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

[Dara (R'ykandar Korra'ti)]

There would be a lot more Focus on the Family in this update, but their  
website is down for maintenance. So this is only a very partial update,  
as I suggested it might be. But I wanted to get at least a partial  
update online today, so here it is. More hopefully tomorrow.

But now, the news:

Focus on the Family - yet another get out the vote effort, also links  
to their endorsement sheets and their election site;

FotF: Kansas Attorney General Phil Kline gets some of the medical  
records he's been trying to get from abortion providers;

Focus on the Family worries that "more liberal churches" are too soft  
on queers, specifically regarding lesbian and gay couples with  
children;

Focus on the Family claims credit for a 1991-present trend of  
teen-birth reduction, claiming it's "abstinence-only" education;

FotF email-only bulletin advertising its election website and reminding  
everyone to vote theocon;

Focus on the Family Canada says there's lots of support for  
"revisiting" marriage rights in Canada, and also lots of support for  
business discrimination against GBLT people, fun; Canadians should note  
that Focus on the Family Canada has borrowed the US theoconservative  
movement's approach that if they can't discriminate against GBLT  
people, their religious liberty is being destroyed;

Canada Family Action Coalition version of the same story;

Institute for Canadian Values version of the same story;

Fundamentalist suing over college classwork requiring her to write in  
support of adoption rights for GBLT people; American Family Association  
supports the fundamentalist, of course, says colleges shouldn't be  
assigning material they find objectionable;

AFA predicts victory in Virginia anti-gay amendment - not exactly going  
out on a limb there, gaybashing is Virginia's national sport;

AFA scare article about videogames, talks about how The Sims (rated E  
for Everyone) can be turned into pr0n by t3h internets;

AFA runs article of the Traditional Values Coalition condeming Jim Webb  
(candidate for senate from Virginia) as a "pervert;"

AFA: U. Wisconsin discriminates against Christians in favour of  
neopagans; basically, there's a "Christian" group that wants to be  
recognised, but it requires that its leadership have certain religious  
beliefs. U. Wisconsin doesn't recognise clubs that discriminate on the  
basis of religion, so doesn't grant the group official status.  
Apparently the neopagan group doesn't do this, since they've been  
approved - some religious groups don't. But not allowing  
fundamentalists to discriminate against other people is, as always,  
presented as a violation of _their_ rights;

College Republicans at U. Wisconsin complain that they aren't a  
protected class;

AFA runs a series of attack newsbriefs on various Democratic  
candidates; I quote the one that implies Ted Strickland is gay (the  
"boy toy" claim) and condemns him for being endorsed by Equality Ohio,  
a GBLT political rights group. Plus, there's an appearance of the  
"special rights" language being used to refer to equal treatment under  
the law, which is one of their standard twistings of language;

Andrew Sullivan ( http://andrewsullivan.com ) is surprised that  
theocons get their kids to write anti-gay letters to the editor, and  
points at this example in Virginia.


----- 1 -----
Dr. Dobson to Values Voters: 'Make Sure You Vote'
Focus on the Family
Online as of 1 November 2006

http://www.citizenlink.org/election/

Focus on the Family Chairman James C. Dobson, Ph.D., saying he is  
"concerned about my country," is devoting the next two days of his  
nationally syndicated radio show to urge fellow Christians to vote on  
Election Day.

"If people of faith — the so-called values voters — don't come out and  
let their voices be heard, there are going to be some major  
implications for this country," he says in the two-part broadcast that  
began today, much of it recorded at a rally earlier this week in  
Nashville, Tenn. "There are these statements from the media that values  
voters don't care this year and that they're going to stay home.

[More at URL]


----- 2 -----
Abortion Records Released to Kansas AG
Focus on the Family
11/1/2006

http://www.citizenlink.org/CLBriefs/A000002857.cfm

Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline has obtained abortion records of 90  
patients from two clinics to review them for possible criminal  
activity, The Associated Press reported.

Kline said his office will see whether they contain information that  
could lead to the investigation and conviction of rapists and sex  
offenders with minor victims. Officials will also see whether there is  
any indication of illegal activity by clinic doctors, including illegal  
late-term abortions or failure to report the abuse of a minor.

[More at URL]


----- 3 -----
Catholic Bishops Consider Adopted Children of Gay Couples
What happens when homosexuals want children raised in the church?
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
11/1/2006

http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000002848.cfm

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is considering new  
guidelines to tackle the issue of how the Roman Catholic Church handles  
gay couples who want adopted children to be raised in the Catholic  
faith.

The Rev. Tom Weinandy, executive director of the USCCB Secretariat for  
Doctrine and Pastoral Practices, described how tough a decision it can  
be.

"It's a pastoral-prudent judgment in this case," he said, "that if  
there is some reasonable basis that the child will be brought up  
Catholic, that the child can be baptized."

[More at URL]


----- 4 -----
Teen Abortion Rates and Births Down
The cost of teen births to the country is still in the billions.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
11/1/2006

http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000002846.cfm

Abortion rates among teen girls as well as birth rates have decreased  
dramatically over the last decade, and much of the success is credited  
to abstinence education. Still, the cost to society remains  
astronomical, according to a report from the National Campaign to  
Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

Teen births are down a third since 1991, and teen abortions dropped 40  
percent.

Bill Albert, spokesman for the campaign, said abstinence education  
played a major role.

"A significant proportion of young people are delaying sexual  
activity," he told Family News in Focus. "It is also true, at the same  
time, that among those teens that are sexually active, they are using  
contraception a bit more consistently and carefully."

[More at URL]


----- 5 -----
Focus on the Family
From: citizenlink at family.org
Subject: Dr. Dobson Invites You to Visit the CitizenLink Election Site
Date: November 1, 2006 11:40:17 AM PST

Dear XXXXX,

As a subscriber to the CitizenLink Daily Update, you obviously care  
deeply about the direction our country is headed. You are, no doubt,  
one of the millions of "values voters" who turned out at the polls in  
November 2004 -- and I trust you'll be there again this Nov. 7.

The stakes this election season are high, as you know. Not only does  
the makeup of Congress -- and the future of legislation such as the  
federal Marriage Protection Amendment -- hang in the balance, but  
voters in several states will also decide how marriage will be defined,  
whether embryonic stem-cell research should be allowed and even if  
abortion should be banned.

You already know that the best way for you to have an impact on these  
issues is to make sure you cast a ballot next Tuesday. But where should  
you go for insight into the issues and races on the ballot -- and to  
keep track of what's happening across the country as those ballots are  
counted?

I'd like to invite you to visit our CitizenLink Election News Web site  
. Stop by today, and you'll find a voter scorecard that highlights how  
your U.S. representatives and senators voted on key issues -- as well  
as voter guides for your state (depending on where you live). Then,  
bookmark the site and visit it often on Election Night -- we'll offer  
up-to-the-minute results from across the country as well as news and  
analysis of the night's big stories from a pro-family perspective.

See you at the polls,

James C. Dobson, Ph.D.
Founder and Chairman
Focus on the Family


----- 6 -----
Canadians back gay marriage review
Focus on the Family Canada
November 1, 2006

http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/religiousFreedom/stories/110106.html

Canadians want Parliament to take another look at the same-sex marriage  
law passed last year “to make sure that freedom of speech and freedom  
of religion are fully protected.” According to a COMPAS poll done for  
the Ottawa-based Institute for Canadian Values (ICV), 64 per cent were  
in favour of MPs revisiting the law.

The survey was conducted last week while traditional marriage advocates  
were on Parliament Hill to urge support for a government motion aimed  
at gauging the will of MPs on whether to re-open the definition of  
marriage debate. A free vote on the motion is expected later this year.

The poll also suggested even greater public support (72 per cent) for  
protecting the rights and religious convictions of clergy not to marry  
a same-sex couple.

“Those numbers are at the level of overwhelming support,” COMPAS  
president Conrad Winn told the National Post. “I mean, you can’t get  
three-quarters of Canadians to agree on the weather.”

“Even on complicated matters of public policy such as the redefinition  
of marriage, Canadians are pretty sophisticated and fair-minded,” said  
ICV executive director Joseph Ben-Ami. “I think they’re saying to our  
politicians and parliamentarians: ‘Look, go back to the drawing board  
and take another look at this.’”

He added: “What that solution is, we don’t know, but we need to take a  
long, considered look at it all.”

By similar margins, the poll found 68 per cent of Canadians support a  
teacher’s right to write a letter to a newspaper editor opposing  
same-sex marriage and 61 per cent support a printer’s right to refuse  
to accept work from a gay organization.

[More at URL]


----- 7 -----
Canadians want marriage decision reopened!
Canada Family Action Coalition
30 October 2006

http://www.familyaction.org/Articles/issues/family/marriage/10-30-2006- 
reopened.htm

An October 30 poll indicates very strong evidence that Canadians are  
seeing the consequences of calling marriage "any two people" and have  
deepening concerns. Issues about education, about children's rights,  
about freedoms of speech and religion have all shown the unsavory  
consequences of the fallen Liberal government's erosion of society with  
its social experiment that even France would not do.

What is concerning is that 24 % of Canadians do not want religious  
freedom protected, and 28% do not want freedom of speech protected.  
This in a country that prides itself on tolerance, diversity and  
equality. Who are these 24+% of Canadians who do not want the Charter  
freedoms for certain people?

-- CFAC

Same-Sex Marriage: Canadians want Parliament to protect freedom of  
religion - poll
Original Article
CanadianValues.ca
Oct 30, 2006

A new nation-wide poll conducted by COMPAS Inc. for the Institute for  
Canadian Values and National Post shows that a large majority of  
Canadians want Parliament to act to protect freedom of religion in the  
light of legislation redefining marriage to include same-sex couples.

[More at URL]


----- 8 -----
Same-Sex Marriage: Canadians want Parliament to protect freedom of  
religion - poll
Institute for Canadian Values
Date: Oct 30, 2006

http://canadianvalues.ca/news.aspx?aid=241

OTTAWA - A new nation-wide poll conducted by COMPAS Inc. for the  
Institute for Canadian Values and National Post shows that a large  
majority of Canadians want Parliament to act to protect freedom of  
religion in the light of legislation redefining marriage to include  
same-sex couples.

64 percent of respondents to the survey, conducted October 18 - 27 said  
that Parliament should review existing legislation to ensure that  
freedom of religion is protected while 24 percent opposed such an  
initiative. Support for a review was nominally higher among women (67  
percent in favour vs. 21 percent opposed) while among Francophones,  
support stood at 59 percent with 25 percent opposed.

"Canadians of all backgrounds cherish freedom of religion," said Joseph  
Ben-Ami, Executive Director and Director of Policy Development for the  
Institute. "They are concerned with the impact that same-sex marriage  
legislation is having on religious freedom, and they - quite sensibly -  
want Parliament to act to protect it."

The poll also found strong support (57 percent vs. 37 percent) for the  
right of marriage commissioners to not officiate at same-sex marriages,  
the right of teachers to express their opposition to same-sex marriage  
by, for instance, writing letters to their local newspapers (68 percent  
vs. 28 percent) and the right of business owners to decline business  
that promotes same-sex relationships in violation of their religious  
convictions (61 percent vs. 33 percent).

"These examples are significant in that they represent cases where the  
Courts and human rights bodies have actually ruled against religious  
rights," explained Ben-Ami. "In view of this, no-one can have  
confidence that the Judiciary alone will be able to protect religious  
freedom - that's why Parliament must act."

[More at URL]


----- 9 -----
School 'Ethics' Group Punishes Student for Opposing Homosexual Adoption
She Sues Missouri State U., Claiming First Amendment Violations
By Jim Brown
American Family Association
November 1, 2006

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/11/afa/12006a.asp

(AgapePress) - A social work student at Missouri State University has  
filed a lawsuit alleging the school required her to adopt a position in  
support of homosexual adoption as a precondition to getting her degree.

According to news reports, Dr. Frank Kaufman -- an assistant professor  
in MSU's School of Social Work on the Springfield campus and a member  
of the Faculty Senate at MSU -- assigned his students a project  
promoting homosexual foster homes and adoption. The students were  
required to write and individually sign a letter to the Missouri  
legislature in support of homosexual adoption. Emily Brooker says she  
refused to sign the letter because of her religious convictions, and  
alleges she was punished for taking that stand.

Brooker says the school subjected her to a grievance hearing where  
school officials told her she had violated three of the "Standards of  
Essential Functioning in Social Work Education": diversity,  
interpersonal skills, and professional behavior. The social work  
student is now suing the university for a violation of her First  
Amendment rights. Her attorney, David French with the Alliance Defense  
Fund, claims his client was interrogated for two-and-a-half hours by  
faculty members about the matter.

[More at URL]


----- 10 -----
Conservatives Confident About Virginia Marriage Amendment's Passage
By Jeff Johnson and Allie Martin
American Family Association
November 1, 2006

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/11/afa/12006b.asp

(AgapePress) - Defense of marriage amendments are on the ballot in  
eight states next Tuesday, including the state of Virginia. Pro-family  
advocates there expect the marriage protection measure to pass, if only  
by a slim margin.

Victoria Cobb of Virginia4Marriage.org says current polling indicates  
only a two to six percent lead for the Virginia Defense of Marriage  
Amendment, which defines marriage as only a legal union between one man  
and one woman. However, the pro-family activist says voter turnout for  
similar amendments has typically been higher than indicated by polls in  
the final days before an election.

Cobb feels fairly confident about the prospects for the Virginia  
marriage amendment's passage on November 7. "We believe a majority of  
Virginians support traditional marriage," she says, "and it's simply a  
matter of mobilizing them and getting them to bring their friends and  
their neighbors and everyone they know to the polls."

In fact the Virginia4Marriage.org spokeswoman says turnout in support  
of the amendment may increase in response to the recent New Jersey  
Supreme Court ruling that the legislature in that state must legalize  
either same-sex "civil unions" or so-called "gay marriage." She  
believes Virginia voters feel the people and their elected  
representatives, rather than judges, should decide such important  
issues.

[More at URL]


----- 11 -----
Objective: Assist Christian Parents in Navigating the Video Game Arena
By Allie Martin
American Family Association
November 1, 2006

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/11/afa/12006g.asp

(AgapePress) - Helping parents make informed decisions about  
interactive entertainment for their children -- that's the purpose of  
the Christian Game Developers Foundation.

The non-profit CGDF was formed to help parents track trends and to  
provide resources for video and computer games. Co-founder Ralph  
Bagley, known for developing the first high-quality Christian-themed  
video game, says parents must be informed and educated about video  
games.

"The video game industry is a dark, violent, satanic, sexually explicit  
place that is full of dangerous traps," says the video game veteran.  
"And so the CGDF is dedicated to informing and educating parents about  
that -- and also pointing them in the direction of some good,  
high-quality, alternative games."

According to Bagley, because of the popularity of video games among  
children -- Christian and non-Christian alike -- parents need to know  
what their children are getting into.

"Probably eight out of ten parents really don't understand the level of  
depravity in some of these games," he shares. "They don't understand  
that [with] games like 'The Sims,' which is rated 'E' for everyone, you  
can buy a modification on the Internet and modify it to be a completely  
pornographic game."

[More at URL]


----- 12 -----
Pro-Family Group Blasts Va. Democrat Seeking Senate Seat as Pervert
By Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
American Family Association
October 31, 2006

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/10/afa/312006d.asp

(AgapePress) - A pro-family group is calling on Democratic candidate  
Jim Webb, who is also a novelist and a former U.S. Navy Secretary, to  
withdraw from the U.S. Senate race in Virginia over sexually explicit  
passages appearing in some of his fiction writings.

Late last week, incumbent Senator George Allen's campaign brought  
attention to the passages, which occur in Vietnam War novels written by  
Webb. According to a CNN report, in a news release and a list of quotes  
posted last Friday on the Drudge Report website, Allen accused Webb,  
who is challenging the Republican incumbent for his Senate seat, of  
"dehumanizing women, men, and even children," through his fiction  
writings.

[More at URL]


----- 13 -----
Attorney Offers Evidence of Anti-Christian Bias at Univ. of Wisconsin
By Jim Brown
American Family Association
October 31, 2006

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/10/afa/312006c.asp

(AgapePress) - "Pagans, yes. Christians, no." That's how a  
constitutional attorney is describing the attitude permeating the  
public university system in Wisconsin.

Just in time for Halloween, a Pagan Student Alliance club has been  
formed at the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha. The group has already  
been recognized by the student government. Meanwhile, at the University  
of Wisconsin-Superior, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship is currently  
banned from campus because it requires its leaders to be Christians.

[More at URL]


----- 14 -----
UW-La Crosse Accused of Discriminating Against Unprotected Campus Groups
By Jim Brown
American Family Association
November 1, 2006

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/11/afa/12006e.asp

(AgapePress) - Yet another student group in the University of Wisconsin  
system says it has been victimized by liberal bias and hypocrisy. And  
in this case, he charges, the victimizer is a university office that  
exists to address discrimination on campus.

College Republicans President Mike Tellier filed a complaint with the  
Campus Climate Office at the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse after  
the group's posters, which advertised a 3,000-flag 9/11 memorial, were  
defaced. However, he says that office, which is set up to address  
instances of "hate" on campus, told him it would not investigate the  
vandalism because the College Republicans were not a protected class.

[More at URL]


----- 15 -----
Commentary & News Briefs
November 1, 2006
Compiled by Jenni Parker
American Family Association/Agape Press

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/11/afa/12006h.asp

[...]

...Investigative journalist and author Jerome Corsi says Ohio  
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland has clearly been  
involved in a cover-up in connection with his handling of a former  
congressional staffer who had been arrested for a sex crime. Corsi has  
done an extensive investigation into the Strickland scandal -- a  
scandal that the journalist says has received virtually no national  
media coverage. He believes Strickland has not been forthright in  
explaining why his former staffer was kept on the payroll after being  
arrested in 1994, or why the congressman even took a trip to Italy with  
the same employee in 1998. "Strickland has intentionally covered this  
up and the Democrats have not cared," Corsi contends. They were up in  
arms over the Foley scandal, he observes, "yet when this comes up in  
their own party ... in Ohio, the Democrats have no moral courage;  
they're hypocrites. They want to bury the issue." However, the facts  
have been exposed by some Ohio media outlets, and Corsi says he thinks  
Ohio citizens are becoming outraged as they learn the details. "And  
Strickland's making the same mistake that John Kerry made," the author  
says; "he's not answering the charges, and he's letting this whole  
scandal build." In any event, Corsi believes Strickland's moral  
integrity must be called into question, considering the recent  
endorsement he received from Equality Ohio, a radical pro-homosexual  
group advocating special rights for homosexual, bisexual, and  
transgender people. [Chad Groening]

[More at URL]


----- 16 -----
Modern or traditional marriage: which will you choose?
10/31/2006
Email to a friendPost a CommentPrinter-friendly
According to recent studies, children with homosexual parents are at a  
disadvantage when compared to children with heterosexual parents.

The length of homosexual relationships subject these children to a poor  
model of marriage. In their book, "Male and Female Homosexuality," M.  
Saghir and E. Robins state "Homosexuals ... model a poor view of  
marriage to children. They are taught by example and belief that  
marital relationships are transitory and mostly sexual in nature."

Such relationships also provide an unstable environment for children.

In addition to being subject to a negative example of marriage,  
children of homosexuals often witness domestic violence.

[...]

Clearly, we are doing a disservice to children by allowing homosexual  
marriage. Vote to ban same-sex marriage in Virginia.


Jillian Lowery, Grade 7
Brian Lowery, Grade 10
Allison Lowery, Grade 12
Amissville

[More at URL]


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