiative's failure isn't end of opposition
By PHUONG CAT LE
P-I REPORTER
Monday, June 19, 2006

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/274421_gayrights19.html

The day after Tim Eyman's referendum bid fizzled, hundreds of  
supporters of Washington's new gay rights law gathered in downtown  
Seattle to celebrate the protections taking effect.

"We knew people woke up that morning knowing they couldn't be fired or  
kicked out of their apartments based on who they were," said John  
Vezina, campaign manager for Washington Won't Discriminate, which held  
the June 7 victory party.

It's certainly not the final word on the issue, though.

Evangelical churches strongly opposed to the law -- which bars  
discrimination against gays and lesbians in housing, employment,  
insurance and credit -- are weighing other political options.

"This is a battle. It is a spiritual battle. And we are in it to stay,"  
Gary Randall, president of the Faith & Freedom Network, posted on the  
group's Web site the day after the law took effect.

After Referendum 65 failed to get enough signatures to qualify for the  
November ballot, Randall said his group looked into launching an  
initiative to the people. That option was ruled out because they didn't  
think they could get the nearly 500,000 required signatures by the July  
7 deadline.

[More at URL]


----- 17 -----
Supreme Court: Avoidance is not an option
Faith and Freedom Network
Friday, June 23, 2006

http://www.faithandfreedom.us/weblog/2006/06/supreme-court-avoidance- 
is-not-option.html

While we have been waiting for the Washington State Supreme Court to  
rule on marriage (DOMA), one thing has become abundantly clear: the  
Court is politicized. Even the Governor thinks so.

Chief Justice Marshall (U.S. Supreme Court) once spoke to the idea of  
avoidance in his opinion for the Court in Cohens v. Virginia, 6  
Wheat.264, 404 (1821):

"We have no more right to decline the exercise of jurisdiction, which  
is given, than to usurp that which is not given. Questions may occur  
which we would gladly avoid; but we cannot avoid them."

This period of avoidance or postponement of publicly announcing their  
ruling on marriage gives us a perfect moment (or year and a half) to  
consider who might better serve on our highest State Court.

[More at URL]


----- 18 -----
Landmark Report by Scholars is a Powerful Defense of Marriage
Canada Family Action Coalition
www.UnitedFamilies.org
June 21, 2006

http://www.familyaction.org/Articles/issues/family/marriage/landmark- 
report.htm

A must read for defenders of marriage and policymakers around the world  
is a recently released report entitled "Marriage and the Public Good:  
Ten Principles."  An impressive group of U.S. experts and scholars in  
the fields of History, Economics, Psychiatry, Law, Sociology and  
Philosophy recently released this powerful defense of traditional  
marriage which was initiated by the Witherspoon Institute of Princeton,  
New Jersey.

In the report, these scholars share their research and expert  
perspectives on the value that marriage provides to society. There was  
a strong consensus among them that the "public goods" flowing from  
marriage are not being adequately recognized and appreciated by the  
public, policymakers and most of the media. This is affecting the  
policy debate in several key areas, including whether or not to  
radically redefine marriage by legalizing same-sex "marriage."

[More at URL]


----- 19 -----
Abortion bill tabled in parliament
Today's Family News
Focus on the Family Canada
June 23, 2006

http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/life/stories/062306.html

Liberal MP Paul Steckle is hoping a private member’s bill he introduced  
Wednesday in the House of Commons will prompt a renewed, and much  
needed, debate among Canadians on the issue of abortion.

Bill C-338 would make it a criminal offence for someone to abort an  
unborn child – or in the wording of the proposed legislation, induce  
“the miscarriage of a female person” – who is known to be more than 20  
weeks pregnant.

Those found guilty would be subject to up to five years in prison. The  
sole exception for performing an abortion would be if the mother’s  
pregnancy poses a threat to her life.

In an interview with Today’s Family News, Greg McClinchey, Steckle’s  
executive assistant in Ottawa, insisted Steckle is “not hiding from”  
his long-held conviction that life is sacred from the moment of  
conception to the moment of natural death.

“This bill is not intended to be a fix-all,” said McClinchey. “But for  
the first time in years, in a generation nearly, we can have a  
substantive debate on the subject.”

[More at URL]


----- 20 -----
Age-of-consent bill introduced
Today's Family News
Focus on the Family Canada
June 23, 2006

http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/sexuality/stories/062306.html

After repeated prompts over the years from pro-family organizations,  
police, children’s advocates and a majority of Canadians, legislation  
has finally been tabled to increase the age of consent for sexual  
activity from a shamefully low age of 14 to a more reasonable age of  
16.

Justice Minister Vic Toews tabled the legislation Thursday, in keeping  
with the Conservative government’s promise made earlier this year. The  
bill is in response to the prevalence of adult sexual exploitation of  
young people, which has been only made easier with the popularity of  
the internet among youth.

[...]

Take Action> The bill will likely be voted on sometime in the fall,  
once Parliament reconvenes. In the mean time, Canadians are being urged  
to speak about this with their local MPs to encourage its quick  
passage. Although it appears that the majority of MPs support raising  
the age of consent, they still need to hear support from their  
constituencies. The sooner the legislation passes, the safer Canada  
will be for young people.


----- 21 -----
Mom shocked by school's net filter
Today's Family News
Focus on the Family Canada
June 23, 2006

Carla Rans, a Calgary, Alberta, mother of three boys, knows from  
personal experience that no parent with school-aged children can take  
for granted the assurances of school officials that their classroom  
computers have adequate Internet filters.

“We just assume because we get that letter that they’re on top of it,”  
Rans told Today’s Family News. “But as parents, we have to make sure  
they really are doing what they say they’re doing.”

For six years, Rans and her husband had taken educators at their local  
public school at their word, trusting that the computers their kids  
were using for research purposes had been installed with the necessary  
filters. There was no danger, she claimed they were told, of them being  
exposed to any inappropriate content.

[...]

Take Action> Talk to your school about Internet filters
Do you know whether your children are protected from inappropriate  
content on their school computers? One mother’s actions in Calgary,  
Alberta, led to some significant changes. With summer here, now is a  
good time to talk to your school district about what protection is in  
place on the computers and whether that protection is adequately  
protecting children. Ensure that you are not given just vague promises.  
Ask for the specific filters that are in place. Click here for more  
information on making change in the school system.
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