[Active-l] (NEWS) Today's (Wednesday's) Cultural Warfare Update - YES THIS IS NEW

[Dara (R'ykandar Korra'ti)]

A special, most important, nr. 0: ATTENTION CANADIANS: Focus on the  
Family Canada has sent out an ACTION ITEM to call all MPs and demand  
that they overturn marriage rights in a revote apparently coming  
"soon." This is a full action item to their membership, so I'm going  
ahead and sending it out; there's yet more to come, maybe tonight; I'm  
pretty far behind the curve on this lately. Sorry about that.

But now, today's news:

ATTENTION CANADIANS: Focus on the Family Canada has sent out an ACTION  
ITEM to call all MPs and demand that they overturn marriage rights in a  
revote apparently coming "soon." This is a full action item to their  
membership;

The American Family Association appears to have gotten Wal-Mart not to  
talk to GBLT business groups anymore; that's very unfortunate. Also,  
they're pushing to require that all members of Congress take their  
oaths of office on the Bible. Ha HA - overtly theocratic. I'd laugh,  
but it's not funny;

Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM to call and write MPs against marriage  
rights, seeking to throw out C-38 on a revote;

AFA: Wal-Mart will "not make corporate contributions" to "support or  
oppose controversial issues," calls off boycott; ACTION ITEM to thank  
Wal-Mart for stiffing t3h queer businesses (not their words, of  
course);

Wal-Mart's statement on the matter, linked to by the AFA; the statement  
is not as clear as the AFA would like it to be, I suspect, but they  
seem to have been satisfied;

AFA FAQ on the Wal-Mart situation; apparently some of their membership  
is worried that the AFA is not being hard enough on Wal-Mart for  
dealing with the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, and the  
questions are interesting in that Wal-Mart has (reportedly) not dropped  
its NGLCC membership _this_ year. However, the AFA expects them to fail  
to renew next year, and will be monitoring for compliance;

AFA condemns Rick Warren's church allowing Senator Barak Obama to speak;

AFA Newsbrief on the Supreme Court religious-school voucher case  
non-ruling;

American Family Association ACTION ITEM to mandate that all Senators  
and Representatives take their oaths of office by swearing on the  
Bible;

AFA, Concerned Women for America's Robert Knight condemn ABC for having  
a transgendered character on _All My Children_, a daytime soap opera;

AFA story on fundamentalist parents pushing to remove a children's book  
about two male penguins adopting an egg;

American Family Association, Family Research Council, and Concerned  
Women for America applaud Mr. Bush's appointment of an  
anti-contraception activist to be head of family planning at Health and  
Human Services; see earlier Cultural Warfare Updates for  
details/quotes/presentations from this guy; he also claims that sex  
outside marriage causes brain damage; FRC and CWA expect Planned  
Parenthood clinics to lose _non-_abortion-related medical services  
funding as a result and are pleased;

This is a weird one; a group I've never heard of called the  
"Intercollegiate Studies Institute" says "high-cost colleges may not be  
worth the money," says students are losing education at college, not  
gaining it, and points students at places like Grove City College -  
which is home to one of Concerned Women for America's favourite  
anti-gay talking heads, Warren Throckmorton. I note that one of ISI's  
three posted "Outstanding Alumni" (from their Outstanding Alumni page)  
is president of the Heritage Foundation (which spends a lot of time  
being theoconservative towards GBLT people) and that their principles  
statement calls for "Judeo-Christian" "values, customs, conventions,  
and norms," which I don't imagine I have to translate for you in this  
context. I would guess with some confidence that what they describe as  
"losing knowledge about American history and politics" is actually  
forming opinions with which ISI disagree;

AFA article on the "wrongful death" lawsuit against a fertility clinic  
that accidentally discarded four embryos without permission; I should  
make it clear here that the clinic is clearly in the wrong, but suing  
for "wrongful death" puts this incident onto this list. One of the  
specific intents of this lawsuit is to have a court case wherein the  
embryos in storage are legally classified as having the same rights as  
human beings, and to back up the definition of pregnancy to conception,  
rather than the traditional medical definition of implantation. I have  
to wonder, _who the fuck is pregnant here, the goddamn petri dish?_ -  
but, you know. Note a new term, the "pre-emplanted embryo," to indicate  
a fertilised egg cell which has not implanted anywhere. Research  
indicates taht round 70% of these never implant in nature, I note as an  
aside, muttering something to the effect that even were I a theocrat  
I'd say that a 70% failure to implant rate kind of indicates that Jesus  
doesn't give a rat's ass about these little cells. Anyway, they're  
probably doing this because their constituency is used to the term  
"embryo" and already considers it a full human being; using the correct  
word "zygote" would require another round of convincing that it's a  
human being;

AFA article on activities of anti-abortion Democrats, includes  
condemnation of Amnesty International considering adopting the position  
that women should have access to abortion services when raped;  
"Pro-Life Congressional Congress" urges AI not to adopt this  
"pro-abortion position";

Concerned Women for America starts up with their seasonal celebration -  
the annual "War on Christmas" bullshit. Last year, they were firmly in  
the "Merry Christmas and NOTHING ELSE" camp, assaulting (for example)  
Coldwater Creek for having both "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Holidays"  
catalogues, saying Coldwater Creek was "trying to have it both ways."  
This year, they seem happy enough with Wal-Mart's multiple-slogan  
approach, a rare example of them getting something and being okay with  
it, rather than moving even more absolutist; Saving Christmas in  
Massachusetts, a group I've never heard of, urges a boycott of stores  
not using Merry Christmas, saying that "We're going to get 'tolerated'  
right into hell." AFA also points to a tracking website,  
http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/;

CWA picks up the "gay marriage means legalised bigamy" routine some  
more;

CWA applauds Bill O'Reilly's "year-long investigation" of Dr. George  
Tiller, a doctor who performs abortions in Kansas; they call Dr. Tiller  
"Tiller the Killer";

CWA has more War On Christmas bullshit; personally, I find the "War on  
Christmas" crock to be one of the most egregious things in the entire  
fundamentalist Culture War;

CWA runs a Mark Tooley column against Episcopalians, partly for being  
GBLT friendly, partly for having female leadership, mocking them for  
not being focused enough on breeding as much as possible; it's an...  
interesting column;

Another CWA "War on Christmas" column;

CWA column against Wal-Mart, updated to reflect that we're at war  
against Eurasia and have always been at war against Eurasia - well,  
okay, that's not quite fair; they aren't nearly as happy with Wal-Mart  
as the AFA is, saying (correctly!) that the press release by Wal-Mart  
isn't explicitly promising not to work with GBLT business groups  
anymore and says nothing about dropping GBLT-related books from their  
books section;

CWA column saying that a pedophile group in the Netherlands means we'll  
be seeing them here too, in organised political form; says that  
personal choice must be restricted by the "spiritual boundaries of our  
Judeo-Christian heritage";

_The Hill_ thinks that "Culture-war veterans" will cast themselves now  
as more moderate and mainstream; I think they're high. Also, Human  
Rights Campaign plans to be a nice quiet little yessir and not pressure  
Democrats on GBLT rights;

CWA links to a CNN article: oh look, Mexico City has civil unions now;

CWA links to a long article by GBLT marriage rights opponent Stanley  
Kurtz two part article called "Confession," where he makes up a  
"confession" by marriage rights activists that says "your worst fears  
are justified"; this is Part I;

Part II of the article - it was published in two parts;

Bizarre New Jersey Ledger column about controversy not driving sales of  
Plan B; I might suggest that emergency contraception is used in  
_emergencies_, and that birth control OMG usually works, but CWA  
attacks the emergency contraception on the basis of, um, it not selling  
out at the local NJ Stop-And-Shops; they also continue their new  
rhetoric of implying that EC doesn't actually work, attempting to  
spread 'EC is Fraud' as a meme;

LifeNews version of the "wrongful death" lawsuit against a fertility  
clinic; contains the 'this is Dred Scott' language again;

New Jersey Republican legislator to introduce GBLT marriage/civil  
unions ban in the state legislature.


----- 0 -----
Important message on marriage
 From Terence Rolston, President
Focus on the Family Canada
Today’s Family News
November 29, 2006

[Received in email; no URL]

The House of Commons will soon be voting on the issue of marriage in  
Canada. Your input is so important! Please contact your Member of  
Parliament as soon as possible and ask them to support the one-man,  
one-woman definition of marriage.

I know that many of you have contacted your MP before and some of you  
are frustrated that it doesn’t seem to make a difference. I certainly  
understand your frustration, but would urge you to contact your MP  
again. Whether the vote is favourable or not, may it not be said that  
God’s people were silent when such a critical issue was before our  
lawmakers. Please stand with us and voice your support for God’s truth  
about marriage. Our website provides resources on the issue and contact  
information for your MP. Visit Focusonthefamily.ca and click Protect  
Marriage 2006.

We know from the Scriptures that marriage between a man and a woman is  
clearly God’s plan: “For this reason a man will leave his father and  
mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh”  
(Genesis 2:24 NIV). Jesus later reaffirmed this plan and added a  
warning that still applies today: “Therefore what God has joined  
together let no one separate” (Mark 10:9). Whether it is history or the  
social and physical sciences, God’s creation clearly reveals that  
traditional marriage benefits the husband and wife, their children and  
the communities in which they live. If we know this to be true, we need  
to let those who represent us know that we want God’s best for our  
nation and our children.

We at Focus on the Family Canada are committed to strengthening  
marriages and families across Canada. Thank you for standing with us.


Terence Rolston
President
Focus on the Family Canada


----- 1 -----
Wal-Mart Says It Will Not Make Corporate Contributions To Support Or  
Oppose Controversial Issues
Send Wal-Mart a "Thank You" for its statement.
American Family Association

http://www.afa.net/Petitions/Issuedetail.asp?id=223

You have made a difference! Wal-Mart has announced it "will no longer  
make corporate contributions to support or oppose controversial issues  
unless they directly relate to their ability to serve their customers."  
AFA is pleased with this announcement.

Wal-Mart made the announcement Tuesday afternoon.

In response to Wal-Mart's statement, AFA has decided to cancel its  
efforts of encouraging people to not shop at Wal-Mart or Sam's Club  
this Friday and Saturday.

We believe that Wal-Mart will remain neutral in cultural battles.

Click here to see the Wal-Mart announcement.

Please send Wal-Mart a "Thank You" for its statement.


----- 2 -----
Respect for the Individual and Corporate Contributions
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 21, 2006
WalMartFacts.com

http://www.walmartfacts.com/articles/4617.aspx

Respect for the individual is one of the core values that have made us  
into the company we are today.  We take pride in the fact that we treat  
every customer, every supplier and every member of our individual  
communities fairly and equally.

We are working hard to make our corporate contributions reflect the  
values of our customers, communities, and associates.  As Sam Walton  
said, “Each Wal-Mart store should reflect the values of its customers  
and support the vision they hold for their community.

Wal-Mart will not make corporate contributions to support or oppose  
highly controversial issues unless they directly relate to our ability  
to serve our customers.

Wal-Mart does not have a position on same sex marriage and we do not  
give preference to gay or lesbian suppliers.   Wal-Mart does have a  
strong commitment to diversity among our associates and against  
discrimination everywhere.


----- 3 -----
Wal-Mart Says It Will Not Make Corporate Contributions To Support Or  
Oppose Controversial Issues
Latest Issues
American Family Association
Online as of 28 November 2006

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

Statement by AFA President Tim Wildmon regarding Wal-Mart:
"American Family Association has heard from a number of supporters who  
question the sincerity of Wal-Mart to discontinue its financial support  
of homosexual activist organizations as of November 21, 2006. AFA is  
convinced that Wal-Mart understands the issue that our 3.4 million  
on-line supporters have brought to their attention and that Wal-Mart  
will honor its public commitment.  Also, AFA will continue to follow  
the actions of Wal-Mart closely as we do other major corporations as  
well. AFA has 30 years of experience in dealing with companies on  
issues that affect the family.”

Here are answers to common questions:

1. Did Wal-Mart pull its membership from the NGLCC?

Earlier, Wal-Mart entered into a one-year contractual membership with a  
$25,000 donation to the NGLCC.  Legally, Wal-Mart cannot expect a  
refund, even if they requested it.

2. Does a Wal-Mart executive serve on the NGLCC Corporate Advisory  
Council?

The Wal-Mart executive that served on the council is no longer employed  
by Wal-Mart and the position on the council has not been filled by  
another Wal-Mart representative.

3. Does Wal-Mart give 5% of all online sales to the Washington, DC GLBT  
organization?

NO. Contrary to bogus Internet rumors, only sales made through the DC  
organization's website as an affiliate are eligible for the 5% donation  
program.  Over the past 4 years, the total donation to the gay group  
has been less than $5.

4. Why did AFA call off the 2-day boycott when other groups refused to  
back down?

Wal-Mart extended a good faith effort to AFA by stopping their  
financial support to homosexual groups.  As a Christian organization,  
we feel it is our duty to extend that same good faith effort to  
Wal-Mart.  While there are still other issues of concern, AFA is  
confident that Wal-Mart is now reviewing their support of homosexual  
organizations and agenda and will honor its promise to remain neutral  
in the culture war over homosexuality.  As with any complex issue,  
results take time.

5. Is AFA encouraging people to shop at Wal-Mart?

NO.  Each individual is encouraged to make their own decision regarding  
shopping at Wal-Mart.

6. Does the AFA trust Wal-Mart?  Can I trust Wal-Mart?

Wal-Mart has made a public statement [See paragraph #3] to stop support  
of homosexual organizations.  AFA believes Wal-Mart will keep their  
word.  However, AFA will continue to monitor Wal-Mart's progress and if  
necessary, AFA will take further action.

[More at URL]


----- 4 -----
Pro-Lifers: 'Improper' for Pro-Abortion Obama to Speak at Rick Warren's  
Church
By Jim Brown
American Family Association
November 28, 2006

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/11/afa/282006d.asp

(AgapePress) - A coalition of pro-life groups is calling on Pastor Rick  
Warren to reconsider having an abortion-supporting senator speak at his  
Southern California church.

Several pro-life groups are upset that popular Christian author and  
megachurch pastor Rick Warren has invited Illinois Senator Barack Obama  
to speak Friday at his "Global Summit on AIDS and the Church." The  
summit is being held at Warren's Saddleback Church in Orange County.  
Pro-life and pro-family leaders such as Phyllis Schlafly, Judie Brown,  
Janet Folger, Tim Wildmon, and Peter LaBarbera are calling on Warren to  
rescind his invitation to the 2008 presidential hopeful, given Obama's  
stance on abortion.

Schlafly, the founder and president of Illinois-based Eagle Forum, says  
Obama campaigned in her state against the federal ban on partial-birth  
abortion. The ministry leader says that is "about as extreme as you can  
get."

"For Barack Obama to say that the ban is unconstitutional, I think is  
about the most extreme pro-abortion position that you could possibly  
have," says Schlafly. She feels the Democratic senator is "an unlikely  
and improper choice" to invite to speak to a pro-life audience. "Most  
of the people who go to [Warren's] church are pro-life, and they don't  
want to honor pro-abortion candidates. Honestly, if you look at the  
surveys, a big majority of the American people think this terrible  
crime of partial-birth abortion should be abolished."

[More at URL]


----- 5 -----
Commentary & News Briefs
November 28, 2006
Compiled by Jody Brown
American Family Association/Agape Press

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/11/afa/282006h.asp

...The Supreme Court is refusing to get involved in a school voucher  
dispute. The justices declined to hear a case out of Maine, where small  
school districts offer tuition to let students attend any public or  
private high school -- except for religious ones. The case was brought  
by eight families who would receive public tuition funds except for the  
fact that their children attend religious schools. The families'  
attorneys and supporters accused the state of unconstitutionally  
discriminating against religion. But Maine's highest court upheld the  
policy last April, and the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to hear the  
case lets that ruling stand. The Institute for Justice, which  
represented the families, says it will continue its battle to assure  
equal treatment for religious options in publicly funded programs. [AP]

[More at URL]


----- 6 -----
What book will America base it’s values on, the Bible or the Koran?
Email your U.S. Congressional Leaders Today!
American Family Association
Online as of 28 November 2006

http://capwiz.com/afanet/issues/alert/?alertid=9184771&type=CO

Please take a moment to read the following TownHall.com column by  
Dennis Prager, who is a Jew. After reading the column, take the suggest  
action at the bottom of this email. After you have read it, please  
forward it to your friends and family.
America, Not Keith Ellison, decides what book a congressman takes his  
oath on
By Dennis Prager - Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the first Muslim elected to the United States  
Congress, has announced that he will not take his oath of office on the  
Bible, but on the bible of Islam, the Koran.

He should not be allowed to do so -- not because of any American  
hostility to the Koran, but because the act undermines American  
civilization.

[...]

TAKE ACTION
Enter your zip code and click “GO” to prepare and send the email asking  
your U.S. Congressional leaders to pass a law making the Bible the book  
used in the swearing-in ceremony of Representatives and Senators.

Click on the “Tell-A-Fiend” link below to forward this to your friends  
and family and ask they act on this matter.

Thanks for caring enough to get involved. If you feel our efforts are  
worthy, would you consider making a small donation to help us continue?

Sincerely,

Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association


----- 7 -----
Media Analyst Calls Soap's Transgender Character Addition Exploitive  
Ploy
By Jim Brown and Fred Jackson
November 28, 2006

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/11/afa/282006g.asp

(AgapePress) - A media analyst is accusing ABC-TV of exploiting  
transgender people for shock value in efforts to boost ratings -- and  
homosexual activists of doing the same in order to advance their own  
agenda.

The long-running ABC daytime soap opera All My Children is introducing  
a transgender character into the show this week. In a television first  
from the Disney-owned network, a male character on the show is going to  
be making the transition from being a man to becoming a woman.

[...]

Bob Knight, director of the Culture and Media Institute at the Media  
Research Center, says the bottom line in this instance is that ABC  
believes it needs to push the envelope for higher ratings. And at the  
same time, he asserts, "I think we're at a stage now where the  
homosexual movement has to continually shock. They've saturated the  
airwaves with pro-homosexual imagery, so now they have to go to the  
next step, which is transgenderism."

[...]

Pro-homosexual ABC and Hollywood think Judeo-Christian standards are  
"just a holdover from a bigoted, superstitious era," the culture and  
media analyst contends, and as self-described progressives, they need  
to attack those faith-based values. "They are dedicated to tear down  
every moral standard," he says, "and they're now using the transgender  
people to do it."

Meanwhile, Knight asserts, transgender individuals themselves are among  
the homosexual agenda's casualties. "I see these poor, sexually  
confused people as victims and pawns of a larger movement that wants to  
destroy Christianity and to turn America into a country we would no  
longer recognize," he says.

Knight believes homosexual activists and their supporters realize that  
the homosexual lifestyle is so empty and devoid of meaning that the  
best they can do is to continue shocking people. And, as one AP report  
notes, even the editor of Soap Opera Weekly admits that in deciding to  
add a transgendered character on All My Children, the shows producers  
were simply "throwing a whole lot of desperate stuff against the wall  
to see what sticks."

[More at URL]

[Editor's Note: the "Culture and Media Institute at the Media Research  
Center" is Bob Knight's office at Concerned Women for America, and  
always has been. But they've stopped using the CWA name for him in  
third-party articles. I guess it got too embarrassing or something.]


----- 8 -----
Family Advocate Wants Children's Book on Same-Sex-Parent Penguins Put  
on Ice
By Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
American Family Association/Agape Press
November 27, 2006

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/11/afa/272006c.asp

(AgapePress) - An Illinois pro-family group is protesting an elementary  
school's decision not to restrict students' access to a picture book in  
the school library, a story about two male penguins who "adopt" a baby  
penguin as their own.

Shiloh Elementary School in metro East St. Louis, Illinois, is  
embroiled in a controversy over the book titled And Tango Makes Three  
(Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, 2005). The picture book is,  
according to School Library Journal, "based on a true story" and tells  
of two male penguins living in a zoo who share a nest and "want to  
become parents."

In the story, a sympathetic zookeeper decides the two male birds "must  
be in love" and gives them a fertilized egg to care for, which the two  
"fathers" nurture until it hatches into a female chick. It was when one  
Shiloh parent was reading the book to her five-year-old daughter and  
encountered the reference to the two male penguins being "in love" that  
the debate over the book's inclusion in the elementary school's library  
began.

That mother and other East St. Louis parents see And Tango Makes Three  
as an unwelcome effort to introduce school children to the idea of  
homosexual parenting. They have called for the book to be moved to a  
section of the library reserved for materials addressing mature issues.  
Also, the parents are asking that children to be required to obtain  
parental permission before checking out the controversial book.

[More at URL]


----- 9 -----
Bush HHS Nomination Irks Abortion Advocates, Pleases Pro-Lifers
By Jim Brown
American Family Association/Agape Press
November 27, 2006

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/11/afa/272006f.asp

WASHINGTON, DC (AgapePress) - Traditional values groups are applauding  
President Bush's decision to nominate an abstinence-until-marriage  
advocate to run the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of  
Population Affairs.

The president has tapped Dr. Eric Keroack to oversee the Title X  
Program, the government's "family planning" funding. Pro-abortion  
groups have criticized the move because of the doctor's past work with  
"A Woman's Concern," a Christian crisis pregnancy center in  
Massachusetts that discourages contraception. David Christensen,  
director of congressional affairs at the Family Research Council,  
explains why the nomination is a blow to radical pro-abortion groups.

"Much of the Title X funding, about $283 million a year, does go to  
groups like Planned Parenthood because they can apply for grants under  
the auspices of 'family planning,'" says Christensen. And Planned  
Parenthood Federation of America has reacted to the nomination,  
requesting that Keroack's nomination be pulled from consideration.

[...]

But Janice Crouse of Concerned Women for America says Keroack is well  
qualified. "Unfortunately it's a day late and a dollar short, but we'll  
take it anyway," she says. "We're very happy to have someone who is  
from a Christian pregnancy counseling center to be nominated for a  
position such as this.

"I think it's about time we had someone in that position who will be  
more fair in distributing the money for programs in high schools and in  
service agencies that work with women who have reproductive health  
problems," Crouse continues. "It's long past due that Planned  
Parenthood not get the kind of funding that they have had."

[More at URL]


----- 10 -----
Research Finds Some High-Cost Colleges May Not Be Worth the Money
By Jeff Johnson
November 27, 2006

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/11/afa/272006g.asp

(AgapePress) - One researcher says the phrase "you get what you pay  
for" may not necessarily be true when it comes to a college education.

The Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) surveyed more than 14,000  
freshmen and seniors at 50 U.S. colleges and universities, including  
some of the most prestigious and expensive in America. And according to  
the Institute's Dr. Gary Scott, the parents who are writing the checks  
for many of those schools may not like the results.

"Often people associate elite education with expensive education,"  
Scott observes, "and we have found that there is no relationship  
between expenditure and learning." He says research shows that many  
students at the most expensive U.S. colleges and universities are  
actually losing knowledge about American history and politics between  
their freshman and senior years.

Too many students at these high-cost and high-profile schools "are not  
learning the elementary principles to enter the American conversation  
at a mature, adult level," the ISI spokesman says. Meanwhile, he notes,  
"Some of our less expensive universities ... were ranked top as far as  
advancing students' knowledge of America's government, history, foreign  
affairs and market economy."

According to ISI's findings, Scott points out, among the less expensive  
but better performing institutions of higher learning are such schools  
as Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee; Calvin College in Grand  
Rapids, Michigan; Grove City College in Pennsylvania, and Colorado  
State University. He says research has suggested specific methods that  
schools can use to ensure that students learn.

[More at URL]


----- 11 -----
Pro-Life Groups File Briefs in Frozen Embryo Wrongful Death Case
By Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
November 27, 2006

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/11/afa/272006a.asp

(AgapePress) - Several pro-life organizations based in Illinois and  
other U.S. states are backing a lawsuit brought by two Illinois parents  
over a Chicago in vitro clinic's killing of their frozen human embryos.

Last year, Cook County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Lawrence refused to  
dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Alison Miller and Todd  
Parrish against the Center for Human Reproduction, which mistakenly  
destroyed the couple's embryos nearly seven years ago. Miller and  
Parish stored nine embryos at the Center in January 2000, and were told  
that one of these looked promising; however, six months later the  
couple learned that their embryos had been discarded.

[...]

On November 17, a coalition of nine Illinois and national pro-life  
organizations filed friend-of-the-court briefs in the case in support  
of the parents. Comprising the coalition are Illinois Citizens for  
Life, Concerned Women for America, the Illinois Right to Life  
Committee, Life Advocacy Resource Project, Illinois Federation for  
Right to Life, Concerned Christian Americans, the Illinois Family  
Institute, Lutherans for Life, Inc., and the Catholic Conference Center  
of Illinois. The case is now pending before the Illinois appellate  
court.

Paul Linton is special counsel for the Thomas More Society of Chicago,  
which is representing the pro-life coalition. He says the trial judge  
was correct in concluding that the embryos were human beings under the  
state's wrongful death statute and should be protected by the law in  
the event of their destruction.

"Of course," Linton points out, "we want to maintain the standard that  
human life begins at conception -- understood as fertilization -- and  
not at a later stage of development, for example, where there is  
implantation."

[...]

The Center for Human Reproduction and the American Civil Liberties  
Union claim the wrongful death statute does not apply in this case, and  
that there is, therefore, no cause of action. However, the trial judge  
declared in his ruling that "there is no doubt in the mind of the  
Illinois legislature when life begins. It begins at conception."

The location of this suit is significant, Linton notes. "There are a  
handful of states – maybe seven or eight states -- that do not have any  
type of gestational requirements for wrongful death suits involving  
unborn children," he explains. "Illinois, however, is the only state  
where, in their wrongful death statute, they not only eliminate any  
gestational requirements, but also any developmental requirements," the  
attorney observes.

Thomas Brejcha, president and chief counsel for the Thomas More  
Society, told LifeNews.com in a statement that this wrongful death case  
is "the modern equivalent to Dred Scott in a petri dish." His remark  
refers to the 1857 U.S. Supreme Court decision that declared black  
slaves and slave descendents to be non-citizens who, as such, had no  
rights or protection under the law.

The crucial question in the present-day case, Brejcha contends, is  
whether the pre-implanted embryo is to be considered a human being or  
personal property. He says the Thomas More Society is in "full  
agreement" with Judge Lawrence that human life begins at conception and  
should be protected, and that the plaintiffs have the same right to  
seek compensation as any other parents whose child has been killed.

[More at URL]


----- 12 -----
Pro-Life Democrats Moving on Congressional and International Agenda
By Ed Thomas and Jenni Parker
November 28, 2006

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/11/afa/282006a.asp

(AgapePress) - Pro-life Democrats plan to test the waters in the 110th  
Congress by bringing up a measure for a vote at the start of the new  
session. The move, part of their "95-10" initiative to reduce the  
abortion rate by 95 percent in ten years, suggests a new attitude that  
assumes the new Democratic Party leadership is willing to include  
pro-life priorities in the House agenda.

[...]

Amnesty International Cautioned Against Supporting Pro-Abortion Proposal

Meanwhile, pro-lifers in Congress are taking measures to address  
sanctity-of-life issues on an international scale by going on record as  
opposing a proposal to expand the mandate of Amnesty International, a  
worldwide human rights advocacy group, to include supporting access to  
abortion under certain circumstances, such as in cases involving sexual  
violence. Recently, 73 members of the Pro-Life Congressional Caucus  
sent a letter to the executive director of the organization, urging it  
not to adopt this pro-abortion position.

[More at URL]


----- 13 -----
Naughty and Nice List Returns for Christmas 2006
CWA is making a list and checking it twice.
Concerned Women for America
11/28/2006
By Martha Kleder

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/11904/CWA/family/index.htm

Many retailers learned the hard way last year that it just doesn't pay  
to mess with Christmas. Target, Wal-Mart, Macy's and Sears are among  
the stores that made a mid-season shift from the generic "Happy  
Holidays" to "Merry Christmas." Concerned Women for America's Naughty  
and Nice list kicks off the 2006 Christmas season with many stores -  
previously on the "Naughty list" or in the ambiguous middle - now  
squarely in the "Nice" category.

[...]

Last year, the retail giant's seasonal advertising lacked the mention  
of Christmas, and store employees were initially told not to say "Merry  
Christmas." This year, the chain is encouraging associates to greet  
shoppers with a collection of holiday recognitions including "Merry  
Christmas," "Happy Holidays," "Happy Hanukkah," "Feliz Navidad," and  
"Happy Kwanzaa."

[...]

Scrooged
For a bit of contrast, please take note of Best Buy which has outright  
refused to acknowledge Christmas despite complaints from customers and  
a petition drive by the American Family Association.

Dawn Bryant, Best Buy Spokesman told Chicagoist, "We're going to  
continue to use the term 'holiday' because there are several holidays  
throughout that time period, and we certainly need to be respectful of  
all of them."

It is a sign of progress in this battle, however, that Best Buy is  
alone in making a public declaration that it will not be saying "Merry  
Christmas" in its advertising. While other Scrooge merchants are bound  
to be out there, they are keeping a low profile, hoping to catch as  
many Christmas shoppers as possible before they are found out.

[...]

Shoppers React
The groundswell of public discontent with the secularization of  
Christmas is not letting up, however. In Massachusetts, Robert and  
Kevin Marley have launched the Saving Christmas in Massachusetts  
effort, complete with a Web site tracking retail stores.

"We're taking back Christmas," Robert Marley told The Boston Herald.  
The Lynnfield, Massachusetts brothers will be picketing in front of  
local malls and stores that refuse to display or say "Merry Christmas."

"This year, I will not shop in any store that does not display the  
words 'Merry Christmas,'" Marley said. "Someone has to take a stand.  
We're going to get 'tolerated' right into hell," he added.

[More at URL]


----- 14 -----
Polyamory: Hot News for the Post, Archived News for CWA
CWA was years ahead of the times on this. Maybe one day the Post will  
catch up.
Concerned Women for America
11/27/2006
By Lindsay Randall

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/11896/CWA/family/index.htm

Conservatives have, for years, warned that the road to "same-sex  
marriage" was nothing more than a slippery slope that would, among  
other things, embolden polygamists to pursue the same rights to  
marriage that homosexuals currently seek. Well, it looks like we've  
begun to slide already.

In a front page Washington Post article on Tuesday, an "…estimated  
40,000 men, women and children in polygamous communities are part of a  
new movement to decriminalize bigamy."

While the Post treats this as hot news, it's old hat for the pro-family  
movement. As far back as 2001, CWA's Culture and Family Institute (CFI)  
was reporting on this movement. A CWA researcher attended the National  
Gay and Lesbian Task Force's annual "Creating Change" conference in  
2001 on behalf of CWA's Culture and Family Institute. She found that  
the "…'Sexual Politics' workshop was one of several dealing with the  
new frontiers of sexual and gender revolutionaries, including one panel  
on 'multiple-partner' relationships entitled 'Poly Wants More Than One  
Cracker: Polyamory in a Culture Dependent upon Coupledom.'"

[More at URL]


----- 15 -----
CWA Applauds O’Reilly’s Investigation of Tiller the Killer
Concerned Women for America
11/28/2006

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/11902/MEDIA/life/index.htm

Washington, D.C. –– Notorious late-term abortionist George Tiller is  
finally getting the national scrutiny and condemnation he deserves.  
Concerned Women for America (CWA) applauds Bill O’Reilly, host of FOX  
News’ O’Reilly Factor, for his year-long investigation of Dr. George  
Tiller, also known as “Tiller the Killer.”

[...]

CWA President Wendy Wright said, “We commend Bill O’Reilly for shining  
a spotlight on George Tiller. George Tiller has gotten away with mass  
murder, evaded state laws, possibly assisted rapists and built his own  
little Auschwitz in the heartland of America. It’s time for a thorough  
investigation of his records, clinic and staff.”

CWA State Director of Kansas Judy Smith said, “Dr. George Tiller has  
operated in the state of Kansas with impunity for years, safe from the  
scrutiny of the good people of Kansas because of the protection of some  
elected officials and the magnanimous indulgence of the Kansas press.  
The people of Kansas need to understand that Dr. Tiller brutally kills  
almost-born children for profit and that he is aided in this by certain  
unscrupulous lawmakers and the media. The time has come for the  
citizens of Kansas to demand an end to the blatant murder and sexual  
abuse of innocent children.”

[More at URL]


----- 16 -----
CWA Asks, “Is There No Room for Jesus in Chicago?”
Concerned Women for America
11/28/2006

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/11900/MEDIA/misc/index.htm

Washington, D.C. –– In a blatantly discriminatory attempt to remove  
“Christ” from Christmas, the city of Chicago has threatened to drop its  
support of the 11th German-American festival, Christkindlmarket, unless  
the New Line Cinema movie, “The Nativity Story” is removed as an  
official sponsor of the festival. “The Nativity Story” is a depiction  
of the historical and factual event which Christmas celebrates, the  
birth of Jesus Christ. The movie opens nationwide on December 1.

The city of Chicago claims that having this movie sponsor their  
festival would “be insensitive to the many people of different faiths  
who come to enjoy the market for its food and unique gifts.” Cindy  
Gatziolis, a spokeswoman for the Mayor's Office of Special Events  
acknowledged there is a nativity scene, but also said there will be  
representations of other faiths, including a Jewish menorah, all put up  
by private groups. She stressed that the city did not order organizers  
to drop the studio as a sponsor.

[More at URL]


----- 17 -----
Not Much Thanksgiving for Episcopalians
Concerned Women for America
11/23/2006
By Mark Tooley

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/11888/CWA/misc/index.htm

Supposedly, it was Anglicans in Virginia who celebrated the First  
Thanksgiving rather than Puritan Congregationalists in Massachusetts.

Steadfast Virginians believe that the first celebratory autumn feast  
was held at Berkeley Plantation in 1619, where 38 men just arrived from  
England knelt on the banks of the James River. They declared: "Wee  
ordaine that the day of our ships arrivall at the place assigned for  
plantacon in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually keept  
holy as a day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God."

[...]

Undoubtedly, the 2003 election of the Episcopal Church's first openly  
homosexual bishop has accelerated that denomination's decline, with  
increasing numbers of conservative church members giving up and walking  
out. Perhaps those Episcopalians who become Catholic or Baptist will  
soon thereafter become more procreative.

But the remnant Episcopalians under the pastorship of Presiding Bishop  
Schori no doubt will hold fast to their noble environmental stewardship  
and maintain a steady, and eco-friendly, downward membership spiral. A  
good model for the Episcopalians might be the Shakers, the early  
American sect that foreswore all procreation. Like Episcopalians, the  
Shakers lived in tasteful and tidy villages, ate plain food, wore all  
natural fibers, and had nice furniture. The Shakers also had a female  
leader, "Mother" Ann Lee. Like Bishop Schori, Mother Lee took a dim  
view of heterosexual couples marrying and having children.

[...]

But eventually, the Shakers aversion to procreation caught up with them  
and they were dying out by the end of the 19th century. Today, most  
Shaker villages are museums or private homes, just as many venerable  
old Episcopal churches have become restaurants or condominiums for  
yuppies. A few eccentric Shakers still survive, making baskets and  
furniture, and keeping the old ways alive. Some day in future decades,  
if Bishop Schori is completely successful, the Episcopal Church  
similarly will have reduced to a dozen or so well-heeled adherents.  
They too will be objects of pleasant curiosity, attracting tourists to  
their tidy, ivy-covered tudor homes and well-stocked wine closets.

[More at URL]


----- 18 -----
It's Okay to Say Merry Christmas!
CWA joins fourth annual Christmas project.
Concerned Women for America
11/22/2006
By Jan LaRue, Chief Counsel

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/11879/LEGAL/freedom/index.htm

Picture it. Snow is falling and the fireplace is aglow. You're warm and  
comfy in your favorite easy chair sipping a cup of hot cider. The  
chords of a timeless tune begin to warm your heart:

'm dreaming of a whatever
Just like the ones I've come to know
Where officials chicken and lawyers quicken
To file lawsuits for the dough

I'm dreaming of a whatever
With every fuzzy card I write
May your days be neutral and vague
And may all your whatevers be trite

[More at URL]


----- 19 -----
Pro-Family Group Says It's Time to Take a Stand as Wal-Mart Chooses  
Sides
Wal-Mart: Will low prices be joined by low moral standards?
Concerned Women for America
11/21/2006
By Colleen Raezler

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/11882/CWA/family/index.htm

UPDATE: Concerned Women for America (CWA) applauds the American Family  
Association (AFA) for securing such a quick response from Wal-Mart  
regarding its promotion of homosexuality.

In response to AFA's planned boycott of Wal-Mart stores this weekend,  
the corporation announced Tuesday afternoon that it "will no longer  
make corporate contributions to support or oppose controversial issues  
unless they directly relate to their ability to serve their customers."

Viewing the Wal-Mart statement as a promise of neutrality, AFA has  
called off the boycott in which 400,000 families pledged to take part.

This is a step in the right direction for pro-family values. However,  
the bulleted items in the section below still hold true. Nothing in the  
Wal-Mart statement indicates otherwise. Therefore, clarification is  
needed. How does Wal-Mart serve its customers? By providing low prices  
or forcing "diversity" upon its employees?

The American Family Association (AFA) has asked Christmas shoppers to  
avoid Wal-Mart and Sam's Club this weekend. According to an e-mail sent  
to its members, 400,000 families have agreed to spend their Christmas  
dollars elsewhere.

Wal-Mart has shown time and time again who it values as customers, and  
it's not traditional families.

AFA reports that:

* Wal-Mart gave $60,000 to homosexual groups to support the homosexual  
agenda in the workplace.

* Wal-Mart made a generous donation to the Northwest Arkansas Gay,  
Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center.

* Wal-Mart willingly asked, and received, permission to join the Gay &  
Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.

* Wal-Mart hosted a homosexual ad agency at its headquarters for a  
two-day seminar to force employees to accept homosexuality in the work  
place.

* Last March, Wal-Mart prominently displayed Brokeback Mountain in its  
stores and offered advanced ordering for this movie. The  
family-friendly Chronicles of Narnia, which was released the very same  
day as Brokeback Mountain, was not promoted.

* Finally, Wal-Mart sells over 1700 items related to homosexuality,  
including books with titles such as What God Has Joined Together: The  
Christian Case for Gay Marriage and Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for  
Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America.

"Wal-Mart is playing both ends against the middle by promoting  
'Christmas' while contributing millions to homosexual causes," said Jan  
LaRue, CWA's Chief Counsel. "It may seem smart to those on the top  
floor at Wal-Mart, but it won't play well with folks in the heartland  
who won't discount Christ."

[More at URL]


----- 20 -----
Why Worry about a Radical Group in the Netherlands?
Concerned Women for America
11/22/2006
By Janice Shaw Crouse

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/11891/BLI/dotcommentary/index.htm

Fortunately, a radical group in the Netherlands was unable to gather  
enough signatures to run for a seat in the Dutch parliament. The fringe  
political party is called PNVD, a Dutch acronym that stands for  
“brotherly love, freedom and diversity.” What they really stand for is  
a wide range of morally-unacceptable behaviors –– pedophilia,  
bestiality, child pornography, child drug use, having adults teach a  
child how to have sex and lowering the age of sexual consent to age 12.

[...]

We have seen with the “pro-choice” arguments of those who favor  
abortion that the unthinking public responds very favorably to the idea  
that people ought to be able to do whatever they choose to do and that  
their personal choices have inherent validity and goodness. We must  
take every opportunity to repudiate such thinking and help people  
recognize that there are good outcomes and well-being for those who are  
willing to exercise the discipline and restraint required by the  
tried-and-true moral, ethical and spiritual boundaries of our  
Judeo-Christian heritage.

Such boundaries especially protect our children and ensure that they  
will be nurtured and blessed by moral and Biblical instruction, so that  
they will have an opportunity to choose for themselves whom they will  
serve –– whether God or mammon.

[More at URL]


----- 21 -----
Culture-war veterans hold fire, for now
The Hill
By Elana Schor

http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/112906/ 
culture.html

After a long battle with conservatives on social issues and judicial  
nominations, Democratic-aligned interest groups are hailing the coming  
congressional changeover and weighing exactly how and when to exert  
their influence.

Republican control of the Capitol may have forced abortion-rights and  
civil-liberties advocates to play perpetual defense, but those  
wilderness years also gave the groups valuable practice at building  
coalitions across the aisle and branding themselves as more mainstream  
than their conservative counterparts.

[...]

On gay-rights issues, such as employment non-discrimination and  
expansion of the hate-crimes law, Human Rights Campaign President Joe  
Solmonese took a respectful view of the long to-do list facing his  
Democratic allies.

“One of the most important things we can do is be sensitive to the fact  
that the new leadership in this Congress, [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi  
[D-Calif.] and Reid, have a huge responsibility to speak to the issues  
the American people couldn’t have been clearer about in putting them  
there: the war in Iraq and corruption in government,” Solmonese said.

Though the gay community might see its issues move lower on the  
priority list, Solmonese said, such pragmatism is a small price to pay  
to end the Republicans’ prolonged attacks on gay marriage. The page he  
plans to borrow from conservative groups’ playbook: “Be really smart  
and be really strategic.”

[More at URL]


----- 22 -----
Mexico: 'SI' to gay civil union
CNN International
POSTED: 0810 GMT (1610 HKT), November 10, 2006

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/11/10/mexico.gay.ap/

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexico City's assembly on Thursday passed  
legislation to legally recognize gay civil unions in the capital, the  
first such vote by a legislative body in the history of the  
conservative, predominantly Roman Catholic country.

Mexico City Mayor Alejandro Encinas has spoken in favor of the bill and  
was expected to sign it into law, while at least one conservative  
non-governmental group said it was considering seeking a court  
injunction against the measure.

The bill, which would not approve gay marriage, allows same-sex couples  
to register their union with civil authorities, granting them  
inheritance rights and other benefits typically given to spouses.  
Heterosexual couples who are not legally married can also be registered  
under the bill.

[...]

The bill has been severely criticized by the Catholic Church and  
conservative civil groups in the country, which is 90 percent Roman  
Catholic. The Mexican Council of Bishops has said the law is the first  
step toward legalizing gay marriage and adoption by gays, while the  
conservative National Parents Union has characterized it as "aberrant."

[More at URL]


----- 23 -----
The Confession
Have same-sex-marriage advocates said too much?
By Stanley Kurtz
Posted: Wednesday, November 1, 2006

ARTICLE
National Review Online
Publication Date: October 31, 2006

http://www.eppc.org/publications/pubID.2741/pub_detail.asp

Suppose a large group of same-sex-marriage activists came together and  
made the following confession to a group of same-sex-marriage skeptics:

"Look, we're going to level with you in a way that we haven't up to  
now. We all support same-sex marriage, but for many -- even most -- of  
us, gay marriage isn't an end in itself. It's a way-station on the path  
to a post-marriage society. We want a wide range of diverse families --  
even 'polyamorous' groupings of three or more partners -- to have the  
same recognition, rights, and benefits as heterosexual married couples.  
In short, your worst fears are justified. The radical redefinition of  
marriage you've been worried about for so long is exactly what we want.

"Oh sure, some of us are more radical than others. But even the most  
committed and prominent mainstream advocates of same-sex marriage  
largely support a radical family agenda. A few advocates who back a  
'conservative' interpretation of same-sex marriage may regularly engage  
you in debate, yet their views carry relatively little weight within  
the gay community. Some of these 'conservative' supporters of same-sex  
marriage have claimed that there is no significant political  
constituency for polygamy-polyamory, or for a general legal  
deconstruction of marriage. That's just wrong. As gay marriage gains  
acceptance, we're going to have a polygamy-polyamory debate in this  
country. And among those sponsoring that debate will be many of the  
very same people and groups who’ve already pushed for same-sex  
marriage.

"So why haven't we told you all this before? Simple. We've been  
censoring ourselves for fear of scaring away public support for  
same-sex marriage. You see, it's all about timing. Our plan is to  
establish same-sex marriage first, and then, as our next step, to  
demand that the rights and benefits of marriage be accorded to all  
types of families. After all, when the call for yet another radical  
redefinition of marriage comes from married same-sex couples, it's  
going to be that much more persuasive. Up to now, truth to tell, if any  
same-sex marriage backers pushed this radical agenda in public, we  
pressured them to keep silent. But now we're telling you the truth.

[More at URL]


----- 24 -----
The Confession II
"Conservative" proponents of same-sex marriage are about to overtaken  
by radicals.
By Stanley Kurtz
Posted: Wednesday, November 1, 2006

ARTICLE
National Review Online
Publication Date: November 1, 2006

http://www.eppc.org/publications/pubID.2742/pub_detail.asp

In his well-received 1997 book on the AIDS crisis, Sexual Ecology,  
journalist Gabriel Rotello said:

The anti-marriage sentiment in the gay and lesbian political world has  
abated in recent years, and the legalization of same-sex marriage is  
now an accepted focus of gay liberation. Yet it is rarely posed as a  
major issue of AIDS prevention. Prevention activists generally don't  
include marriage as a goal because they generally don't include  
monogamy as a goal....such advocates are generally careful not to make  
the case for marriage, but simply for the right to marriage....This is  
undoubtedly good practical politics, since many if not most of the  
major gay and lesbian organizations who have signed on to the fight for  
same-sex marriage would instantly sign off at any suggestion that they  
were actually encouraging gay men and lesbians to marry. (pp. 256-257)

According to Rotello, then, many or most gay-marriage activists have a  
decidedly un-conservative view of marriage itself. But if gay-marriage  
advocates actually reject monogamous marriage as a family ideal, what  
sort of families do they favor instead?

[More at URL]


----- 25 -----
Sales slow for controversial morning-after pill, Plan B
Sunday, November 26, 2006
BY SUSAN TODD
Star-Ledger Staff

http://www.nj.com/business/ledger/index.ssf?/base/business-0/ 
1164519562266570.xml&coll=1

When it comes to contracep tives, controversy may not drive sales.

Case in point: Plan B.

After years of debate about whether it should be sold without a  
prescription, the morning-after pill was hardly flying off the shelves  
during its first weeks on sale as an over-the-counter product.

Stop & Shop Supermarket said its 50 New Jersey pharmacies reported just  
three sales of the over- the-counter product the first week. "We expect  
that number to go up," company spokesman Robert Keane said. "Some  
people still don't know it's available."

While Plan B has been sold in the United States since 1998 to women  
with prescriptions from their doctors, it wasn't until August, after  
years of political wrang ling, that the Food and Drug Administration  
approved it for over- the-counter sales to women who are at least 18  
years old. Younger women still need a prescription.

"I think this is what happens when something gets picked up as a policy  
issue," said Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America in  
Washington, D.C. "It became much more of a political issue rather than  
a fundamental issue of whether there will be demand or whether it even  
works."

[More at URL]


----- 26 -----
Pro-Life Groups Support Illinois Parents' Wrongful Embryo Death Lawsuit
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 21, 2006

http://www.lifenews.com/bio1873.html

Chicago, IL (LifeNews.com) -- Several pro-life organizations have filed  
legal briefs in support of a lawsuit filed by Illinois parents in  
connection with an in vitro fertilization clinic's destruction of their  
human embryos. The lawsuit is one of the first of its kind in which a  
fertility clinic is under fire for destroying human embryos without the  
consent of the parents.

Alison Miller and Todd Parrish filed a lawsuit against the Center for  
Human Reproduction (CHR) in Chicago over the wrongful death of their  
frozen embryos.

[...]

"This case is the modern equivalent to Dred Scott in a petri dish. We  
are in full agreement with Judge Lawrence that human life begins at  
conception and should be protected," he added.

While the ACLU has filed briefs against the lawsuit claiming that  
Lawrence’s allowance for wrongful death is “not medically accurate,"  
the pro-life legal brief says “The Illinois General Assembly’s  
definition of conception...is accurate according to traditional and  
contemporary medical usage."

Lawrence said in his decision that “a pre-embryo is a ‘human being’ ...  
whether or not it is implanted in its mother's womb."

[More at URL]


----- 27 -----
NJ Lawmaker Pushes For Traditional Marriage Definition
By Monisha Bansal
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
November 29, 2006

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200611/ 
NAT20061129a.html

(CNSNews.com) - A New Jersey state senator is pushing for a  
constitutional amendment that will limit marriage to a union between  
one man and one woman.

Republican Gerald Cardinale's move follows a New Jersey Supreme Court  
ruling that gave the state's legislature six months to allow same-sex  
couples to "marry" or to enter into civil unions that hold the same  
legal benefits as marriage.

"The court does not have the authority - as I read the constitution -  
to order the legislature to pass a bill," Cardinale said. "They can do  
a lot of things, but they are not the whole government."

"We're dealing with a decision of the New Jersey Supreme Court, and the  
court has indicated that we need to do certain things within a certain  
period of time, so I thought this was a good thing to do in response to  
the court decision."

Cardinale told Cybercast News Service that the proposed amendment would  
"clearly set forth that marriage is a term, or a state, that can only  
be applied to a union of one man and one woman, and add that to our  
constitution so that it is not subject to the vagaries of the personal  
biases of a judge's decision in the future."

[More at URL]


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