[Active-l] (NEWS) Today's Cultural Warfare Update
Dara (R'ykandar Korra'ti)
kahvi at murkworks.net
Mon May 8 23:29:20 PDT 2006
Today's Cultural Warfare Update has a comics page! Well, a comic,
anyway. Okay, well, it's today's _Malfunction Junction_. But it made me
laff. Yay! It'll be at the end.
And now, today's news:
Vatican official astronomer calls creationism "a form of superstitious
paganism," at which I have to go, "Hey, this shit isn't _our_ fault,
leave us out of it" ( ^_^ );
The Weekly Standard's Maggie Gallagher, who has become quite the
anti-marriage-rights battler, fiercely condemns marriage rights in a
long article supporting discrimination against married gay and lesbian
couples; her thesis is that marriage rights for lesbian and gay
couples, by interfering with licensed agencies of the state's abilities
to discriminate against GBLT people, destroys religious liberty. She
also warns that it could become as unfashionable to discriminate
against GBLT people as it is now to be an overt racist;
Focus on the Family news article on state abortion bans;
FotF cranky about Harvard study on "abstinence pledges";
FotF starts their November election push with a large article on how
all their religious issues "hinge on the mid-term election";
I stridently disagree with European hate speech laws, but they have
them and have had them for a long time. Now that they're being applied
to anti-gay hate speech (and it is hate speech, even if I don't think
it should be illegal), Focus on the Family loves talking about them;
also note in this article that the anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund,
Focus on the Family, and other fundamentalist groups are getting
involved in European court cases;
Focus on the Family upset about pork - because _they_ want that money;
Focus on the Family Dispatches includes an ACTION ITEM to ban embryonic
stem-cell research; also includes mini articles containing talking
points against marriage rights, accusations that Planned Parenthood
supports child molesters, and promotion of their "ex-gay" conferences;
Focus on the Family promotes Concerned Women for America wonk Warren
Throckmorton's ex-gay ministry video, _I Do Exist_;
Focus on the Family: we just need on more judge; we really wish Samuel
Alito had attacked _Roe v. Wade_ in his confirmation testimony but
understand that "for tactical reasons" he couldn't; the article also
attacks decisions overriding laws against birth control;
FotF: Planned Parenthood uses National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month
"to generate more business" by not teaching abstinence-only;
9th Circuit throws out DOMA challenge;
Focus on the Family, CWA, the AFA, and others butter up Bill Frist over
his support of anti-"indecency" legislation in the Senate; includes
ACTION ITEM to support the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act;
Anti-marriage activists deliver signatures for anti-marriage state
amendment initiative in Illinois; my first quick reading from their
excerpt from it would indicate that it bans civil unions/domestic
partnerships too, tho' not by name;
AFA Action Alert demanding Federal intervention on Mt. Soledad Cross;
Liberty Council to defend Virginia businessman who violated county
civil rights law by refusing a lesbian customer;
And finally, the Cultural Warfare Update Comic.
----- 1 -----
Creationism dismissed as 'a kind of paganism' by Vatican's astronomer
IAN JOHNSTON
The Scotsman
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=674042006
BELIEVING that God created the universe in six days is a form of
superstitious paganism, the Vatican astronomer Guy Consolmagno claimed
yesterday.
Brother Consolmagno, who works in a Vatican observatory in Arizona and
as curator of the Vatican meteorite collection in Italy, said a
"destructive myth" had developed in modern society that religion and
science were competing ideologies.
He described creationism, whose supporters want it taught in schools
alongside evolution, as a "kind of paganism" because it harked back to
the days of "nature gods" who were responsible for natural events.
Brother Consolmagno argued that the Christian God was a supernatural
one, a belief that had led the clergy in the past to become involved in
science to seek natural reasons for phenomena such as thunder and
lightning, which had been previously attributed to vengeful gods.
"Knowledge is dangerous, but so is ignorance. That's why science and
religion need to talk to each other," he said.
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
Banned in Boston
The coming conflict between same-sex marriage and religious liberty.
by Maggie Gallagher
05/15/2006, Volume 011, Issue 33
http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/012/
191kgwgh.asp
CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF BOSTON made the announcement on March 10: It was
getting out of the adoption business. "We have encountered a dilemma we
cannot resolve. . . . The issue is adoption to same-sex couples."
It was shocking news. Catholic Charities of Boston, one of the nation's
oldest adoption agencies, had long specialized in finding good homes
for hard to place kids. "Catholic Charities was always at the top of
the list," Paula Wisnewski, director of adoption for the Home for
Little Wanderers, told the Boston Globe. "It's a shame because it is
certainly going to mean that fewer children from foster care are going
to find permanent homes." Marylou Sudders, president of the
Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, said
simply, "This is a tragedy for kids."
How did this tragedy happen?
It's a complicated story. Massachusetts law prohibited "orientation
discrimination" over a decade ago. Then in November 2003, the
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ordered gay marriage. The majority
ruled that only animus against gay people could explain why anyone
would want to treat opposite-sex and same-sex couples differently. That
same year, partly in response to growing pressure for gay marriage and
adoption both here and in Europe, a Vatican statement made clear that
placing children with same-sex couples violates Catholic teaching.
Then in October 2005, the Boston Globe broke the news: Boston Catholic
Charities had placed a small number of children with same-sex couples.
Sean Cardinal O'Malley, who has authority over Catholic Charities of
Boston, responded by stating that
the agency would no longer do so.
Seven members of the Boston Catholic Charities board (about one-sixth
of the membership) resigned in protest. Joe Solmonese, president of the
Human Rights Campaign, which lobbies for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender equal rights, issued a thundering denunciation of the
Catholic hierarchy: "These bishops are putting an ugly political agenda
before the needs of very vulnerable children. Every one of the nation's
leading children's welfare groups agrees that a parent's sexual
orientation is irrelevant to his or her ability to raise a child. What
these bishops are doing is shameful, wrong, and has nothing to do
whatsoever with faith."
But getting square with the church didn't end Catholic Charities' woes.
To operate in Massachusetts, an adoption agency must be licensed by the
state. And to get a license, an agency must pledge to obey state laws
barring discrimination--including the decade-old ban on orientation
discrimination. With the legalization of gay marriage in the state,
discrimination against same-sex couples would be outlawed, too.
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
Many States Continue Fighting to Outlaw Abortion
A recap of what's happening.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
May 8, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0040394.cfm
From South Dakota to Hawaii, state legislatures are looking at ways to
place limits on abortion, from outright bans to trigger-mechanisms in
case Roe v. Wade is ever overturned.
South Dakota's Legislature voted to ban abortion earlier this year,
with the only exception being when the life of the mother is in danger.
Not surprisingly, that law is now caught up in the courts. Eleven other
states, including Mississippi, Louisiana, Ohio and Kentucky have either
banned the practice or have pending legislation to do so.
Meanwhile, six states have codified Roe, guaranteeing the right to
abortion should the ruling ever be overturned: California, Connecticut,
Maine, Maryland, Nevada and Washington. Hawaii has been dubbed the
"abortion state" after the passage of a law eliminating of residency
requirements and ending a ban on late-term abortions.
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
Harvard Virginity-Pledge Study Challenged
Research examined decade-old data.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
May 8, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0040393.cfm
Half the teens who take virginity pledges deny they did as early as one
year later, at least according to a Harvard University study published
in the American Journal of Public Health Research.
Janet Rosenbaum, author of the Harvard study, told Family News in Focus
the goal was not to refute virginity pledges.
"This isn't an evaluation of virginity pledges," she said. "It really
deals with a methodological issue that you think about when designing a
study."
[More at URL]
----- 5 -----
Family Issues Hinge on the Mid-Term Election
Values Voters need to register to vote and be heard.
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
May 8, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0040402.cfm
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is promising a new day if
Democrats win seats and take control of Congress in the November
election. Pelosi, who stands to become the first female Speaker of the
House, told MSNBC's Tim Russert on Meet the Press Sunday that Democrats
would push for a full liberal agenda "from the first day."
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, meanwhile, has been
telling Republicans what life would be like under a Democratic
Congress: Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., would again become the chairman of
the Senate Judiciary Committee and Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., would
take over the House Judiciary Committee — both have been antagonists of
the president and his judicial nominees.
[...]
"If, indeed, the Republicans do lose the majority in November, we are
going to see a total upheaval of social conservative values," she
added. "I know there's been a lot of talk of late in terms of how
little progress we've seen in the Senate, but if Democrats controlled
either chamber — or both chambers — I think there would be a complete
halt on those issues."
[...]
"Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., would take over the chairmanship of the
House Appropriations Committee," McClusky told CitizenLink. "Once he
took over, abstinence funding would go out the window."
[...]
Swann said the fact of the matter is, even though there are a few
liberal Republicans who undermine family values, as well as some
Democrats who oppose abortion and same-sex marriage, overall, the
Democratic Party platform is incredibly liberal.
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
"Dead" Europe Still Kicking
Hundreds of pastors say they will follow Ake Green's example and defy
political correctness.
by Stephen Adams reporting from Stockholm and Paris
Citizen Magazine
Focus on the Family
May 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/citizenmag/features/a0040173.cfm
I showed up at a courtroom in the far north of France on a raw January
day for Christian Vanneste's sentencing--which was more than he was
willing to do.
Vanneste, a member of the French Parliament facing up to six months in
jail and a fine of 30,000 euros for alleged "hate speech" against
homosexuals, was a no-show. You'd think a personal appearance for such
an occasion would be de rigueur. But Monsieur Vanneste was expressing
disdain for the government's case against him by sitting it out, and
under French law it's optional.
The judge simply read off the sentence--a fine of 12,000 euros (about
$14,400) and costs, including 3,000 euros in damages to each of three
homosexual organizations that had complained, including Act Up Paris.
There was no jail time, but still it was an expensive slapdown for mere
words--simply saying heterosexuality was "morally superior" and that
homosexuality "endangers the survival of humanity."
[...]
Who would have thought it would be European newspapers, led by the
melancholy Danes, defending freedom of the press against Islamic lynch
mobs--and American journalists cowering behind the skirts of political
correctness over the Muhammad cartoons? While Southern Decadence
revelers in New Orleans commit crimes against nature by the score in
broad daylight, the mayor of Warsaw, Poland, bans a gay pride parade in
his city. And Latvia becomes the first nation in Europe to amend its
constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman.
[...]
Christian legal groups recognize the importance of the legal threat
facing Christians in Europe. In winning his freedom, Green received a
lot of behind-the-scenes legal help from America and Britain. The
Swedish court accepted friend-of-the-court briefs from ADF, Focus on
the Family, the Beckett Fund and Christian Lawyers Fellowship (CLF).
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
Pork Chop
There's hope yet that Congress will stop funding "Bridges to Nowhere"
and give the money to faith-based ministries instead.
by Dale D. Buss
Citizen Magazine
Focus on the Family
http://www.family.org/cforum/citizenmag/features/a0040175.cfm
Peel back the layers from most social conservatives and there's a
fiscal conservative underneath. Support for a balanced federal budget,
tax cuts and smaller government is likely to reside with their stalwart
opposition to abortion, same-sex marriage and judicial tyranny.
That's why one of the most interesting dynamics in Washington these
days is how the Republicans' drift from limited-government
principles--as infamously embodied in controversy over "earmarks" and
the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal--may affect the
Christian-conservative backing that has formed the political base for
Congress and President Bush over the last six years.
[...]
"At times we've looked past other things because judges are our No. 1
issue," concedes Tom McCluskey, acting vice president of government
affairs for the Family Research Council, in Washington. "And if there's
any category where this administration gets an A-plus, it's in the
nomination of judges."
[More at URL]
----- 8 -----
Planned Parenthood defies investigators - Answering critics of the
Marriage Amendment - Liberals ignore stem-cell scandal
Dispatches
Citizen Magazine
Focus on the Family
May 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/citizenmag/departments/a0040192.cfm
Planned Parenthood defies investigators
When underage girls have sex, the law calls that rape, because minors
are legally incapable of consent. Some of these rape victims become
pregnant and show up at abortion clinics seeking an abortion. But
rather than notify law enforcement, Planned Parenthood pockets the
victims' money, then refuses to assist state investigations of the
sexual predators.
[...]
'I can answer that'
If you've followed the debate over same-sex marriage, you've probably
seen liberal activists disparage the Marriage Protection Amendment. To
people who don't know much beyond what they've heard or read in the
media, some of these criticisms can sound convinving. But in every
case, there are good answers which reflect the values of most
Americans.
Below are five of the more common criticisms. In each case, we offer
responses that should give the skeptic you know reason to reconsider.
What other responses can you think of? E-mail them to us at
citizeneditor at fotf.org.
[...]
Liberals, media shrug off cloning scandal
Only a few short months ago, South Korean stem-cell researcher Woo-suk
Hwang seemed on the fast track to winning a Nobel Prize. Less than 10
years after the birth of Dolly the cloned sheep, he claimed in two
papers published in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal Science to
have created the first human cloned embryonic stem-cell lines. This
purported feat made international headlines and elevated him from
relative obscurity outside of South Korea to the scientific equivalent
of an international rock star.
[...]
TAKE ACTION
Urge your senators to co-sponsor the Human Cloning Prohibition Act (S.
658)
What it would do: Prohibits human cloning of any kind within the United
States.
Why it's necessary: Think of Dolly the cloned sheep, created in 1997
after researchers sacrificed 275 embryos. Dolly later developed
crippling arthritis and lung cancer and was euthanized in 2003. Sheep
of her kind-Finn Dorset-typically live 11 to 12 years.
Where it stands: Awaiting action from seemingly indifferent GOP
leadership in the Senate, who are acting like a clone of biotech
companies.
Wesley J. Smith, senior fellow at the Discovery Institute in Seattle
and consultant to the Center for Bioethics and Culture.
[...]
Vandalism helps fuel record turnout
Protesters threw a few eggs at the building and defaced billboards
announcing the event, but First Evangelical Free Church of St. Louis
County refused to cancel a February date for Love Won Out--a conference
that deals with the struggle of same-sex attraction.
And on the day of the conference, the community turned out in
force--1,760 people listened to speakers who themselves had struggled
with same-sex attraction and found escape from the bondage they felt.
That attendance set a record for Love Won Out, now in its eighth year.
----- 9 -----
They Do Exist
Looking for a succinct case that proves homosexuals can change their
orientation? A Pennsylvania psychology professor has just the film for
you.
Focus on the Family
Citizen Magazine
by Gary Schneeberger
http://www.family.org/cforum/citizenmag/departments/a0040218.cfm
You've read in the past, on these very pages, about Focus on the
Family's Love Won Out conference and how it is led by men and women who
identify themselves as "ex-gays." We've tried to explain to you, over
the years, exactly what that term means, and exactly how those men and
women left behind homosexuality and the despair they felt while living
the lifestyle.
[...]
That leads to some moving stories, like that of Sarah Lipp, who says
her same-sex attractions started before she was 10, when she become
aware of wanting to get attention from women. Feeling "overwhelmed and
trapped" because she wasn't like other little girls, she began to
sexualize her thoughts and began acting on those fantasies soon
thereafter. Her secret life as a lesbian continued through her time as
a seminary student. Even after coming out of homosexuality several
years later, she confesses to falling back into an inappropriate
relationship with a woman she met at a Christian sports camp.
[More at URL]
----- 10 -----
Final Word
Just One More
by Tom Minnery
Citizen Magazine
Focus on the Family
May 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/citizenmag/departments/a0040230.cfm
Looking back on the historic confirmation of Samuel Alito to the
Supreme Court, I have only one regret. I wanted him, in his testimony,
to blow over the house of cards that is Roe v. Wade. For tactical
reasons, he didn't.
Had he done so, people would have been shocked at how flimsy was the
argument behind the decision that has permitted the deaths of more than
40 million innocents.
[...]
Let me summarize, for you should know this history. The path toward
legalized abortion began in the '60s, when a Planned Parenthood doctor
prescribed contraceptives to a married couple in Connecticut, in
violation of that state's law. He and the group's executive director,
Estelle Griswold, were each fined $100. They appealed and the case
reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 1965.
[...]
And there you have it. The president needs only one more nominee to
give the court a majority to overturn Roe, end our national disgrace
and once again allow the states to pass laws prohibiting abortion.
Please pray that the president gets this opportunity, and that he takes
full advantage of it.
Tom Minnery is Senior Vice President of Government and Public Policy
for Focus on the Family and author of Why You Can't Stay Silent: A
Biblical Mandate to Shape Our Culture.
[More at URL]
----- 11 -----
Q&A: How to Prevent Pregnancy for Unwed Teens
May is National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month, but backers are not
teaching the best path.
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
Focus on the Family
May 8, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/feature/a0040395.cfm
Planned Parenthood wants to leverage National Teen Pregnancy Prevention
Month (NTPPM) to generate more business. The group is disseminating
information on how to get and properly use condoms and where to go for
an abortion. But the healthy message of abstinence is left on the back
burner.
[...]
Planned Parenthood is the nation's largest abortion provider, yet it
claims to want to reduce teen pregnancy. Aren't those conflicting
goals?
The mission statement of Planned Parenthood says, "Our mission is to
ensure that every individual has the knowledge and freedom to make
every child a wanted child and every family a healthy family." But
Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in the U.S. and
around the world. Their belief that every child must be wanted or else
killed by abortion is not God's plan for sexuality. Focus on the Family
believes that every child is a wanted child from the moment of
conception because God is the Creator of that child. It is God's plan
to create children from the sexual union of a husband and wife.
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
Federal Judge Throws Out Challenge to Marriage Laws
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
May 8, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0040406.cfm
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a challenge by two gay
men to the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and to the laws
defining marriage in California. The men, who were denied a marriage
license in Orange County, claimed that limiting marriage to the union
of one man and one woman is unconstitutional.
[More at URL]
----- 13 -----
Senate Majority Leader Presses for Decency Enforcement Act
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
May 8, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0040404.cfm
The U.S. Senate continues to delay voting on the Broadcasting Decency
Enforcement Act -- which would boost fines to as much as $500,000 per
violation -- despite pressure to pass the bill from Senate Majority
Leader Bill Frist, the Christian Post reported.
Lanier Swann, director of government relations for Concerned Women for
America, said despite the "great efforts" by Frist, senators are
ignoring the wishes of constituents by stalling the legislation.
"We wholeheartedly praise Majority Leader Frist for pushing for
unanimous consent of this great piece of legislation," Swann said. "He
has shown great leadership on this issue and we commend him for taking
a bold stand for the desires of American families."
[...]
TAKE ACTION:
Encourage your senators to support the Broadcast Decency Enforcement
Act. You can contact them through our new CitizenLink Action Center.
[More at URL]
----- 14 ------
Illinois: Petitions Delivered to Put Marriage Amendment on Ballot
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
May 8, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0040403.cfm
Protect Marriage Illinois volunteers visited the state Capitol today to
hand deliver more than 300,000 signatures requesting a referendum to
protect marriage on November's ballot.
They're seeking to amend the state constitution to declare that
"marriage between a man and a woman is the only legal union that shall
be valid or recognized in this state."
[More at URL]
----- 15 -----
Help Save the Cross! Take a Stand Against Liberal Activist Judges
American Family Association
May 6, 2006
http://www.afa.net/soledad.asp
A liberal activist judge has ordered the city of San Diego to remove a
cross from Mt. Soledad or be fined $5000 a day. Judge Gordon Thompson,
Jr., ordered the cross removed because, he said, it violated the
separation of church and state. One atheist had complained about the
cross in a battle that has been going on for years.
[More at URL]
----- 16 -----
Liberty Counsel Defends Christian Ordered to Copy Pro-Homosexual Videos
By Allie Martin
American Family Association/Agape Press
May 8, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/5/afa/82006a.asp
(AgapePress) - A Virginia businessman has been ordered by the Arlington
Human Rights Commission to duplicate pro-homosexual videos, even though
he says reproducing the material would violate his biblical values.
Earlier this year, Tim Bono, owner of Bono Film and Video, was
contacted via e-mail by a potential customer, Lilli Vincenz, who asked
him to reproduce two documentaries entitled Gay and Proud and Second
Largest Minority. Bono informed Vincenz that he was refusing the job as
his company does not copy material that is obscene or that could
embarrass employees, hurt the company's reputation, or material that
otherwise runs counter to the company's Christian values.
[More at URL]
----- 17 -----
Malfunction Junction - by Matt Milby
Click here to see the comic: http://malfunctionjunction.net/?p=176
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