[Active-l] (NEWS) Caught up: Today's Second Cultural Warfare Update

Wed Nov 29 16:20:50 PST 2006

Faith and Freedom Network: polygamists take cue from same-sex  
marriage-rights effort - so, of course, they blame the gays;

FFN does its share of War on Christmas bullshit; also, they've got a  
big defense of the culture war up, la;

FFN ACTION ITEM to thank Wal-Mart for their statement distancing  
themselves from the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and  
other "controversial" groups;

FFN criticises ABC for not following the fundamentalist "abortion  
causes breast cancer, sterility, and depression" theocon line;

Focus on the Family Canada article saying sex education is a failure;

Canada Family Action Coalition condemns Wal-Mart, congratulates the  
AFA, over dealing with GBLT business groups; it looks like they're  
adopting wholesale the American theoconservative line that the only way  
to be "neutral" in the "culture war" is to not acknowledge GBLT people  
in any way in business or as employees;

CFAC says marriage rights for lesbian and gay couples are the same as  
"incestuous relations, man-boy sex orgies, [and] animal-human  
weddings";

***** CFAC: children demand opposite-sex marriage only; article says  
Canada needs a _Consitutional amendment against same-sex marriage_;  
I've seen plenty of calls to overturn C-38, this is the first time I've  
seen a demand for an amendment against it;

CFAC prints a column saying essentially that if you can't discriminate  
against queers, you can't really be Christian and are being religiously  
oppressed;

CFAC rails against Ottawa school assignment because it involved about  
writing about anti-GBLT prejudices which the parents support;

CFAC blames GBLT people for paedophilia, says acceptance of GBLT people  
is leading to more of it;

Institute for Marriage and Family Canada (a Focus on the Family  
project) anti-abortion article in the National Post;

Traditional Values Coalition: "Atheism Has Fueled Greatest Mass Murders  
In World History";

TVC links to WorldNetDaily article on the effort by fundamentalist  
leaders across the board to prevent Senator Obama from speaking to Rick  
Warren's megachurch congregation in California;

Family Research Council editorial in Louisiana building groundwork for  
another run at changing civil rights law so that losers in civil rights  
law cases involving religious establishment and discrimination no  
longer have to pay court fees; they're attempting to portray existing  
practice as corrupt, a method to fund the ACLU on taxpayer dollars:  
"Millions of taxpayer dollars enriches the ACLU's $150 million annual  
budget annually. It is then used to attack the remaining vestiges of  
Christianity and morality in America." I particularly like that  
"remaining vestiges of Christianity and morality in America" part.  
Gosh, aren't Christians 90% of the population? Oh wait, you mean  
_Christian law_;

Family Research Council: don't blame "social conservatives" for big  
spending (and please ignore that we furiously backed Mr. Bush  
throughout his insane spending spree, with many of our rank-and-file  
saying things like Jesus put him into office); says GOP corruption and  
Iraq caused the election loss, not gaybashing - America likes the  
gaybashing and we should do more of it, because that's what God wants  
anyway. Oh, and judges are activists and horrible and the judiciary  
needs to be reigned in.

----- 1 -----
Polygamists and Gay Marriage Link
Faith and Freedom Network
Wednesday, November 29, 2006

http://www.faithandfreedom.us/weblog/2006/11/polygamists-and-gay- 
marriage-link.html

A little more than a year ago, people who should have know better, were  
scoffing publicly at the notion that there was any linkage between a  
new and energized effort to legalize polygamy and the gay rights effort  
to legalize gay marriage.

Now, we are being told that indeed, the polygamists are getting  
traction and making progress.

The Washington Post in reporting that the effort to “mainstream”  
polygamy is taking on a whole new look with it’s own new vernacular of  
words like, “sister-wives,” “plural marriages” and “plural wife.” The  
Post is also reporting that they are, “consciously taking tactics from  
the gay-rights movement” as they reframe their struggle, choosing in  
interviews to de-emphasize their religious beliefs and focus on their  
desire to live “in freedom.”

[More at URL]

----- 2 -----
Merry Christmas ... An Intrusion?
Faith and Freedom Network
Tuesday, November 28, 2006

http://www.faithandfreedom.us/weblog/2006/11/merry-christmas- 
intrusion.html

The Seattle P.I. columnist Joel Connelly wrote last Friday, “As we try  
to respect one another’s beliefs, noisy people keep intruding – they  
proclaim a ‘War on Christmas,’ force retailers to put ‘Merry Christmas’  
in advertising and then proclaim that they’ve rescued the manger.”

Mr. Connelly is clearly reacting to Bill O’Reilly’s book, “Culture  
Warrior” and in a more general sense to Fox News.

I agree with the columnist that Christmas is about the heart and that  
proper preparation for the coming of Christ should include reading,  
meditation or listening to appropriate music. I also agree that Jesus  
taught the virtue and blessing of being a peacemaker.

Mr. Connelly makes his own personal point by quoting Dr. Alan Wolfe, a  
political science professor at Boston College who recently wrote, “From  
stem cell research to alleged plots against Christmas, culture war  
issues have more to do with the policies of advocacy groups than they  
do with the politics of ordinary Americans.” The columnist then says,  
“The notion of a ‘culture war’ was first ginned up to rouse the troops  
as the first Bush Presidency faced defeat in 1992.”

With this, I strongly disagree.

[More at URL]

----- 3 -----
We Are Thankful
Faith and Freedom Network
Monday, November 27, 2006

http://www.faithandfreedom.us/weblog/2006/11/we-are-thankful.html

This past week was a time to reflect and give thanks for so much on a  
personal level. And we did.

We also received several email messages for which we are thankful.

This past week Wal-Mart, in an official statement, began to distance  
itself from organizations that support “highly controversial issues”  
such as same-sex marriage.

Wal-Mart had been criticized for making a $60,000 donation to Out and  
Equal, an organization for homosexual employees which deals with  
workplace issues, but also supports changing the definition of  
marriage. The company also had joined the Gay and Lesbian Chamber of  
Commerce for $25,000 a year.

The Wal-Mart executive who served as the company’s representative to  
the Chamber has resigned and left and Wal-Mart announced that person  
would not be replaced.

Wal-Mart said, “Going forward, we’ll be looking differently at  
organizations we donate to. There are some areas we need to get  
corrected and that is what we’re focused on.”

If you would like to thank Wal-Mart, you can click here.

[More at URL]

----- 4 -----
Did ABC News Get It Wrong?
Faith and Freedom Network
Tuesday, November 21, 2006

http://www.faithandfreedom.us/weblog/2006/11/did-abc-news-get-it- 
wrong.html

In what appeared to be following the lead of abortion groups, ABC news  
reporter, Dan Harris, wrote an article last Thursday saying that  
induced abortion has no link to various confirmed medical risks. (To  
read ABC article, click here).

He said that crisis pregnancy centers are “offering information long  
discredited by the medical community.” He also said, “The centers  
harass and mislead women by telling them … that abortions can lead to  
breast cancer, sterility and depression.”

I personally spoke to Dan Harris last night at ABC in New York and  
asked him about his claims.

He reiterated that all the studies that are used to support the fact  
that woman often suffer medical and psychological consequences  
following an abortion have been discredited.

[More at URL]

----- 5 -----
Sex education program a failure: study
Today’s Family News
Focus on the Family Canada
November 29, 2006

http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/sexuality/stories/112906.html

An “enhanced” British sex education program that involves teaching  
15-year-olds how to use condoms and contact “sexual health” services  
through role play and games has failed to reduce the rate of teen  
pregnancies and abortions, the Daily Telegraph reported.

When comparing conception rates among students who had been part of the  
program known as Share with those who had received conventional sex  
education lessons, researchers found no difference between the two  
groups.

Valerie Riches, the president of Family and Youth Concern, hailed the  
findings as “a crushing blow to the whole sex education campaign.”

“We are constantly told that children need more and more sex education,  
and what this shows us is that it is ineffective,” Riches told the  
Daily Telegraph.

While expressing disappointment over some of the results, lead  
researcher Dr. Marion Henderson appeared to agree.

“It may be,” she said, “that we have already seen the limits of what  
sex education can achieve and need to look wider at parenting and the  
culture in which children grow up.”

[More at URL]

----- 6 -----
ACTION ALERT Memo
Canada Family Action Coalition
Online as of 29 November 2006

http://www.familyaction.org/Articles/issues/sexuality/walmart-update.htm

Thanks to our friends south of the 49, there is a change! If Wal-Mart  
lives up to its announcement.

There is a lesson in this for all corporate operators, including Ford,  
Royal bank and now even TD Bank in Canada. Be neutral at minimum on  
controversial issues. Or pay the financial price.

However the fact that Wal Mart made the decision to fund and celebrate  
homosexual behavior in the first place has caused me to make a decision  
– I do not enter a Wal Mart store any longer. I don’t go to Canadian  
Tire stores any longer either, nor do I bank at Royal. And I am in the  
process of removing all my baking from TD.

-- Brian Rushfeldt

[More at URL]

----- 7 -----
Polygamy - an equality issue?
Canada Family Action Coalition
Online as of 29 November 2006

http://www.familyaction.org/Articles/issues/family/marriage/polygamy- 
equality.htm

Just like homosexuals polygamists will and can argue that they must be  
treated equally to the term and status of marriage. And since the  
hazardous Bill C 39 passed by the Liberal government just 17 months ago  
we could se the next challenge unfold very soon.

Mainstream - well if homosexuality and polygamy is mainstream then what  
is NOT? Polygamy, bigamy, polyandry, group marriages, incestuous  
relations, man-boy sex orgies, animal-human weddings, and don't imagine  
too wildly - some one just might call for such laws to protect it in  
Canada.

[More at URL]

----- 8 -----
If children were considered - marriage their way
Canada Family Action Coalition
Online as of 29 November 2006

http://www.familyaction.org/Articles/issues/family/marriage/if- 
children.htm

This article highlights so many salient points and calls for what  
Canada needs - a Constitutional guarantee for marriage in the best  
interests of children and society. Adult selfishness has got in the way  
of reason, nature, and civility.

-- CFAC

Letters: Tomorrow's children would tell us the truth	
Andrew Bateman, His People Church
Cape Argus - November 16, 2006
Original Article

If tomorrow's children could speak today, we would hear: "Please do all  
you can to make our mommies and daddies love us and each other."

The response of Vista Kalip of the Triangle Project ("Prejudice is  
biggest issue facing same-sex parents") managed to obscure certain  
facts in my piece "Children will be the losers if the law is changed".

The French court permitted a lesbian mother to delegate her parental  
responsibility for her "fatherless", vulnerable child to her partner.  
French law certainly does not promote same-sex families that by their  
definition deny children either a father or a mother.

[More at URL]

----- 9 -----
Excluding Christians
Canada Family Action Coalition
Straight thoughts 148, From FCP Ontario
By Giuseppe Gori, November 29, 2006

http://www.familyaction.org/Articles/issues/freedoms/religious/ 
excluding-christians.htm

According to Canadian court rulings, if you are a Christian you cannot  
work in one of the following professions without compromising your  
beliefs.

You cannot be:

A Policeman: David Packer was fired from the Toronto police force  
because he respectfully asked another assignment, in place of guarding  
an abortion clinic.

A Teacher: British Columbia Chris Kempling lost his job for writing  
letters to the Editor, in his own time, explaining how homosexuals can  
be helped to change their orientation.

A University professor: David Mullan was fined by Cape Breton  
University, Nova Scotia, for expressing his views on homosexual  
behaviour.

[More at URL]

----- 10 -----
Bigoted Ottawa high school
Canada Family Action Coalition
29 November 2006

http://www.familyaction.org/Articles/issues/freedoms/religious/bigoted- 
school.htm

And this is to encourage Canadian literature writing abilities? What  
kind of skills and mindset does Carlton want from its “graduates”. If  
any of this information is misconstrued I challenge Carlton to correct  
me.

-- CFAC comments

A 16 yr. old girl in grade 10, attending an Ottawa Carlton High School  
was recently given a 'hot writing' assignment by her teacher in her  
Canadian Literature Class. The assignment, shown below, was to choose  
one line and write about it for ten minutes. (( list topics below ))

In this case, the smart girl brought the paper home to show her  
parents. The parents had a meeting with the teacher, principal and two  
vice-principals to explain their beliefs, how they were bringing up  
their children and that they thought the assignment was wrong. The  
principal, with the backing of the others, told the parents that they  
would not allow them to use the term 'wrong' in his school. (( what an  
example of tolerance , diversity and understanding this guy sets for  
student!!!!)).

[More at URL]

----- 11 -----
Protection of kids at risk?
Canada Family Action Coalition
November 20, 2006

http://www.familyaction.org/Articles/issues/child/pedophilia/ 
protection-of-kids-at-risk.htm

The article below raises concerns. This cop is the leading officer on  
child protection. Sorry kids, no protection from guys with warped  
ideologies like Terry Grange. Lets hope the police in Canada have a  
more caring and moral foundation than him.

Pedophilia ideology has spread and is becoming more “acceptable” in a  
very small minority circle. The only people who would want sex with  
children are predators with mentally ill minds. But let's not think of  
this as a disease, it is a conscious decision to have sex with minors.  
So lets have laws that protect children and prosecute perverts. And  
let's require of our police, judges and prosecutors to uphold the law -  
not decide what they want law to be.

-- CFAC

Normalizing Pedophilia Continues: UK Police Chief Says 13-Year-Old in  
Porn Not Child Porn

By John-Henry Westen
LONDON, November 20, 2006
(LifeSiteNews.com)

Terry Grange, the leading officer on child protection of the UK's  
Association of Chief Police Officers' has ignited controversy by  
commenting in an interview with The Sunday Times that pornography  
featuring children at 13 years of age should not be considered child  
porn. Grange also said that the term "pedophiles" should only apply to  
adults who have sex with 12 and under.

[More at URL]

----- 12 -----
The hidden cost of 'choice'
National Post
Tuesday, November 7, 2006
by Andrea Mrozek, Manager of Research and Communications at IMFCanada.

http://www.imfcanada.org/article_files/Mrozek%20Op- 
Ed,%20National%20Post,%20Nov%207,%202006%20- 
%20Hidden%20Cost%20of%20Choice.pdf

In Canada, having an abortion is supposed to be all about "choice." A  
woman's health after she exercises  that choice is a subject no one  
wants to talk about.

But things are different in other countries. On Oct. 27, 15 prominent  
signatories wrote a letter to the  editor of the Times of London. The  
group included a past president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.   
Others were some of the top general practitioners, psychiatrists and  
obstetricians and gynecologists in  the country. They asked the  
official bodies regulating obstetricians and psychiatrists to revise  
their  guidance on abortion as it pertains to mental health in young  
women.

Why? The group referenced a longitudinal study done in New Zealand and  
published in the January  edition of the Journal of Child Psychology  
and Psychiatry indicating that young women who have had  abortions  
exhibit twice the level of mental health problems, and three times the  
risk of depression, as  those who had given birth or never been  
pregnant. According to the letter in the Times, "Since women  having  
abortions can no longer be said to have a low risk of suffering from  
psychiatric conditions such as  depression, doctors have a duty to  
advise about long-term adverse psychological consequences of   
abortion."

[More at URL]

----- 13 -----
Atheism Has Fueled Greatest Mass Murders In World History
By Rev. Louis P. Sheldon
Chairman, Traditional Values Coalition
Online as of 29 November 2006

http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2943

As we approach Christmas, the one day a year that we set aside to  
celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are hearing noises  
among intellectuals and rock stars about the “dangers” of Christianity  
to world peace and cultural tolerance.

The most recent attack on organized religion came from homosexual rock  
star Sir Elton John, who thinks that organized religion—specifically  
Christianity—turns people into “hateful lemmings.” According to John,  
“I think religion has always tried to turn hatred towards gay people.  
Religion promotes the hatred and spite against gays.” His solution:  
“ban religion completely, even though there are some wonderful things  
about it.”

Atheist Richard Dawkins, writing in his new book, “The God Delusion,”  
claims that many of the world’s conflicts around the world are due to  
the murderous religious impulses. Columnist Robert Kuttner claims that  
“The Crusades slaughtered millions in the name of Jesus. The  
Inquisition brought the torture and murder of millions more. After  
Martin Luther, Christians did bloody battle with other Christians for  
another three centuries.”

[More at URL]

----- 14 -----
Christian leaders to Warren: Keep Obama from pulpit
Argue Democrat senator's support for abortion incompatible with Bible
Posted: November 28, 2006
12:10 p.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53134

Christian leaders from across a wide spectrum of theologies and  
missions are rising up together to urge Saddleback Church pastor Rick  
Warren to rescind an invitation to Sen. Barack Obama to speak from  
Warren's pulpit.

The Illinois Democrat, an enthusiastic supporter of abortion, is  
scheduled to speak at a seminar Dec. 1 called, "We Must Work Together"  
at Warren's 30,000-member California church. The seminar is about  
coordinating efforts to address the AIDS crisis worldwide.

"You cannot fight one evil while justifying another," a joint statement  
from dozens of leaders of Christian groups said in condemning Obama's  
support for abortion and Warren's support for Obama.

[...]

"Having Sen. Barack Obama speak on issues of social justice is like  
having a segregationist speak on civil rights. Mr. Obama supports  
partial-birth abortion and has voted against bills prohibiting  
taxpayers paying for abortion. It is hypocritical at best for him to  
speak out against the horror of AIDS on children and then support  
abortion which has killed 50,000,000 children in America alone,"  
Mahoney said.

The Who's Who list of names joining in the call to Warren included  
Phyllis Schlafly of Eagle Forum, Judy Brown of American Life League,  
Tim Wildmon of American Family Association, Joe Scheidler of Pro-Life  
Action League, Cheryl Sullenger of Operation Rescue, Peter LaBarbera of  
Americans for Truth, Ken Silva of Apprising Ministries, Chris  
Rosebrough of Capo Valley Church in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., Kevin  
McCullough of WMCA Radio, Ingrid Schlueter of Crosstalk Radio, Vic  
Eliason of VCY American Radio Network and Cal Zastrow of Christian  
Action for the Preborn and others.

[More at URL]

----- 15 -----
Let ACLU protest on its own dime
This op-ed originally appeared in the Shreveport Times on November 25,  
2006.
by: Tony Perkins
29 November 2006

http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PV06K06&f=PG03I03

As one who worked in the relief efforts in Louisiana following  
Hurricane Katrina, I continue to be inspired by the thousands of  
Americans whose selfless generosity helped many of our battered  
families. There is a dark side, however, to the Katrina recovery  
effort.

Daily headlines remind us of some who seek to enrich themselves at the  
expense of others. Estimates of fraudulent expenditures are more than  
$2 billion. Fortunately, for taxpayers, nearly 335 people have been  
charged, with 7,000 active investigations ongoing.

Despite little tolerance for crooked contracting in government, there  
seems to be indifference to similar misconduct on the courts. What  
difference is there between a government employee who gives tax money  
to a former business partner and a judge who does the same? In short,  
the former is a crime, while the latter is an apparent benefit of the  
bench.

[...]

In her ruling, Berrigan declared that all prayer had to cease both on  
and off school property. Later, the ACLU discovered two incidents where  
students exercised their free speech rights and prayed during  
school-sponsored events away from school property.

Berrigan hauled the School Board back into court, declaring they had  
violated her order. She then ruled as a penalty that they had to pay  
the legal fees of the ACLU.

Unfortunately, this is not a rare occurrence. Millions of taxpayer  
dollars enriches the ACLU's $150 million annual budget annually. It is  
then used to attack the remaining vestiges of Christianity and morality  
in America.

[...]

There is hope on the horizon. Rep. John Hostettler and Sen. Sam  
Brownback have introduced desperately needed legislation in Congress,  
HR 2679 and SB 3696, which will prevent the courts from further  
plundering the public purse for the enrichment of organizations like  
the ACLU.

The free market place of ideas should include the views of all  
Americans, and if the ACLU doesn't like that, it can protest on its own  
dime. It is time to end this Katrina-type abuse in the courts and to  
protect religious liberties in America.

[More at URL]

----- 16 -----
Armey Attacks
This op-ed originally appeared in The Weekly Standard on November 22,  
2006.by: Chuck Donovan
Family Research Council

http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PV06K05

The depth of Republican losses on November 7 has prompted some  
thoughtful reflections, but it has also caused some needless, and  
potentially damaging, finger-pointing and handwringing. Former House  
Majority Leader Dick Armey, who has broad support among both social and  
economic conservatives, has been welcomed to various editorial pages  
with the message that Congressional leaders who devoted attention to  
"wedge" issues like same-sex marriage not only cost the GOP its Hill  
majorities, but somehow betrayed the Reagan Revolution.

Curiously, Armey's long editorials have largely focused on excoriating  
the House and Senate GOP for abandoning Republican principles on  
spending restraint, including such issues as the corruption-tainted  
earmarking process. Armey offers not the slightest explanation of how  
traditional (now squared or cubed in volume) pork barreling by GOP  
incumbents correlates with the social conservative agenda. Indeed, most  
social conservative groups either formally or informally eschew  
government subsidies and many, like the Family Research Council, have  
long criticized earmarking and supported budget reformers like Sen. Tom  
Coburn of Oklahoma.

[...]

Did the 109th Congress spend too much time on these issues? It is  
inconceivable that less than one week combined of House and Senate  
debate on the protection of marriage over the past two years produced  
the distraction Armey cites. With a third of American children born  
out-of-wedlock every year, a strong case can be made that this Congress  
spent far too little time debating measures to increase the stability  
and longevity of marriage. In any event, it is difficult to see how  
debate on an issue supported by a clear majority of Americans has cost  
Republicans politically, and indeed poll after poll suggests that the  
"elephants in the room" for the GOP today are the war in Iraq and  
corruption, not social issues.

[...]

Which brings us to the biggest issue Armey's fulminations ignore. In  
any analysis of the perils of big government, it is wrong to overlook,  
as Armey does, the damage done to representative government by a  
hyper-activist judiciary. With all the harm inflicted on the U.S.  
economy by unnecessary pork, and on U.S. education by an evermore  
heavy-handed federal role, these are, at least, policy initiatives that  
a Congressional majority can reverse by a single vote. Not so with the  
extra-constitutional ideas that have been foisted on the country by  
judicial radicalism in such areas as abortion and the redefinition of  
marriage. Here, a change in course requires supermajority votes in the  
Congress and ratification of constitutional amendments by three-fourths  
of the states.

[More at URL]
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