[Active-l] (NEWS) Today's Cultural Warfare Update
Dara (R'ykandar Korra'ti)
kahvi at murkworks.net
Wed Sep 27 23:29:51 PDT 2006
Only a partial again, sorry; I need to go to bed so I'm not dead in the
water tomorrow morning for class. More tomorrow.
At Focus on the Family's "Values Voter Summit," Rev. Jerry Falwell
compares Senator Hillary Clinton to Satan, says God will will preserve
a Republican majority in Congress, attacks former NYC mayor Giuliani,
saying he must not get the GOP nod in 2008;
I missed this at the time, and in balance to the Traditional Values
Coalition's endorsement of President Bush's torture programme, here is
Christianity Today condemning it back in February;
Andrew Sullivan gets a report from the Values Voters Summit; amoungst
other things, John McCain should be tried for treason; a popular
pamphlet was Reverend Wellington Boone's "The Rape of the Civil Rights
Movement: How Sodomites Are Using Civil Rights Rhetoric To Advance
Their Preference For Sexual Perversion" previously promoted by Pat
Roberton's Christian Broadcasting Network (
http://www.cbn.com/700club/guests/bios/Wellington_Boone_040704.aspx ),
and so on;
Teen pregnancy continues to decline; Focus on the Family claims credit
via "abstinence-only education" despite studies showing that's not
really been very helpful;
Focus on the Family reports that Senator Brownback hopes to get an
anti-abortion act through Congress before the rapidly-approaching
adjournment;
FotF condemns Judge Stephen Reinhardt, particularly for his focus on
individual rights; the neat bit is where they blame "secular Jews" for
the ACLU and many other problems; also, they criticise Jewish families
for teaching their children about the holocaust;
ATTENTION JACKASSES: STOP BEING JACKASSES. Somebody's harassing one
particular anti-gay activist group at home; it's not okay and just lets
them paint all of us as violent freaks, which of course they do;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM on PERA, the "Public Expression of
Religion Act," which would amend civil rights law so that losers in
state-endorsement-of-religious cases don't have to pay legal fees - and
a main focus of the theoconservative movement in the last days of this
Congress - has cleared the house and is now going to the Senate;
Focus on the Family upset again that the Judiciary Committee failed to
get quorum and accordingly failed to move some of President Bush's
judicial nominees forward; includes ACTION ITEM to demand confirmation
now;
In "can dish it out but sure as hell can't take it" news, Focus on the
Family complains that a clinic that includes abortion services is
"posing as an 'Alternative' Center" - which is to say, doing what their
"pregnancy clinics" have been doing for at least 20 years, just in the
other direction;
Focus on the Family on its latest "ex-gay" rally, this one in
California;
Focus on the Family's reporting on the "Values Voters Conference" is a
lot tamer than what third-party observers are reporting;
There's a march to normalise homosexuality and nobody told me? Heck,
I'd have signed up - Faith and Freedom Network sends out another round
of anti-GBLT propaganda; it's interesting that the fundamentalist
movement, as a whole, continues to fail to recognise bisexuality;
Faith and Freedom Network condemns the separation of church and state,
again;
Andrew Sullivan posts a second-hand report from the Values Voters
Summit, where they've picked up on Timothy LaHay's assertion that the
antichrist will be a gay man and talk rather openly about it, referring
to the LGBT rights movement as "from the pit of Hell itself";
Focus on the Family Canada condemns a gay man's involvement in
curriculum review and his response to an editorial wherein _The B.C.
Catholic_ said that his participation would lead to "morally
objectionable material"; FotFCa also links to a new group I'm not
familiar with, "Concerned Parents BC."
----- 1 -----
Hillary Clinton could outdraw the devil, Falwell says
By Peter Wallsten
Los Angeles Times
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/
2003272973_jerry24.html
WASHINGTON — Nothing will motivate conservative evangelical Christians
to vote Republican in the 2008 presidential election more than a
Democratic nominee named Hillary Clinton — not even a run by the devil
himself.
[...]
Falwell's remarks about Clinton were part of a 40-minute address at a
private breakfast that included assurances that God would preserve a
Republican majority in Congress and that moderates such as former New
York Mayor Rudy Giuliani cannot be allowed to win the GOP presidential
nomination.
[...]
Nearly 2,000 activists attended the weekend summit sponsored by Focus
on the Family at a hotel near downtown Washington. The meeting was
devoted to revving up the GOP base for November and beyond, and
included appearances from several prospective Republican presidential
candidates: Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee
and Sens. George Allen of Virginia and Sam Brownback of Kansas.
----- 2 -----
5 Reasons Torture Is Always Wrong
And why there should be no exceptions.
by David P. Gushee | posted 01/27/2006 09:45 a.m.
Christianity Today, February 2006
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/002/23.32.html
"Three Marines in Mahmudiya used an electric transformer, forcing a
detainee to 'dance' as the electricity coursed through him."
International Committee of the Red Cross, February 2004
A former Iraqi general "died of asphyxiation after being stuffed
head-first into a sleeping bag … at an American base in Al Asad."
The New York Times, October 23, 2005
"Al-Qatani was forced to perform dog tricks on a leash, was straddled
by a female interrogator, forced to dance with a male interrogator,
told that his mother and sister were whores, forced to wear a woman's
bra and thong on his head during interrogation, and subjected to an
unmuzzled dog to scare him."
Newsweek, November 21, 2005
The word "torture," tellingly, comes from the Latin torquere, to twist.
Stine Amris and Julio G. Arenas, who have done extensive studies on the
effects of torture, define it as "the infliction of severe pain
(whether physical or psychological) by a perpetrator who acts
purposefully and on behalf of the state" (italics in original).
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
Christianism Watch
27 September 2006
Andrew Sullivan
http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/2006/09/christianism_wa_3.html
A reader writes:
It is much, much worse than we know. [Ed. Note: not all of us...]
The first woman I spoke to (from Erie, PA) railed on about how Chuck
Hagel is a flaming liberal and John McCain should be tried for treason.
I thought that maybe I'd run into an isolated crazy. Oh no - it only
got worse from there. The level of contempt for anyone who diverges
from the Holy Word of W is beyond description. I was sort of
'undercover' so I could just let people talk to me, not leading the
conversation, not baiting, and it horrified me to hear how many were
perfectly comfortable with any form of torture in the name of
patriotism if the Commander In Chief gave it the ok.
[...]
Meanwhile, in the plenary I got to hear from George Allen on how he's
been done wrong by the media and watched a ballroom of about 1,700
people seem to feel permission to let their hate for The Gays run wild
every time a black minister hit the stage. (I have my own copy of the
very popular brochure, "The Rape of the Civil Rights Movement: How
Sodomites Are Using Civil Rights Rhetoric To Advance Their Preference
For Sexual Perversion.")
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
Teen Pregnancies Continue Downward Trend
Abstinence education credited for the success.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
September 27, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0042109.cfm
Teen pregnancies dropped 36 percent from 1990 to 2002, according to the
pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute.
Bill Albert, a spokesman for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen
Pregnancy, told Family News in Focus that it shows comprehensive sex
education is working.
"The short answer," he said, "is both less sex — that is, more
teenagers are delaying sexual activity — and more contraception — that
is, more teens who are having sex are using contraception a bit more
carefully."
But not everyone agrees with that theory. Linda Klepacki, analyst for
sexual health at Focus on the Family Action, said there’s strong
evidence that true abstinence education is the real reason.
[More at URL]
----- 5 -----
Brownback Says Child Custody Protection Act Has 'A Shot'
Focus on the Family
September 27, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0042114.cfm
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., one of the sponsors of the Child Custody
Protection Act, said today he thinks there is "a chance" the Senate can
pass the bill and get it to the president before Congress adjourns at
the end of September.
Yesterday, members of the House of Representatives voted 264-153 to
approve a Senate-offered substitute amending a bill that the House
originally approved in 2005 — the Child Interstate Abortion
Notification Act. The Senate passed its own version, S. 403, in July.
The new joint House-Senate bill basically makes it a crime for anyone
to take an underage pregnant girl across state lines for the purpose of
getting around parental-notification laws in the girl's home state.
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
Judge Gone Wild
Ruling against parental rights is just one way Judge Stephen Reinhardt
is trying to overturn American values.
A Citizen Special Report
Focus on the Family
http://www.family.org/cforum/citizenmag/coverstory/a0039283.cfm
He’s the judge who says parental rights end at the schoolhouse door and
that the Pledge of Allegiance in public school classrooms is
unconstitutional.
[...]
He’s Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals—the most infamous member of the most radical court in America.
He’s notorious because he’s caused real harm—to parental rights, public
safety and the reputation of the federal courts. But one of his
colleagues says he’s a “mastodon,” soon to be “extinct.” President Bush
could hasten that day by appointing more conservatives to vacancies on
the 9th Circuit, but Reinhardt and his political allies aren’t quite
ready to surrender. They’re intent on transforming America, with
Reinhardt the master architect.
[...]
His parents also taught Reinhardt about his Jewish heritage and Nazi
persecution. His step-grandfather, Max Reinhardt, was one of several
German artists who fled Hitler and immigrated to America. Once in the
United States, Max gained renown for directing a stage production of “A
Midsummer Night’s Dream” featuring James Cagney and Mickey Rooney.
Warner Bros. later turned that production into a major motion picture.
Divorced parents, Hollywood friendships and tales of horrific violence
that lacked the redemptive power of Christ’s atonement—Reinhardt’s
childhood was the perfect recipe for the making of a leftist judicial
activist.
[...]
And in his current position as a 9th Circuit judge, he has openly
discussed his view that “social justice” and “individual rights” should
serve as a “guiding principle of the judicial branch.”
Reinhardt himself credited his liberalism to early exposure to the
Holocaust and discrimination. “It would be hard not to feel very
strongly about fairness and justice after all that,” he told the Los
Angeles Times in 1986.
Problem is, those personal emotions seem to have skewed Reinhardt’s
legal logic—especially on the court, where he has repeatedly exalted
“individual rights” above other principles.
[...]
When Jews forget their religious heritage and focus entirely on
secular, individual-rights thinking, they open the door to societal
chaos, Lapin said.
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
Gay Activist Starts Fire in Colorado Family's Front Yard
Police call it a hate crime
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
September 27, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0042120.cfm
Christina Sewall woke up about 2:15 this morning in her Colorado
Springs, Colo., home, with an uneasy feeling.
"It took me a little while to go back to sleep," she told CitizenLink.
"I had no sooner dozed off when I heard a trash can or something being
dragged across the sidewalk."
Sewall said she looked at the window and could see the glow of a fire.
[More at URL]
----- 8 -----
House Approves Public Expression of Religion Act
Bill now faces the notorious Senate gantlet.
by Pete Winn and Wendy Cloyd
Focus on the Family
September 26, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0042096.cfm
Legislation designed to protect municipalities -- when groups like the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sue to have Ten Commandments
displays or crosses removed from public property -- passed the House on
a 242-173 vote this afternoon.
H.R. 2679 -- the Public Expression of Religion Act (PERA) -- moves on
to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain. The bill would prohibit the
plaintiff in a religious liberties case from being awarded attorneys'
fees for attacking public expressions of faith.
[...]
TAKE ACTION:
Please contact your state's senators and ask them to support the Public
Expression of Religion Act, H.R. 2679, and its Senate companion, S.
3696.
If you are a CitizenLink Daily Update subscriber, click on the blue
"Take Action" button in the e-mail to be automatically logged in to our
Action Center. Otherwise, click on this link.
----- 9 -----
Another Judiciary Committee Disappointment
Once again, the lack of a quorum stops votes on nominees.
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
September 26, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0042094.cfm
The Senate Judiciary Committee was supposed to meet today in executive
session to take action on the president's nominations for federal
appeals courts. The meeting notice had been sent out, the agenda was
posted, the nominees' names were prominently displayed — and virtually
everyone interested in judicial nominations was poised to hear what
might happen.
But for a second time in as many weeks, there were no votes on the four
"controversial" appeals court nominees — because there was no meeting.
Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for Focus on the Family Action said
once again there weren't enough committee members present to constitute
a quorum —- and the executive session had to be canceled.
[...]
TAKE ACTION:
Please contact your senators and ask them to do everything they can to
make sure the president's long-standing judicial nominees get out of
the Senate Judiciary Committee and receive up-or-down votes by the full
Senate.
If you are a CitizenLink Daily Update subscriber, click on the blue
"Take Action" button in the e-mail to be automatically logged in to our
Action Center. Otherwise, click on this link.
[More at URL]
----- 10 -----
Abortion Clinic Posing as an 'Alternative' Center Faces Suit
Focus on the Family
September 26, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0042093.cfm
An abortion clinic posing as a pro-life pregnancy-resource center now
faces a lawsuit that alleges false advertising, LifeSite reported.
Expectant Mother Care (EMC) filed suit Wednesday against a New York
abortion provider with sites in the Bronx and in downtown Brooklyn.
"Dr. Emily" placed an advertisement in the New York City Yellow Pages
under the "alternatives to abortion" section -- intended for pro-life
organizations such as pregnancy-resource centers and adoption agencies.
"Abortion Alternatives: Businesses appearing at this heading provide
assistance and/or information on abortion alternatives," reads the
section heading. "They do not provide abortion services or information
on obtaining an abortion."
Chris Slattery, founder and president of EMC, said abortion providers
-- looking for ways to aggressively compete with pregnancy centers --
are resorting to deception.
[More at URL]
----- 11 -----
Love Won Out Draws Large Crowd in California
Protesters try to confuse the event's message.
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
September 26, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0042090.cfm
After weeks of controversy leading up to the event, nearly 1,400 people
attended a Love Won Out conference in Palm Springs, Calif., on
Saturday. It was the third-largest attendance in the eight-year history
of the event.
The conferences, which are backed by Focus on the Family, share the
message that change is possible for people who experience unwanted
same-sex attraction.
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
Values Voters Energized for November
More than 1,700 gather for the Washington Briefing.
Focus on the Family
http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0042081.cfm
WASHINGTON — Values voters from 48 states converged on the massive and
historic Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C., on Friday and
Saturday to learn about pressing family issues and to seek energy and
encouragement.
An impressive A-list of conservative leaders and public officials
packed the schedule from early morning till late in the evening. They
addressed a standing-room-only crowd of more than 1,700 in the Regency
Ballroom.
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney took issue with judicial activism that
led to same-sex marriage.
"My state's Supreme Judicial Court, about a year ago, struck a blow
against the family unit, in my view," he said. "It said that our
constitution, written long ago by John Adams, required people of the
same gender to marry. I think John Adams would be surprised to hear
that was in his constitution."
Romney said the members of the court took a wrong turn when they viewed
marriage as an institution that only concerns the rights of adults.
[More at URL]
----- 13 -----
March to Normalize Homosexuality Continues
Faith and Freedom Network
Monday, September 25, 2006
http://www.faithandfreedom.us/weblog/2006/09/march-to-normalize-
homosexuality.html
In a continuing attempt to “normalize” homosexuality, we are now
hearing a new twist on an old perversion.
Rosie O’Donnell, taking full advantage of her new position of influence
provided by Barbara Walters and ABC, last week introduced a new version
of “gay.”
After showing “The View” audience a clip of Oprah Winfrey and her
friend, Gayle King, struggling to pump gas while driving cross-country
this summer, a “Thelma and Louise” excursion they had recorded for the
Oprah Show fall premier, Ms. O’Donnell said, “I think that’s very
typical of gay relationships – not saying their gay.” Then Rosie,
speaking to Oprah as though she was present, said, “You might be a
little bit gay … you’re just not doing it.” (AOL News, ABC News).
A “little bit” gay? [Editor's note: the fundamentalists do not
recognise bisexuality. The concept continues to appear foreign to
them.]
[More at URL]
----- 14 -----
What About Separation of Church and State?
Faith and Freedom Network
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
http://www.faithandfreedom.us/weblog/2006/09/what-about-separation-of-
church-and.html
Americans are sometimes surprised to learn that “separation of church
and state” does not appear in the Constitution. In fact, the word
“church” doesn’t appear in the Constitution.
No Constitutional restriction was ever placed on the church by either
the Founding Fathers or the Constitution they crafted.
Rather all Constitutional limitations were imposed on the role of
government.
[More at URL]
----- 15 -----
Christianism Watch III
Andrew Sullivan
27 Sep 2006 05:29 pm
http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/2006/09/christianism_wa_5.html
"The civil rights movement, [Rev. Dwight McKissic of Cornerstone
Baptist Church in Texas] said, was grounded in moral authority, truth
and righteousness, the impetus to freedom, constitutional authority,
and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In contrast, he said, the gay
rights movement was inspired 'from the pit of hell itself,' and has a
'satanic anointment.' The gay rights movement was birthed and inspired
by the anti-Christ. He suggested that the anti-Christ is himself gay,
citing a verse from the book of Daniel saying the anti-Christ will have
no desire for a woman.
[More at URL]
----- 16 -----
Parents protest gay curriculum review
Focus on the Family Canada
September 27, 2006
http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/education/stories/092706.html
One of two homosexuals under contract with the B.C. Ministry of
Education to take the lead in developing new social justice public
school curricula is unsuitable for the job due to his “anti-Catholic
bigotry,” according to the Catholic Civil Rights League (CCRL).
Peter Corren was reacting to an editorial in The B.C. Catholic by
Vancouver Archbishop Raymond Roussin in which he warned that this
agreement “could lead to the introduction of morally objectionable
material in the school system.”
Corren told the Vancouver Sun that the Catholic Church “has victimized
our society through history.” And he told The Province that Roussin’s
response reflects the Church’s ongoing “homophobic diatribe against
Canadian society.”
[...]
As well, a new group, Concerned Parents of B.C. (
http://www.concernedparentsbc.org/ ), has started meeting with local
school boards to protest what it sees as the basic unfairness of giving
a special interest group a say in the education of their children.
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