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

[Dara (R'ykandar Korra'ti)]

Wow! One of my editors got mail from a reader condemning them for  
running technical articles written by a dyke. No, really. And  
threatening to boycott on that basis. Yay, economic freeze-out  
hitting home! (For those who don't know, one of the things the  
theoconservative movement does is attack companies that deal with  
GBLT-owned companies, join the Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce,  
or similar things. They call it "being neutral in the culture wars"  
by, um, not dealing with queers. Yeah, that's neutral.) Don't worry,  
he's the type to tell them to DIAF. But - OMG I'M, um, famous? Yeah!  
Famous! Or something.

Anyway, here's the rest of this:

Maggie Gallagher: young Americans must be convinced that marriage  
rights for GBLT people is really bad, noting that only a bare  
plurality of "young adults" oppose marriage rights (48% to 46%);

I don't have a hard date for this and I'd love to; Bill O'Reilly had  
a segment on June 21 of an unknown year claiming that hundreds of  
lesbian gangs were raping children and killing men across the  
country. Looking at the news crawl, one of the headlines was Chief  
Executive Bush touring a nuclear power plant in Browns Ferry,  
Alabama; that happened June 21 of this year. So I think we have a  
reasonable date for this particularly bizarre O'Reilly hit-piece.  
Found by Andrew Sullivan ( http://andrewsullivan.com/ );

Also courtesy Sully, we have an LA Times article demonstrating pretty  
conclusively that new theocon favourite Fred Thompson lobbied for an  
abortion-rights group during the first Bush administration; he had  
denied it explicitly and in no uncertain terms, but, um, they have  
the papers;

More of the New Sectarian Politics: Catholics Against Rudy,  
campaigning against him because he's not Catholic enough for their  
tastes, and they want him to condemn GBLT marriage rights and  
abortion rights; they've got a visitor poll up on their website  
asking whether US bishops should "speak out against Mayor Giuliani's  
candidacy" which at this moment is running 2-1 in favour;

Catholics Against Rudy links to a story on Fidelis, notable mostly  
for its extensive quoting of Bishop Michael Tobin's condemnation of  
Mr. Giuliani;

Seen on Andrew Sullivan ( http://andrewsullivan.com ); New Mexico  
governor and presidential candidate Bill Richardson (D) called  
somebody a faggot in Spanish while on Don Imus's show; he says he's  
sorry for the remark; I have to admit this is pretty low-grade for  
this update, but hey, I saw it;

Focus on the Family/James Dobson water-carrier Senator David Vitter  
(R-Louisiana) joins the long list of "family advocates" caught in  
affairs, with prostitutes, on drugs, whatever - in his case, it's  
prostitution. An interesting quote from his campaign was, "We need a  
U.S. senator who will stand up for Louisiana values, not  
Massachusetts values." It is worth noting that the Massachusetts  
divorce rate is lower than that of Louisiana, so apparently, he's  
sticking to his word;

What's gotten up his robes? Pope Benedict XVI rejects other Christian  
sects and other religions as either "defective or not true churches";  
this is perfectly consistent with Catholic teaching, but it's sure to  
upset the fundamentalist movement, so I wonder what's gotten that going;

Vox Nova asks why Catholics Against Rudy isn't including torture,  
which is as explicitly and firmly against the Catholic faith as is  
abortion and, um, me - but by the time I'm going to press with this,  
"Torture" has been added to the list. Still, not much content there,  
and it's mostly about t3h gay and abortion rights;

Cal Thomas: Democrats talking about their religion just shows their  
religious beliefs are fake and just a ploy and "part of a campaign  
plan to win the election"; he's also getting real explicit about what  
"is" and "is not" actual Christianity, and, of course, the Democrats  
aren't it;

Concerned Women for America's Matt Barber really whips it out against  
t3h gay this week, condemning "disordered sexual behaviors" that are  
high-risk, unnatural and fruitless" and "scientifically and  
objectively proven to be destructive;" it's all part of a rant saying  
that queers don't actually want marriage except to destroy it and, of  
course, all of American society, and all that kind of noise;

WorldNetDaily showcases the newly fundamentalist Michael Glatze, who  
us the "ex-gay" poster child of the week; he's the author, he  
mentions how he had a nervous breakdown and found "God" and how God  
and Concerned Women for America and NARTH (a "conversion therapy"  
group) showed him the "Truth about homosexuality" and how it's  
"natural" and "common sense" to be "repulsed" by queers, and so on;  
and now he's dedicating his life to fighting "homosexuality," which  
is to say GBLT rights. They'll be parading this guy around for a  
while, probably until his next nervous breakdown;

Former Concerned Women for America wonk and still sometimes-writer  
Peter LaBarbera writes gleefully about Michael Glatze's conversion to  
fundamentalism and his subsequent "conversion" to heterosexuality;

CWA's Wendy Wright condemns New Hampshire repeal of a parental  
notification law already ruled unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court;

Christianity Today commends Laura Bush's promotion of "faith-based  
HIV prevention" in Africa;

Christian Post also trumpets Michael Glatze, and describing the  
nervous breakdown as a "near-death experience," so now I've got even  
_more_ ooooooooo going on;

National Review Online's Kathryn Lopez condemns Amnesty International  
as "a force for evil" after they issued a press release supporting  
"the rights of women and girls to be free from threat, force, or  
coercion as they exercise their sexual and reproductive rights"; it's  
the abortion thing, of course; also calls its founder a "Communist  
and Roman Catholic convert";

Canada Family Action Coalition runs a WorldNetDaily article saying  
allowing queers to marry puts marriage on the "endangered species  
list," ties GBLT marriage rights to paedophilia, condemns legendary  
sex research Alfred Kinsey as a fraud, which is a regular activity of  
the fundamentalist movement;

Focus on the Family's Institute of Marriage and Family Canada runs an  
article, "Dismantling Canada—one institution at a time," attacking  
GBLT marriage;

Institute of Marriage and Family Canada gets a Calgary Herald op-ed,  
proceeds to self-quote as an external source; part of the "must look  
big" strategy;

American Family Association's One News Now runs article condemning  
Senate opening prayer being delivered by a Hindu chaplain; they  
specifically condemn the polythestic nature of Hinduism, saying it is  
"flying in the face of the American motto "One Nation Under God";

American Family Association's One News Now promotes the AFA boycott  
of Ford, taking credit for Ford's sales issues; one wonders how they  
explain GMC's even-worse sales issues;

AFA's One News Now guest columnist claims "liberals" want... oh, just  
go read it, it's an anti-sex-ed screed;

Family Research Council (another Focus on the Family spinoff) article  
on the new "ex-gay" fundamentalist star Michael Glatze; he doesn't  
mention the nervous breakdown or the "near-death experience," or  
whatever it was;

Family Research Council insists same-sex parents can never raise  
children successfully, demands Democrats "endorse and act to protect  
marriage as the union of one man and one woman," referring both to  
attempts to weaken the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, which  
prohibits the Federal government from recognising state same-sex  
marriages and allows states to ignore same-sex marriages from other  
states, and to the anti-marriage/anti-gay Federal Constitutional  
amendment banning GBLT marriage in all states;

FRC condemns Republican polling showing majority Republican support  
for gays in the military and "special rights for homosexuals," which  
usually means including sexual orientation in civil rights law;

USA Today's short story on the poll, and a link to the poll itself;  
it was sponsoured in part by the "Republican Leadership Council,  
Republican Main Street Partnership, Republican Majority for Choice  
and the Log Cabin Republicans," which cuts to the core of why the  
Family Research Council condemns it. There's interesting data in this  
poll, including a 52%-40% support for "Public policy should not  
contradict God’s Law" that's maintained over most segments of the GOP  
- only the tiny Free Market (8%) and similarly small Fortress America  
(8%) segments disagree; 50% describe themselves as born-again  
Christians, 51% attend church once to several times per week; a  
similar 51% are "Social/Cultural" conservatives primarily;

FRC condemns "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" as not anti-gay enough, want  
active investigation of possible queers in the military; also  
condemns DC's domestic partner registry and wants a ban on Federal  
funding for DC going to it;

Christian Post reports on rally calling for "Moral Revolution;" Sen.  
Sam Brownback appeared at it; it was a big political/religious  
revival in Nashville, Tennessee; they seem to be dipping into  
numerology, as it was held on 7/7/07 and various ties were made to  
the Bible based on that.


----- 1 -----
What do Americans think about marriage?
By Maggie Gallagher
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Townhall.com

http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/MaggieGallagher/2007/07/05/ 
what_do_americans_think_about_marriage

A new Pew poll was released this week to great fanfare and an  
Associated Press story that highlighted just one of its findings: a  
large drop since 1990 in the proportion of Americans who see children  
as "very important" to a "successful" marriage. The Pew study itself  
however has a very different headline: "As Marriage and Parenthood  
Drift Apart, Public Is Concerned about Social Impact."

[...]

But Pew also asked the same question in a slightly different way:  
What do you think of the trend of unmarried _couples_ having  
children? Overall, the level of concern dropped slightly, with 59  
percent of the general public saying it's a bad thing (still a 2-1  
margin opposed). But a significant generation gap emerges: Among 18  
to 29-year-olds just 46 percent say unmarried couples having children  
is a bad thing and 45 percent say it is a good thing for society. The  
biggest drop off is among Hispanic Catholics: Fifty-two percent  
disapprove of "single women having children," but only 37 percent say  
unmarried couples having children is a bad thing for society.

On gay marriage, Americans are against it 57 to 32 percent. Even  
young adults ages 18 to 29 oppose gay marriage 46 percent to 44 percent.

The next generation is persuaded that children need a mom and a dad.  
They are less convinced that marriage is the key to giving children  
that gift. Closing that loop in the mind of young adults is the key  
to marriage's -- and children's -- future.


----- 2 -----
The Oh-Really Factor
Fox News' Bill O'Reilly offers up an 'expert' to claim that pink  
pistol-packing lesbian gangs are terrorizing the nation
By Susy Buchanan and David Holthouse

http://www.splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?site_area=1&aid=274

A "national underground network" of pink pistol-packing lesbians is  
terrorizing America. "All across the country," they are raping young  
girls, attacking heterosexual males at random, and forcibly  
indoctrinating children as young as 10 into the homosexual lifestyle,  
according to a shocking June 21 segment on the popular Fox News  
Channel program, "The O'Reilly Factor."

Titled "Violent Lesbian Gangs a Growing Problem," the segment began  
with host Bill O'Reilly briefly referencing for his roughly 3 million  
viewers the case of Wayne Buckle, a DVD bootlegger who was attacked  
by seven lesbians in New York City last August. Deploying swift,  
broad strokes, O'Reilly painted a graphic picture of lesbian gangs  
running amok. "In Tennessee, authorities say a lesbian gang called  
GTO, Gays Taking Over, are involved in raping young girls," he  
reported. "And in Philadelphia, a lesbian gang called DTO, Dykes  
Taking Over, are allegedly terrorizing people as well."

[More at URL]


----- 3 -----
Thompson lobbied for abortion-rights group, it says
A spokesman for the GOP presidential hopeful says he did no such  
work. An ex-colleague calls the denial 'bizarre.'
By Michael Finnegan, Times Staff Writer
July 7, 2007

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na- 
thompson7jul07,0,54260.story?coll=la-home-center

Fred D. Thompson, who is campaigning for president as an antiabortion  
Republican, accepted an assignment from a family-planning group to  
lobby the first Bush White House to ease a controversial abortion  
restriction, according to a 1991 document and several people familiar  
with the matter.

A spokesman for the former Tennessee senator denied that Thompson did  
the lobbying work. But the minutes of a 1991 board meeting of the  
National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Assn. say that the  
group hired Thompson that year.

[...]

Thompson spokesman Mark Corallo adamantly denied that Thompson worked  
for the family planning group. "Fred Thompson did not lobby for this  
group, period," he said in an e-mail.

In a telephone interview, he added: "There's no documents to prove  
it, there's no billing records, and Thompson says he has no  
recollection of it, says it didn't happen." In a separate interview,  
John H. Sununu, the White House official whom the family planning  
group wanted to contact, said he had no memory of the lobbying and  
doubted it took place.

But Judith DeSarno, who was president of the family planning  
association in 1991, said Thompson lobbied for the group for several  
months.

Minutes from the board's meeting of Sept. 14, 1991 — a copy of which  
DeSarno gave to The Times — say: "Judy [DeSarno] reported that the  
association had hired Fred Thompson Esq. as counsel to aid us in  
discussions with the administration" on the abortion counseling rule.

Former Rep. Michael D. Barnes (D-Md.), a colleague at the lobbying  
and law firm where Thompson worked, said that DeSarno had asked him  
to recommend someone for the lobbying work and that he had suggested  
Thompson. He said it was "absolutely bizarre" for Thompson to deny  
that he lobbied against the abortion counseling rule.

"I talked to him while he was doing it, and I talked to [DeSarno]  
about the fact that she was very pleased with the work that he was  
doing for her organization," said Barnes. "I have strong, total  
recollection of that. This is not something I dreamed up or she  
dreamed up. This is fact."

[More at URL]


----- 4 -----
Still “under construction,” but the “Catholics Against Rudy” movement  
has officially launched!
July 8th, 2007
Catholics Against Rudy

http://catholicsagainstrudy.com/2007/07/08/still-under-construction- 
but-the-catholics-against-rudy-movement-has-officially-launched/

(latest entry on http://catholicsagainstrudy.com/ )

“Catholics Against Rudy” is up and running now, but we are still  
working on several matters, and will be doing so for the next several  
months. Here are just a few of the things that remain to be done:

[...]

(2) construct an “activism” page, where faithful Catholics can print  
off fliers to hand out at the parish level that outline Mayor  
Giuliani’s abysmal record on life issues and traditional marriage,  
sign a petition committing to voting against Giuliani in the GOP  
presidential primary and/or engage in various types of grass-roots  
activism, etc.;

[...]

Should the U.S. bishops speak out against Mayor Giuliani's candidacy?

Yes (66%, 82 Votes)
No (34%, 42 Votes)
Total Voters: 124


----- 5 -----
Giuliani Hunting in Vain for Support from Conservative Christians
Fidelis
06-29-2007

http://www.fidelis.org/gw3/articles-news/articles.php? 
CMSArticleID=1773&CMSCategoryID=10

Tuesday’s appearance of Republican presidential candidate Rudy  
Giuliani at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia, will not  
convince conservative Christian voters to jettison their pro-life  
convictions.

[...]

Earlier this month, Catholic Bishop Michael Tobin of the Diocese of  
Providence described Giuliani’s proclamations on abortion as  
“pathetic,” “confusing,” “hypocritical” and “preposterous.” News  
stories since have suggested that Giuliani’s faces an uphill battle  
in convincing faithful Catholics to buck their Church and ignore his  
pro-abortion position.

“Supporting Giuliani is not an option for a vast majority of faithful  
Catholics, many of whom believe, along with their Church, that any  
claim to protect the common good begins with a commitment to  
upholding the dignity of every human person, including life at its  
earliest stages.  Catholics cannot simply overlook his unfettered  
support for embryo-killing research, abortion rights, partial birth  
abortion, and taxpayer funding of abortion, not to mention his  
support of policies that would destroy the traditional family,” Burch  
stated. [Editor's note: "destroy the traditional family" is rhetoric  
shorthand for "supports GBLT rights."]

[More at URL]


----- 6 -----
Richardson sorry for 'maricón' moment
Posted: 7/10/2007, 11:11 AM
By KAREN OCAMB and CHRIS CRAIN

http://www.gaynewswatch.com/Page.cfm?PageID=22&SID=1842

Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Richardson apologized this week  
for using a Spanish-language slur for gay people, even as he  
suggested it smacked of politics that news of his “maricón” moment is  
surfacing now, more than a year later.

[...]

Almost exactly one year before Imus was to lose his show for using a  
slur to describe the Rutger’s women’s basketball team, the shock jock  
used the Spanish word “maricón” in an on-air exchange with Richardson.

Don Imus jokingly asked Bill Richardson on-air if one of the shock  
jock's staffers was a 'maricón' for doubting that Richardson is  
really Latino. The New Mexico governor, now running for president,  
repeated the anti-gay slur in his response.

“Bernard on the staff here has been claiming you’re not really  
Hispanic so-- that you're just claiming that for some sort of  
advantage or something,” Imus said to Richardson, tongue clearly in  
cheek. “You can just answer this yes or no and this will answer that  
question. Would you agree that Bernard is a maricón?”

Without missing a beat, Richardson replied in Spanish, “Yo creo que  
Bernardo, sí — es un maricón si él piensa que yo no soy hispano.  
[General laughter] Was that good enough or what? [General laughter]”

“That’s good enough for me,” Imus replied.

Most gay Latinos interviewed for this story agreed with the Gay &  
Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation that the word “maricón” means  
“faggot” in Spanish. So, translated to English, Richardson had  
replied: "I believe that Bernard, yes – he’s a faggot if he thinks  
that I am not Hispanic."

[...]

Krochmal told Hubble she would pass the email along to Monica Taher  
and Carlos Macias, GLAAD’s “excellent Spanish-language media  
advocates.” Taher would say later in an interview for this story that  
another GLAAD employee decided instead to go to Equality New Mexico  
with the information.

“The statewide organization [in New Mexico] asked us not to contact  
[Richardson] because that would jeopardize the domestic partnership  
bill that the governor was supporting and working on at that time,”  
Taher said.

Alexis Blizman, executive director of Equality New Mexico (EQNM),  
acknowledged that she asked GLAAD not to “go after” Richardson  
because of his strong gay rights record, but said the domestic  
partnership bill was not under consideration at the time.

[More at URL]


----- 7 -----
GOP senator sorry for 'serious sin' in 'D.C. Madam' case
CNN
10 July 2007

http://us.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/07/10/vitter.madam/index.html

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. David Vitter apologized to anyone he  
disappointed after telephone records linked him to an escort service  
operated by Deborah Jeane Palfrey, aka the "D.C. Madam."

The Louisiana Republican said in a Monday statement that he told his  
wife several years ago about a "serious sin" and she forgave him.

[...]

A staunch conservative, Vitter disavowed same-sex unions during his  
2004 campaign, boasting that he had co-authored and fought for the  
Federal Marriage Amendment. He further vowed to protect "the sanctity  
of marriage."

"This is a real outrage. The Hollywood left is redefining the most  
basic institution in human history, and our two U.S. senators won't  
do anything about it," he said in a statement on his campaign Web  
site. "We need a U.S. senator who will stand up for Louisiana values,  
not Massachusetts values."

[More at URL]


----- 8 -----
Pope: Other Christians not true churches
By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer
10 July 2007

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070710/ap_on_re_eu/ 
pope_other_christians;_ylt=ApLVxhaoCbOcTTy6OZxVQNYDW7oF

LORENZAGO DI CADORE, Italy - Pope Benedict XVI reasserted the primacy  
of the Roman Catholic Church, approving a document released Tuesday  
that says other Christian communities are either defective or not  
true churches and Catholicism provides the only true path to salvation.

The statement brought swift criticism from Protestant leaders. "It  
makes us question whether we are indeed praying together for  
Christian unity," said the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, a  
fellowship of 75 million Protestants in more than 100 countries.

"It makes us question the seriousness with which the Roman Catholic  
Church takes its dialogues with the reformed family and other  
families of the church," the group said in a letter charging that the  
document took ecumenical dialogue back to the era before the Second  
Vatican Council.

[More at URL]


----- 9 -----
Catholics Selectively Against Rudy?
By Morning's Minion
Monday, July 9, 2007

http://www.vox-nova.com/2007/07/catholics-selectively-against-rudy.html

Too much hoopla, the Catholics Against Rudy site has been launched.  
But why exactly are they against Rudy? The first thing I noted is  
that their opposition to the candidacy of Giuliani went far beyond  
his well-known views on abortion. If you click on the "issues" you  
will find the following list:

Abortion
Embryonic Stem Cell Research
Euthanasia
On Catholic politicians and voters
Same-Sex Marriage

[...]

And yet Rudy does justify [torture]. When asked specifically if he  
supported the Khmer Rouge-perfected waterboarding technique, he  
replied without hesitation that "I would tell the people who had to  
do the interrogation to use every method they can think of". For a  
Catholic, this is as beyond the pale as arguing in favor of abortion.

So, Catholics Against Rudy: Where's the torture? Where's the  
consistency?

[More at URL]


----- 10 -----
Cal Thomas: Hillary, faith and politics
By Cal Thomas -
Published 12:00 am PDT Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Story appeared in EDITORIALS section, Page B7

http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/264352.html

Some unknown author once said, "Everybody should believe in  
something; I believe I'll have another drink."

Democratic senator and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton took a  
less cynical and more substantive approach to faith in a recent  
interview with the New York Times. The quality and depth of one's  
relationship with God should be personal and beyond the judgment of  
others, unless one is running for president and chooses to talk about  
it as part of a campaign plan to win the election.

[...]

Liberal faith, which is to say a faith that discounts the authority  
of Scripture in favor of a constantly evolving, poll-tested relevancy  
to modern concerns -- such as the environment, what kind of SUV Jesus  
would drive, larger government programs and other "do-good" pursuits  
-- ultimately morphs into societal and self-improvement efforts and  
jettisons the life-changing message of salvation, forgiveness of sins  
and a transformed life.

[...]

This is a politician speaking, not a person who believes in the  
central tenets of Christianity.

[...]

Clinton is entitled to whatever faith she wants to practice, but when  
she uses it as an election tactic, she should not be allowed to alter  
classic Christian theology.

[More at URL]


----- 11 -----
"Gays" Don't Want "Marriage" After All
Getting married isn’t even on the radar screen for the vast majority  
of homosexuals.
Concerned Women for America
7/5/2007
By J. Matt Barber

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/13387/CFI/family/index.htm

The homosexual lobby has fine-tuned its rhetoric in recent years.  
Through the hyperbolic and repetitive use of such concocted  
expressions as “marriage equality” and “gay rights,” the left has  
dishonestly but effectively framed the debate over homosexual behaviors.

By co-opting and misapplying the language of the genuine civil rights  
movement, homosexual activists — along with kindred leftists in the  
media, government and elsewhere — are making considerable strides  
toward reshaping our culture. They’ve enjoyed much success in  
attaining official government recognition of a disordered and empty,  
though demonstrably mutable, sexual lifestyle.

They yearn for a society created in their own secular humanist image  
wherein all are compelled to not only accept, but to celebrate high- 
risk, unnatural and fruitless homosexual behaviors as both normal and  
equal to natural expressions of human sexuality. Their ideal is a  
society in which inherent gender distinctions are eliminated and  
God’s express design for human sexuality is replaced by morally  
relative and surreal notions of sexual androgyny.

[...]

But it goes far beyond simply undermining marriage. In order to  
legitimize disordered sexual behaviors, which have traditionally been  
considered immoral and are scientifically and objectively proven to  
be destructive, it’s necessary to dissolve the notion that  
traditional marriage and the nuclear family are normative and  
represent the gold standard. According to some, that’s a sexually  
repressive Judeo-Christian concept, you see. And in order for secular  
humanism to properly take root, we need a society which embraces the  
idea that all forms of sexual behavior — no matter how perverse or  
destructive — are equally valid.

[More at URL]


----- 12 -----
Confessions of a former 'gay rights' leader
Posted: July 10, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

Editor's note: See the news story about Michael Glatze, "'Gay'-rights  
leader quits homosexuality."
By Michael Glatze

I used to be gay, or so I thought.

When I was about 13, I decided I must be gay because I was unable to  
handle my own masculinity. It scared me too much. My father had  
already given me a lot to be afraid of: He'd cheated on my mother and  
left her crying, alone and selflessly attempting to salvage a dead  
relationship.

When I was faced with the prospect of either being a "man" or being  
"me" – who I saw as "better than that" and "not someone who would do  
such awful things as men do" – I chose "me." Then, because "me" was  
not "a man," "me" became gay.

[...]

Then again, it wasn't internal homophobia that caused my so-called  
"hatred" of my own homosexuality.

It was God.

God – I know – is a buzzword. God scares people. I know this. I'm  
sorry that's the case.

However, this is my story. And, my story includes me having a nervous  
breakdown, feeling like I was hurting tons of people with my actions,  
and turning to the Bible, praying and understanding that what was in  
the Bible was not nearly as scary as what people had made it out to be.

In my story, I became acquainted with a very personal God whom I  
spoke to and who told me that I was beautiful, and that everyone else  
was – and is – too. In my story, I had a good relationship with God  
that got richer as I spent more time with Him. In my story, God is my  
best friend.

I continued to develop a deeper understanding of who and what I  
really am, thanks to God and thanks to what He showed me. I followed  
His guidance and found books that revealed all sorts of "deep, dark"  
secrets about things like "socialism," Concerned Women for America,  
"abstinence-only education" and the National Association of Research  
& Therapy of Homosexuality. All these things I found truly opened my  
eyes.

[...]

And so, my story becomes a story of healing from homosexuality, which  
I write in order to "set the record straight" about the notion that  
people can't heal from homosexuality. That is not true. People can  
heal. I did it.

[...]

So, no, it's not the end of the story at all – my story, that is.  
It's not at all my end. Because, from my perspective, homosexuality  
is not just something I was healed from, but it's something that is  
flat-out wrong, because it can be healed, even though people say it  
can't.

And not only can it be healed, I've seen the difference between gay  
and straight in my very mind!

I've seen it go from one … to the other – NEVER to return.

I wouldn't want it to return, because now I can't even imagine it.  
It's like thinking about doing the weirdest, grossest thing that just  
makes you feel sick inside.

This, again, is my story. And in my story, it makes me repulsed to  
think about homosexuality.

And when I step back a little bit, I know why! Because people are  
supposed to feel like homosexuality is gross, because such a feeling  
prevents them from wanting to do it. And people are supposed to not  
want to do it, because doing it is something that prevents them from  
having babies, and having babies is something that we – naturally –  
are supposed to want to do, for human beings to survive. And, so,  
it's obvious why people should feel gross about homosexuality.

It's not "wrong" for people to think it's gross. It makes sense!

If anything, it's not thinking homosexuality is gross that's weird.  
What if we stopped thinking that all harmful behaviors – all things  
that prevent us from doing what we're supposed to do and being what  
we're supposed to be – were gross? What then? Would we have no  
natural sense of who we are, why we're here, what we're supposed to  
do with our lives?

I understand this notion of "homophobia" – only it's not a phobia at  
all. It's common sense.

My story is that now I know the Truth about homosexuality. And my  
story is that now I'm going to do what I can to fight it.

[More at URL]


----- 13 -----
Michael Glatze ‘Comes Out’ of Homosexuality: former ‘Young Gay  
America’ Magazine Co-founder
Michael Glatze with pro-homosexuality activist Judy Shepard in his  
former life as a “gay” activist, speaking at a 2005 Kennedy School  
forum. Glatze can be reached at michaelglatze at gmail.com.
Americans for Truth about Homosexuality
By Peter LaBarbera

http://americansfortruth.com/news/michael-glatze-comes-out-of- 
homosexual-activism-former-young-gay-america-magazine-co-founder.html

oday, when Americans celebrate their freedom and independence, a man  
living in Canada is cherishing a more profound liberty — from  
spiritual bondage to homosexual sin. Michael Glatze, a former rising  
star in the “gay” movement — and co-founder of “Young Gay America”  
magazine — publicly “came out” of homosexuality on the web pages of  
WorldNetDaily yesterday. Click HERE for WND’s breaking news story  
about Glatze.

Concerned Women for America has a wonderful online interview with  
Michael Glatze, which you can listen to by clicking HERE. (The set-up  
page for the CWA interview is HERE. Glatze can be reached at  
michaelglatze at gmail.com.)

[...]

I suspect that most people — Christian and non-Christian alike –  
would cheer Glatze’s transformation, if the dominant media would dare  
report it fairly. But the pro-homosexuality crew at ExGayWatch is all  
in a tizzy. For them and all homosexuality advocates, Michael’s  
rejection of their lifestyle poses a problem, as it undermines the  
central “gay” lie (myth) of our age: that “being gay” is  
intrinsically ”who a person is,” and that homosexuality is morally  
neutral. (Most argue that it is innate, and now the homosexual  
“christian” movement mischievously asserts that this “orientation” is  
a gift from God.)

[...]

Michael Glatze told CWA that he left an outgoing message on his  
computer at “Young Gay America” (the magazine’s website,  
www.ygamag.com, was down at press time): ”Homosexuality equals death.  
I choose life.” He made the right choice, but God, it seems, was also  
doing the choosing. Pray for this young man as we thank God for His  
gracious work in one repentant sinner’s life — a testimony of what He  
can do in this nation if we as a people humble ourselves, reject  
worldly agendas, and return to following Him.

[More at URL]


----- 14 -----
NH Repeal of Abortion Notification Law Goes Against the Grain, Critic  
Says
By Monisha Bansal
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
July 06, 2007

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/viewstory.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/ 
200707/CUL20070706a.html

(CNSNews.com) - As the first state to repeal a parental notification  
law requiring minors to notify a parent before receiving an abortion,  
New Hampshire has become something of an "oddity," Concerned Women  
for America President Wendy Wright said Thursday.

[...]

In January 2006, the Supreme Court ruled that the New Hampshire law  
was unconstitutional, because it did not include exceptions to  
protect the health of a pregnant minor.

The decision noted that the court had held repeatedly that states  
have the right to require parental involvement in abortion decisions  
by minors, so New Hampshire's law would have to be revisited by the  
state legislature.

Signing the repeal last week, Gov. John Lynch said the court had  
ruled that the law "fails to protect the health and safety of all  
women."

[More at URL]


----- 15 -----
Abstinence Brings 'Dignity'
Traveling in Africa, First Lady Laura Bush speaks in favor of faith- 
based HIV prevention.
Isaac Phiri in Zambia | posted 6/29/2007 12:25PM

Thursday, June 28, started out as a pampered day in Mrs. Laura Bush's  
four-nation Africa marathon.

[...]

After that, accompanied by her Zambian counterpart, First Lady  
Maureen Mwanawasa, Mrs. Bush hit the road. "I hope you have  
comfortable shoes," she had warned at the beginning of her trip. "We  
will work hard." In Lusaka, she certainly did.

Abstinence education brings 'dignity'

A cloud of red dust announced the arrival of the heavily guarded  
entourage that took Mrs. Bush and her daughter Jenna to the Mututa  
Memorial Center. Center director Martha Chilufuya's late husband,  
having received a lot of home-based care during his long illness,  
donated half of their farm to care-giving initiatives.

[...]

The impact of faith-based initiatives is evident, Mrs. Bush said.  
"Millions of people have heard these messages, and they are putting  
their faith into practice across the continent of Africa." In case  
there was a doubter in the audience, she cited an immediate example.  
"Here at Mututa, parents and caregivers know very well the healing  
power of faith," she added.

Later, Christianity Today asked Zambian First Lady Mwanawasa whether  
advancing abstinence using public resources was an issue in Zambia.  
"Not at all," she said. "As Zambians, we consider churches one of our  
biggest partners." The teaching of the church is critical, she said:  
"The message of abstinence is very important in preventing new  
infections."

[More at URL]


----- 16 -----
Leading Gay Rights Activist Comes Out of Homosexuality, Tells His Story
By
Lillian Kwon
Christian Post Reporter
Thu, Jul. 05 2007 11:53 AM ET

http://www.christianpost.com/article/ 
20070705/28312_Gay_Rights_Activist_Comes_Out_of_Homosexuality,_Tells_His 
_Story.htm

Young Gay America Magazine is on hiatus. Its founding editor has left  
the magazine and gay activism and has now publicly announced that  
he's been "healed."

Michael Glatze, who had become a leading activist in the homosexual  
community, made the shocking announcement on Tuesday in a World Net  
Daily column entitled "How A 'Gay Rights' Leader Became Straight."

"It became clear to me, as I really thought about it – and really  
prayed about it – that homosexuality prevents us from finding our  
true self within. We cannot see the truth when we're blinded by  
homosexuality," he wrote.

Glatze grew up with a Christian mom and a father who was possibly  
agnostic or atheist. His father died when Glatze was only 13,  
followed by his mother when he was 19.

The mixed religious messages already confused him of who he was.

[...]

When he came out of what he called a near-death experience with  
intestinal cramps and stomach pains, he found himself turning to and  
thanking God.

"I realized at that point in time that it was actually God that was  
the actual thing that I had always been relying on, the core, the  
center of truth that I had always been turning to, writing on and  
living my entire life for," Glatze said.

He opened up the Bible and realized the Word of God was not only  
"good," but also "intelligent, earth-shattering, topical" and "so true."

Today, he wants to share his story and says it's his duty to tell  
people the truth. He equates homosexuality with death – death to  
one's soul; that those struggling with same-sex desires are wanting a  
part of them that they do not have; and that basically, they are not  
completely whole.

In a society where gay tolerance is increasing and more than half of  
Americans say they do not believe homosexuality is changeable,  
according to a recent CNN poll, Glatze posed, "If there had not been  
homosexuality condoned in the culture, would I have developed the  
notion that I had such an identity because we know the nature of that  
identity is suspect?"

[...]

"I believe that all people, intrinsically, know the truth. I believe  
that is why Christianity scares people so much. It reminds them of  
their conscience, which we all possess."

[...]

When Glatze pondered about remaining a homosexual and being a born- 
again Christian at the same time, he said realized he couldn't be both.

"Truth resonated so much that ... I realized you can't actually have  
it both ways," he said.

Glatze left what he said some homosexuals considered an ideal gay  
relationship. He now realizes that "when you see another guy, you can  
lust. But you can also recognize that that lust is nothing more than  
a craving need and a grasping desire that holds you in its grip."

[More at URL]


----- 17 -----
Amnesty International’s inhumane human-rights policy
By Columnist Kathryn Lopez
Laurel Leader-Call (pointed to by Concerned Women for America)

http://www.leadercall.com/opinion/local_story_184101101.html? 
keyword=secondarystory

It is a tragedy when a force for good becomes a force for evil. But  
such is the case with Amnesty International.

In April, the 1.8 million-member human-rights organization announced  
its support for abortion. Amnesty International (AI), in a press  
release, made it clear that it stood by “the rights of women and  
girls to be free from threat, force, or coercion as they exercise  
their sexual and reproductive rights."

[...]

How can AI be a credible human-rights defender when it will not  
unconditionally defend those who are truly voiceless — the unborn?  
Congressman Chris Smith (R-N.J.), a pro-life human-rights advocate,  
is right in advising AI against the policy change: “The killing of an  
unborn child by abortion can never be construed to be a human right.  
Therefore, taking a position that supports violence against children  
is antithetical to everything Amnesty International stands for,”  
Smith said at a press conference.

What’s so frustrating about the new policy is that AI — founded by a  
Communist and Roman Catholic convert — can do a world of good with  
its global resources. Days after pro-life groups were blasting AI for  
its new policy, the organization was publicizing the plight of the  
blind Chinese human-rights activist Chen Guangcheng, who was beaten  
in a prison. He is serving a four-year sentence on trumped-up  
charges; his real transgression was exposing the inhuman treatment of  
women and unborn children in the Shandong province, where local Linyi  
City officials use forced sterilization and abortion to meet China’s  
population-control mandates. If AI is supporting a man who is  
fighting against the mistreatment of women, how can they not realize  
how similar that fight is to the preservation of unborn life?

[More at URL]


----- 18 -----
Why marriage is on the endangered species list	
WorldNetDaily Commentary
July 5, 2007

http://www.familyaction.org/Articles/issues/family/marriage/ 
endangered-species.htm

In his excellent book, "The Future of Marriage," David Blankenhorn,  
president of the Institute for American Values, reasserts every  
child's birthright to live with their married mother and father. This  
obvious need for institutionalizing marriage, he says, has been lost  
in the smoke and mirrors of the "gay marriage" debate.

Asking what is marriage and why does it matter, Blankenhorn quotes  
philosophers, anthropologists, sociologists, psychiatrists, brain  
scientists and other scholars who agree "marriage" is less about  
"love" than it is about a couple's commitment to nurture and protect  
their potential children into adulthood.

Blankenhorn cites anthropological marriage studies as far flung as  
ancient Mesopotamia and the Trobriand Islands as well as "gay and  
lesbian movement" scholars and activists who speak for "gay  
marriage," "gay adoption," group marriage, polyamory, polygamy and  
other "flexible" marriage schemes.

Still, the data show that children's right to both a mother and a  
father "should outweigh new adult freedoms," including "same-sex  
marriage."

[...]

In his effort to reach out to a wider public, Blankenhorn skims past  
his finding that the only culturally approved male-male marriages  
appear in cultures that permit adult males to marry boys.

Yet this is quite a finding for today's "gay marriage" debate!

[...]

In 1948 and 1953, Americans still were reeling from Alfred Kinsey's  
two fraudulent sex books on males and females when they were hit  
broadside in December 1953 by Hugh Hefner's Playboy magazine.

Hefner has it right, too. He says as "Kinsey's pamphleteer" these two  
men were the catalysts for the sexual revolution.

The Hefner cult condemned chastity, fidelity and monogamous marriage  
and championed adultery, sodomy, orgies, lesbianism, no-fault  
divorce, abortion on demand and the like; at the same time the Kinsey  
cult was carving out anti-family, anti-marriage, anti-women and anti- 
child laws and legislation.

Kinsey/Hefner cultists are far more relevant to American marital  
dissolution than the mating patterns of Trobriand Islanders.

Kinsey's scientific frauds, quoted by the U.S. Supreme Curt and Ivy  
League textbooks, have percolated down to high schools, middle  
schools and kindergarteners. Hefner's gateway porn showed Joe College  
how to dump marriage, fidelity and fatherhood to become a lifetime  
member of the dazed, sexually addicted playboy consumer world.

[More at URL]


----- 19 -----
Dismantling Canada—one institution at a time
By Andrea Mrozek, Manager of Research and Communications
Institute of Marriage and Family Canada (andream at imfcanada.org)
Online as of 10 July 2007
[Editor's note: The IMFC, like Focus on the Family Canada, is a  
sockpuppet of Focus on the Family, James Dobson's fundamentalist  
political/social action organisation.]

http://www.imfcanada.org/article_files/July_4_2007.pdf

Columnist Andrew Coyne once wrote he was “for gay marriage before  
gays were,” but those “people of goodwill who worry where it will all  
lead” were just as deserving of respect. [1] David Blankenhorn is one  
such person of goodwill, a former student of noted academic Michael  
Ignatieff, and most recently, the author of The Future of Marriage.  
One could say he was against anything that might diminish the  
venerable institution of marriage—that includes gay marriage—long  
before the challenges were on the horizon. [2] Blankenhorn, a liberal  
Democrat and self-described “marriage nut,” faced a crisis of  
conscience after a meeting with Evan Wolfson, executive director of a  
group advocating for gay marriage. Blankenhorn found himself on the  
defensive and asked himself:  “Had I really thought the issue  
through? Maybe I hadn’t. Maybe I should.” [3]
[More at URL]


----- 20 -----
Saving institutions to save a country
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Andrea Mrozek
Calgary Herald

http://www.imfcanada.org/article_files/ 
Saving_institutions_to_save_a_country.pdf
Columnist Andrew Coyne once wrote he was "for gay marriage before  
gays were," but those "people of goodwill who worry where it will all  
lead" were just as deserving of respect. David Blankenhorn is such a  
person of goodwill, a liberal Democrat, a former student of noted  
academic Michael Ignatieff, and most recently, the author of The  
Future of Marriage.
After a meeting with an individual advocating for gay marriage, he  
faced a crisis of conscience. He asked himself: "Had I really thought  
the issue through? Maybe I hadn't. Maybe I should." The result is The  
Future of Marriage, a compassionate and compelling defence of  
marriage as an institution today, in history and across cultures.
Agree or not, it initiates a discussion framed by the right  
questions. Blankenhorn is critical of the tone of marriage debates  
across America. He writes, "(f)or sheer cultural illiteracy and  
intellectual vacuity, nothing can top the debate over the meaning of  
marriage taking place in the U.S. in the early years of the 21st  
century." Clearly, he was not present for the all-Canadian round --  
which bounced between mud-slinging and Hallmark card slogans during  
"debates" on Parliament Hill.

[...]

But recent Canadian history suggests the demise of many of Canada's  
greatest institutions: the Canadian flag was revamped in 1965,  
Dominion Day ("what's that?") -- lost in 1982, the Canadian  
military's diminishing role ("aren't we peacekeepers?") -- the  
Anglican Church disappearing, the significance of the Crown on the  
wane. Clearly, Canadians can accept a whole lot of de- 
institutionalization without taking to the barricades. Blankenhorn is  
somewhat aware of this when he says, "(by) far the biggest problem is  
the widespread refusal to respect or even acknowledge the  
institutionality of marriage. It's as if we have forgotten what a  
social institution is." As if? In Canada, we almost certainly have.

The intellectual disconnect goes further: Not to pick on the erudite  
Coyne, but in another sphere of debate, he stands resolutely in  
favour of tradition. When Prime Minister Stephen Harper said:  
"Quebecers form a nation within a united Canada," Coyne eloquently  
mourned "(the) hollowing out of the national idea . . ." But it is  
the very impulse that allows Canada's elite to both hollow out the  
nation at a political whim and hollow out the institution of marriage  
-- also at a political whim. That history matters, that nations are  
carefully nurtured over centuries and that the institution of  
marriage has existed in much the same form for millenniums --these  
are parallel notions.

Not today, however. Got a new definition of Canada? Or marriage? Hey  
-- why not?

[More at URL]


----- 21 -----
Historian Barton says Hindu prayer before Senate raises concerns
Jim Brown
OneNewsNow.com
July 10, 2007

http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/07/historian_barton_says_hindu_pr.php

[Editor's note: OneNewsNow is a sockpuppet of the American Family  
Association]

A prominent Christian historian and constitutional expert is  
expressing concern that the U.S. Senate will be opened up for the  
first time with a non-monotheistic prayer.

On Thursday, a Hindu chaplain from Reno, Nevada, by the name of Rajan  
Zed is scheduled to deliver the opening prayer in the U.S. Senate.  
Zed tells the Las Vegas Sun that in his prayer he will likely include  
references to ancient Hindu scriptures, including Rig Veda,  
Upanishards, and Bhagavard-Gita. Historians believe it will be the  
first Hindu prayer ever read at the Senate since it was formed in 1789.

WallBuilders president David Barton is questioning why the U.S.  
government is seeking the invocation of a non-monotheistic god.  
Barton points out that since Hindus worship multiple gods, the prayer  
will be completely outside the American paradigm, flying in the face  
of the American motto "One Nation Under God."

[More at URL]


----- 22 -----
Ford's sales drop, homosexual support continues
Ed Thomas
OneNewsNow.com
July 10, 2007

http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/07/fords_sales_drop_homosexual_su.php

[Editor's note: OneNewsNow is a sockpuppet of the American Family  
Association]

The spokesman for American Family Association (AFA) says more than  
700,000 families have said they will not buy from Ford Motor Company  
because of the automaker's support of homosexual causes and business.  
The pro-family group says the effects of that boycott are reflected  
in Ford's sales figures from June, which show an 8.1 percent drop  
from a year ago.

Ford car sales were down 24.6 percent from last year, and overall  
sales for 2007 are 11 percent lower than 2006. Yet AFA's Randy Sharp  
says number two of the "Big Three" automakers continues to be a  
leading supporter of same-sex "marriage" and the homosexual agenda --  
including, most recently, sponsership of a booth and banner at the  
Cleveland Lesbian-Gay-Bi-Trans Pride Parade and Festival.

"Sadly, Ford continues to sponsor gay pride parades despite the fact  
that by doing so it's driving customers away from the dealers'  
parking lots," says Sharp. "I believe it's very clear that when you  
offend your customers, they're not going to drive into your parking  
lot and buy your product."

[More at URL]


----- 23 -----
Fred Thompson not the next Reagan, says conservative journalist
Chad Groening
OneNewsNow.com
July 10, 2007

http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/07/fred_thompson_not_the_next_rea.php

[Editor's note: OneNewsNow is a sockpuppet of the American Family  
Association]

An author and investigative journalist believes conservatives are in  
for a big disappointment if they believe former Tennessee Senator  
Fred Thompson is the next Ronald Reagan.

[...]

"I don't think some of the positions he's taken are going to be truly  
satisfying to real conservatives unless they want to go again  
experience more 'battered-voter syndrome' like they've done under  
Bush," he comments. "They can make Thompson into what voters want him  
to be, but unfortunately he just isn't what they're projecting into  
him."

[More at URL]


----- 24 -----
Perspectives: Teaching denial and ignorance
Jane Jimenez
Guest Columnist
OneNewsNow.com
July 10, 2007

http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/07/perspectives_teaching_denial_a.php

America is caught in a battle for the health of our youth. When left  
to the common sense of parents, informed and supported by medical  
facts, clearly the health of our youth depends on their ability to  
maintain sexual abstinence until marriage.

Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirms  
this sexual abstinence message ... although ... to avoid public  
castigation by liberals bent on social re-engineering, the CDC  
couches their approval in careful linguistics: The surest way to  
avoid transmission of sexually transmitted diseases is to abstain  
from sexual intercourse, or to be in a long-term mutually monogamous  
relationship with a partner who has been tested and you know is  
uninfected.

[...]

If liberals could have their way, young people would be taught that  
all sex is created equal (uninhibited), and that you can do anything  
(absolutely anything) you feel you are ready to do with another  
person (or persons) who feel they are ready to do it, too (consensual  
sex), hiding behind a bit of latex (protection), without fear of  
consequences (free and natural).

If liberals could have their way, this message would begin early ...  
in kindergarten ... and be legally mandated and federally funded.

[More at URL]


----- 25 -----
Sexual Healing
Tony Perkins' Washington Update
To: Friends of Family Research Council
From: Family Research Council President Tony Perkins
July 10, 2007 - Tuesday
Please forward this to your Friends and Family!

http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WU07G06

Christians have proclaimed for two millennia that the truth of Jesus  
Christ can release men and women from enslavement to destructive  
behaviors (John 8:31-32). The homosexual movement argues, when it  
suits them, that homosexuality is a characteristic set in concrete  
from birth. Christians have always known better (I Cor. 6: 9-11).  
Powerful evidence of this came in the past week as Michael Glatze,  
formerly of Young Gay America, and one of the founding editors of YGA  
Magazine, renounced homosexuality in an article posted on  
WorldNetDaily.com. Glatze, now in his mid-30s, announced his  
homosexuality at age 20, and, as a magazine editor, became a  
celebrity often appearing on TV and in magazines. Yet Glatze turned  
in another direction, recognizing: "God is regarded as an enemy by  
many in the grip of homosexuality or other lustful behavior, because  
He reminds them of who and what they truly are meant to be."  
Furthermore, homosexuality alienates men from God: "Lust takes us out  
of our bodies, 'attaching' our psyche onto someone else's physical  
form. That's why homosexual sex - and all other lust-based sex - is  
never satisfactory..." Thank God for the saving grace that has  
brought Michael Glatze down this new path. Undoubtedly, his trials  
and temptations will be great, but he has much to teach this nation  
in this time of great sexual confusion.

[More at URL]


----- 26 -----
Tony Perkins' Washington Update
To: Friends of Family Research Council
From: Family Research Council President Tony Perkins
July 2, 2007 - Monday
Please forward this to your Friends and Family!

http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WU07G01

A Donkey Led Astray

A vote on the Financial Services Appropriations bill in the House  
last Thursday handed us both victories and defeats. One loss came on  
a vote against Rep. Mark Souder's (R-Ind.) amendment to ban any  
dollars in the Financial Services bill from going toward needle  
exchange programs for drug abusers. However, an amendment by Rep.  
Mike Pence (R-Ind.) passed, which banned any money being used by the  
FCC to implement the so-called "Fairness Doctrine." A pro-marriage  
amendment offered by Rep. Virgil Goode (R-Va.), which stops any  
federal funds from paying for domestic partnerships in the District  
of Columbia, was also approved with the same type of bipartisan  
support we saw in 1996 on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The  
Democratic Leadership hoped to undermine DOMA by directly violating  
it through the Appropriations process; however, 40 Democrats joined  
with their Republican colleagues to protect DOMA--for now. The  
Democratic Leadership is so opposed to doing anything to protect the  
sanctity of marriage that House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D- 
Calif.), DNC Chairman Howard Dean and others got involved in support  
of homosexual marriage in the state of Massachusetts. Those leaders  
reportedly believe that action and votes on the marriage issue would  
hurt the Democratic Party at the national level in 2008. There's a  
simple, socially beneficial solution to this problem: endorse and act  
to protect marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

[...]

News Flash: Moms, Dads, and Marriage Still Matter to Americans

There's both good news and bad news in a Pew Research Center poll on  
marriage, parenthood, and other issues involving family and sexuality  
that was released over the weekend. A lopsided majority of  
Americans--69%--still believe that a child needs both a mother and a  
father. Large majorities also still believe that having children out  
of wedlock is a big problem for society. Americans still oppose same- 
sex "marriage" by a 57-32% margin, while opposition to the marriage  
counterfeits called "civil unions" has once again surpassed support  
for them. These views reflect the continuing common sense of the  
American people. However, other study findings were more troubling.  
The Washington Post chose to emphasize the sharp drop since 1990 in  
the percentage of people who consider children very important to a  
successful marriage, from 65% to only 41%, along with the 65% who  
believe that "mutual happiness and fulfillment" (rather than "bearing  
and raising children") is the "main purpose of marriage." Yet while  
an individual couple may not have children as their top priority,  
there's no question that providing an optimal setting for bearing and  
raising children is the most important public purpose of marriage-- 
one same-sex unions can never fulfill.

[More at URL]


----- 27 -----
Tony Perkins' Washington Update
To: Friends of Family Research Council
From: Family Research Council President Tony Perkins
June 28, 2007 - Thursday
Please forward this to your Friends and Family!

http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WU07F16

Conservatives Question 'Poll' Position

Results of a new poll on the priorities of Republican voters are  
causing quite a commotion in today's headlines--and considering the  
survey's findings, it's no wonder. Funded by four of the most liberal  
GOP organizations, the survey is a masterpiece of political  
manipulation. According to the results, U.S. Republicans now support  
gays in the military, universal health care, special rights for  
homosexuals, and 60% of them would vote for a presidential candidate  
who disagreed with their position on abortion. Is the new message of  
the GOP to write off social issues altogether? An in-depth look at  
the polling questions suggests not. Most of the survey was crafted to  
produce a conditioned response. Here's one example. Participants were  
asked to agree or disagree with leading questions like this one: "The  
Republican Party has spent too much time focusing on moral issues."  
Fifty-three percent concurred, despite the fact that moral issues  
have historically been the winning issues on Election Day and the  
moral issue of corruption in office saddled a number of GOP  
candidates with defeat last November. Groups like the Republican Main  
Street Partnership may have succeeded in engineering some phony  
support for their issues, but we'll see how reliable those findings  
are after the ultimate polls at the ballot box.

Additional Resources
New poll: GOP is older, more focused on security and wants health  
coverage for all


----- 28 -----
New poll: GOP is older, more focused on security and wants health  
coverage for all
OnPolitics
USA Today
By: Mark Memmott and Jill Lawrence

http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2007/06/new-poll-gop-is.html

A new poll of 2,000 self-described Republican voters finds that the  
party has gotten older, more conservative and more concerned about  
foreign policy and national security during President Bush's tenure.

[Editor's note: Poll here:

http://www.fabmac.com/6-07%20National%20GOP%20Media%20Presentation% 
20Handout.pdf

]


----- 29 -----
Tony Perkins' Washington Update
To: Friends of Family Research Council
From: Family Research Council President Tony Perkins
June 26, 2007 - Thursday
Please forward this to your Friends and Family!

Camouflaging the Problems of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

Reps. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) and Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) are beating  
the drum for a full-fledged retreat from the military's "Don't Ask,  
Don't Tell" policy that was adopted as a compromise under the Clinton  
Administration. According to a recent report from the General  
Accounting Office, 300 soldiers who served as military translators  
were discharged for revealing their same-sex attractions. In a letter  
to the State Department, Lantos and Ackerman claim the "bigoted"  
policy should be abolished because it "cripples our national  
security" and wastes taxpayer dollars spent training soldiers only to  
dismiss them later on. I agree with these congressmen that the "Don't  
Ask, Don't Tell" policy is a waste of taxpayer dollars. Congress  
should allow the military to enforce the law and prohibit homosexuals  
from enlisting in the military in the first place so that training  
dollars are not wasted. Homosexuality threatens unit cohesion,  
sacrifices safety, and distracts the troops from their primary  
mission. The military is no place for social experimentation. If our  
leaders truly want to protect their own, they will abolish this  
failed policy and uphold the law.

[...]

D.C.'s Defenseless Marriage Act

We all remember the tragedy of September 11, 2001, but what most  
Americans don't recall about that day is the legislation passed by  
Congress in the late-night hours after the attack. While the country  
was still reeling from shock, liberals took the opportunity to push a  
bill that made unmarried couples in Washington, D.C. eligible for  
spousal benefits. Not only was the bill approved while the attention  
of voters was focused elsewhere, but it also broke an agreement not  
to move controversial legislation in the immediate aftermath of 9-11.  
Those calculated steps created a dangerous precedent in the nation's  
capital that continues to plague the city--and, potentially, the  
nation. In the upcoming Financial Services Appropriations bill, FRC  
is working to block language that would allocate not just city funds,  
but federal funds to the District of Columbia's domestic partner  
benefits. Under the 2008 proposal, taxpayers everywhere would be  
forced to subsidize lifestyles that devalue marriage, jeopardize  
public health, and hurt children, who rely upon the married love of a  
father and mother. The bill is also a blatant violation of the  
Defense of Marriage Act. FRC's VP of Policy, Peter Sprigg, reminded  
readers of yesterday's USA Today that the legal and financial  
benefits of marriage are not entitlements regardless of marital  
status. The argument that they should be is as ludicrous as  
suggesting that people who have never served in the military deserve  
veterans' benefits. Call or email your representatives and urge them  
to make the nation's capital a place where integrity of marriage is  
preserved. Note: late today the White House issued a statement that  
President Bush's advisers would recommend a veto if the pro-federal- 
funds-for-domestic partners provision stays in the bill.

[More at URL]


----- 30 -----
Massive Young Crowd Fasts for Moral Revolution
By Lillian Kwon
Christian Post Reporter
Mon, Jul. 09 2007 11:47 AM ET

http://www.christianpost.com/article/ 
20070709/28365_Massive_Young_Crowd_Fasts_for_Moral_Revolution.htm

A massive fasting and prayer gathering drew one of the largest crowds  
in the history of Nashville's L.P. Field on Saturday.

Some 100,000 people answered "The Call" under the blazing sun to turn  
around a nation that many evangelical Christians believe is on a  
moral decline.

"We’ve come here with a faith that God can turn a nation and mighty  
shift can take place here today," Lou Engle, founder of The Call,  
told the crowd of mostly young adults.

[...]

The day was 7/7/07, when tens of thousands of Christians made a  
massive renewal of faith and what some hope will spark a massive  
revolution decades after the Jesus Movement – major Christian  
movement countering the hippie culture – swept the nation.

"All through the Bible, there are a series of sevens. So, when you  
get three sevens to line up at once, you know something's up," said  
Scott MacLeod, founder of Provision International and who helped  
organize The Call, according to The Tennessean.

Ahead of the anticipated gathering, event spokeswoman Julia  
Richardson stated, "We believe that on 7/7/7, the number of covenant,  
whoever comes here can have a chance to have covenant with the Lord  
and remarry him and get rid of the sexual immorality and impurity  
that has been laced through the church."

[...]

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas made  
an appearance soon after the day-long program started and asked for  
forgiveness for the government's sins against abortion and immigration.

[More at URL]