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

Sat Apr 29 19:13:52 PDT 2006

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Expanded article from Mission America about their anti-gay school  
investigation programme; they're working with the American Family  
Association, Concerned Women for America, and the Family Research  
Council on this monster;

Lawsuit filed against Massachusetts school over reading of the "King  
and King" children's book;

In spirit dancing news, "PrayLive" organises mass prayer for lower  
gasoline prices;

A scathing deconstruction and analysis of Paul Cameron's methodology in  
his _Journal of Biosocial Science_ article - I mean, in the very first  
paragraph, he describes homosexuality as "a contagion, a corruption,  
and an addiction," and also lies _demonstrably in this paper_ about his  
already-impossibly-flimsy sources. How this got past peer-review I will  
_never_ understand; link courtesy Livejournal user cafiorello  
(http://cafiorello.livejournal.com);

National Day of Prayer vice-chair denounces "culture of personal  
choice" and "homosexuality" as part of this year's theme;

Focus on the Family notes survey indicating more lesbian and gay  
parents, particularly through adoption; decries it as "devastating" to  
children;

Anti-gay business owner who refused business from a lesbian customer in  
violation of county anti-discrimination code found in violation; Focus  
on the Family outraged;

***** Focus on the Family _Citizen_ launches a direct broadside against  
science and scientists, reviews (favourably) the book _The Scientists’  
Crusade_, and stating about scientists: "Once they saw themselves as  
under God. Today, many of them want to take His place. And they won’t  
tolerate anyone who objects.";

Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM on Federal appeals court nominee Brett  
Kavanaugh - this is specifically a test of the filibuster compromise;  
you can do your own Google searches on the name if you want to know  
what he's about; the only interesting argument I've found is that the  
problem isn't that he's an ideologue - despite a variety of claims from  
the left that he is - but that he's a purely political animal and that  
this is allegedly a patronage appointment. I found no crossover support  
for or opposition to this nominee;

Focus on the Family revives the "War on Christmas" bullshit;

Family Research Council ACTION ITEM to help with anti-marriage drive;  
includes link to PDF of anti-gay-and-lesbian petition text; the  
language seems vague enough to me to allow people to claim it's against  
civil unions too;

Family Research Council ACTION ITEM to "ask Congress to put children  
first" by passing a Federal anti-marriage Constitutional amendment;

FRC quotes the anti-gay "Institute for Marriage and Public Policy"  
saying that lesbian and gay people don't get married anyway, so  
shouldn't be allowed to; the marriage rate in Massachusetts is up to  
16%; iMAPP claims to be a neutral examiner of the topic, but _all_ of  
their articles are against, all the fundamentalist organisations link  
to it, and they use the fundamentalist "defense" and "protection"  
language to describe anti-gay marriage activities, and talk about  
"wins" for their side against marriage rights; in other words, they're  
lying. Big shock;

American Family Association says 10 commandments cases are breaking  
their way - I suspect this is a result of Bush's nominees than anything  
else;

AFA story supporting lawsuit against Lexington (Mass.) school district  
over the reading of the children's book "King and King," which they  
denounce as "pro-homosexual";

Minnesota house passes bill to ban state medical funds from paying for  
abortions; it's reportedly to be in trouble in the Senate;

Republican Senator Sam Brownback demands RU-486 be taken off the market  
immediately; meanwhile, Democratic Senator Robert Byrd is proposing a  
school-prayer Federal amendment;

Article 8/MassResistance attacks "Day of Silence" protest against  
anti-GBLT discrimination as "depraved state-sponsoured propaganda on  
vulnerable kids";

***** Concerned Women for America's Robert Knight announces support for  
anti-gay "School Risk Audit" programme detailed earlier;

Concerned Women for America pushes filibuster-agreement challenging  
vote on nominee Kavanaugh;

Focus on the Family Canada article on "the continuing deterioration of  
traditional family values" - interestingly, this is 1993-2003, so they  
can't blame queers for this one;

Faith and Freedom Network attacks _Kentucky_ for "promoting a secular  
America" - that's _funny_;

CWA audio feature on "Real Women" lobbying Congress; Senator Brownback  
helped with the morning training session;

Extended CWA audio feature, with transcription, railing against Day of  
Silence, any sympathetic or neutral coverage of GBLT issues in schools,  
or, indeed, any visibility at all; Robert Knight comes out and says  
outright that any mention _or even implication_ of GBLT people or  
themes should require parental notification and opting out; _in fact,  
goes further, saying that anything that contradicts their religious  
views is a violation of their religious rights_; about LGBT people  
says, "that's what's intended here, that's what the homosexual  
activists hope to do, to destroy the children's innocence, to confuse  
them about gender and sexuality." There are a _lot_ of red-meat quotes  
in this one, so go to, if that's what you're into.

----- 1 -----
Pro-Family Groups Unveil Homosexuality School
Risk Audit as Response to 'Day of Silence'
Development spearheaded by Mission America
Mission America
Online as of April 28; dated April 24

http://www.missionamerica.com/homosexual.php?articlenum=47

In the wake of the SBC’s passage of Education Resolution at its 2005  
Annual Meeting, American Family Association, Concerned Women for  
America, Family Research Council and a pro-family coalition encourage  
investigation of local school districts

COLUMBIA, SC, April 24 /Christian Wire Service/ -- Last June the Annual  
Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention approved a version of a  
resolution submitted by Dr. Voddie Baucham and Bruce Shortt that, among  
other things, warned parents of collaboration by public school  
districts with homosexual activists and urged parents and churches to  
investigate their local school districts. The Baucham-Shortt resolution  
was endorsed by over 60 conservative grassroots organizations,  
including many state chapters of the American Family Association,  
Concerned Women for America, Eagle Forum, and Focus on the Family.

[More at URL]

----- 2 -----
Parents sue Mass. school over same-sex fairy tale
Thu Apr 27, 2006 12:39pm ET
By Jason Szep
Reuters

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx? 
type=domesticNews&storyid=2006-0
4-27T170545Z_01_N27293100_RTRUKOC_0_US-RIGHTS-GAYS-MASSACHUSETTS.xml

BOSTON (Reuters) - Two sets of parents filed a lawsuit on Thursday  
against a Massachusetts town and its public school system after a  
teacher read a gay-themed fairy tale to children without notifying them  
first, their lawyers said.

The lawsuit against Lexington, a wealthy suburb about 12 miles west of  
Boston, seeks unspecified damages after book "King & King" was read to  
a classroom of about 20 children who were mostly 7 years old.

It also charges that the school broke a 1996 Massachusetts law  
requiring that parents be notified of sex-education lessons. It names  
Lexington Superintendent of Schools Paul Ash and several other school  
and town officials.

[More at URL]

----- 3 -----
Latest News
PrayLive
Online as of 27 April 2006

http://praylive.com/news.html

Latest News - Join the Pray Live network to get up-to-date breaking  
information and news. Get sermon topics and bible study lessons for the  
current week and the newsletter.

Thursday, April 27, 2006, clergy from around the Washington, DC and MD  
area will gather in downtown DC to pray for the lowering of gas prices.

[More at URL]

----- 4 -----
Paul Cameron Conquers Cambridge
Cambridge University Press has published Paul Cameron’s “Children of  
Homosexuals And Transsexuals More Apt To Be Homosexual” in the May 2006  
issue of the Journal of Biosocial Science. Will this give him the  
“stamp of approval” he has longed for?
Jim Burroway
April 15, 2006

http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/Articles/000,012.htm

I am not a psychologist. Neither am I a sociologist nor any other kind  
of social scientist. I have a bachelor’s degree in electrical  
engineering from 1984, a degree so old that I’m now obsolete given the  
state of technology today. But that degree has given me the competence  
to deal with the concepts of sampling, data sets, and statistics. That,  
along with access to a good university library, the PubMed database and  
Google — these are all I need to recognize that what passes as a  
“scientific” article is nothing more than an unsubstantiated anti-gay  
tract.

It’s a terrible pity that the editors and reviewers of the Journal of  
Biosocial Science (JBS), who presumably posses far better credentials  
than I, have not been able to recognize blatant propaganda when they  
see it. This is all the more surprising given the clue that is not so  
well hidden in the very first sentences of the article:

‘Common sense’ holds that homosexuality is ‘contagious’ (Levitt &  
Klassen, 1974). Thus Rees & Ushill [sic – ed.] (1956) state ‘it is vain  
to blind oneself to the fact that the problem of male homosexuality is  
in essence the problem of the corruption of youth by itself and by its  
elders. It is the problem of the creation by means of such corruption  
of new addicts ready to corrupt a still further generation of young men  
and boys in the future’ (p.29).

[More at URL]

----- 5 -----
National Day of Prayer Asks America to Honor God
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
April 28, 2006

This year's observance is set for Thursday, May 4 — and there's still  
time to get involved.

http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0040313.cfm

The National Day of Prayer (NDP) is just six days away, and Jim  
Weidmann, vice chairman of the National Day of Prayer Task Force, said  
this year's observance will be a bit different than in previous years —  
different, he said, because of where we find ourselves as a nation.

"I was listening to a representative from the White House the other  
day," he told CitizenLink, "and he was talking about the fact that we  
are in one of the most dangerous times we've ever had as a nation — we  
are now being threatened on our own shores with terrorist activity. And  
so, this is really a time where we need to be dependent upon the Lord."

This year's NDP theme is " America, Honor God."

"It really comes out of 1 Samuel 2:30, which says: 'Those who honor me,  
I will honor,' " Weidmann said. "To honor God means to fear and obey  
God.

"We have lost the fear of God in today's culture. Jeremiah 5:22 says  
this: 'Should you not fear me? declares the Lord.' "

[...]

"We are living in a culture of personal choice: homosexuality,  
abortion, pornography, divorce, gambling. What we've done is we've  
walked away from God at the time of our greatest threat. That's why  
this National Day of Prayer is so important."

But if we, as a nation, have lost the fear of God, can we regain it? We  
can, Weidmann maintained.

"God will stay His hand if the people repent," he said. "If not, He  
passes judgment and then the people repent. But we really don't want to  
be on the receiving end of the latter."

[More at URL]

----- 6 -----
More Gays Hope to Adopt
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
April 28, 2006

Family advocates say the result could be devastating for children.

http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0040309.cfm

A new Syracuse University survey has found that two-thirds of lesbians  
and a third of homosexual men in the U.S. plan to adopt - a significant  
increase from four years ago, and the impact of which could be  
devastating.

Dawn Stefanowicz knows that devastation firsthand. She grew up in a  
household headed by two homosexuals.

"There was a tremendous impact on my gender identity, my sexual  
feelings and my value towards specific gender roles," she told Family  
News in Focus, adding that gay couples often have an ulterior motive in  
adding children to their household.

"Children right now are being used," she said, "to advance a political  
agenda that will create for the children, I believe, a great deal of  
harm."

----- 7 -----
Christian Ordered to Do Business with Gay Activists
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
April 28, 2006

http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/a0040312.cfm

An Arlington, Va., man who refused to duplicate videos containing  
homosexual content has been ordered by a government commission to  
complete the job, World Net Daily reported.

Lesbian activist Lillian Vincenz asked Tim Bono of Bono Film and Video  
to make copies of videos Gay and Proud and Second Largest Minority.

[...]

Refusing to take Vincenz's business, the commission concluded, violated  
the county's ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation.

[More at URL]

----- 8 -----
The Scientists’ Crusade
Once they saw themselves as under God. Today, many of them want to take  
His place. And they won’t tolerate anyone who objects.
by Matt Kaufman
Citizen magazine
Focus on the Family

http://www.family.org/cforum/citizenmag/departments/a0040017.cfm

We all know the plot to the standard media “science vs. religion”  
story. The details change with the topic (abortion, embryonic stem  
cells, creationism, intelligent design), but the basic outline seldom  
varies: It’s about scientists and medical professionals devoted to the  
pursuit of knowledge and the service of humanity versus those backward,  
dogmatic religious folk.

And this brings us to one the latest journalists to take on the topic,  
Pamela R. Winnick. She’s got a master’s degree from decidedly liberal  
Columbia Journalism School, and describes herself as “a New York  
liberal Democrat who is Jewish and not religious.” So she’s telling the  
same story as usual, right?

Wrong.

Winnick, author of A Jealous God: Science’s Crusade Against Religion  
(Nelson Current, 2005; 334 pages), has a very different story to tell.  
As she sees it, the religious folk have gotten a bum rap from the  
media—and the forces of “science” have gotten a free ride.

Where others paint Christians as power-hungry censors, more interested  
in playing God than in serving Him, Winnick sees the scientific  
establishment as far more likely to assume that role, especially in  
recent years.

The Galileo prototype of the scientist martyred by religion is now  
purely myth. Science long ago won its war against religion, not just  
traditional religion, but any faith in a power outside the modern mind.  
Now it wants more.

[More at URL]

----- 9 -----
Action May Come on Filibustered Court Nominee
Brett Kavanaugh, who has been blockaded for three years by Senate  
Democrats, could finally get a shot at confirmation.
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
Citizenlink
April 27, 2006

http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0040291.cfm

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is making plans to move forward with  
Brett Kavanaugh’s long-stalled nomination to the U.S. Circuit Court of  
Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Top Senate aides say Frist, R-Tenn., will make "every effort" to get  
the Senate to confirm Kavanaugh, currently serving as White House staff  
secretary, before the Memorial Day recess.

First nominated in July 2003, Kavanaugh has been waiting ever since for  
an up-or-down vote on the floor of the Senate because of opposition  
from chamber Democrats, according to Jan LaRue, chief legal counsel for  
Concerned Women for America (CWA).

[More at URL]

----- 10 -----
'Christmas Break' Back in Colorado
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
April 27, 2006

http://www.family.org/cforum/briefs/A0040294.cfm

A Colorado school district has taken a stand in the nationwide war on  
Christmas by reversing its decision to change the name of "Christmas  
break" to "Winter Break."

The Falcon School District near Colorado Springs made the decision  
after receiving advice from the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), which was  
contacted by a school board member looking for legal cover to restore  
the name "Christmas Break."

[More at URL]

----- 11 -----
Send in your petitions to protect marriage in Illinois
Deadline to submit petitions for marriage amendment nears in Illinois
Family Research Council
April 28, 2006 - Friday
Forward to a Friend!

http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=AL06D18

It has just been reported in the Chicago Tribune that Equality Illinois  
plans to challenge the Protect Marriage Illinois signatures that will  
soon be submitted. Because of this, it is important that thousands of  
"insurance" signatures be gathered.

If you have not yet signed the petition to protect marriage, please  
take the time to download the petition today, sign it and send it to  
Protect Marriage Illinois (address below). If you are not able to  
download this file, please call the PMI office at 877-787-8011  
(toll-free), or call the Illinois Family Institute at 630-790-8370.

Please do the following to help:

[More at URL]

----- 12 -----
Ask Congress to Put Children First
Ask Congress to Put Children First - Sign our Marriage Petition
Family Research Council
April 27, 2006 - Thursday
Forward to a Friend!

http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=AL06D17

By now you've already received two messages from me requesting your  
support of Family Research Council's marriage amendment petition. My  
sincere appreciation goes to the more than 28,000 men and women who  
have responded. However, having reached only half of our stated goal,  
much work remains to be done. If you haven't already done so, I hope  
you'll join in our historic effort.

Attempts by those seeking to redefine the institution of marriage are  
well underway across the country. Today, 10 states face legal  
challenges to their state policy defining marriage as the union between  
one man and one woman. In four of these states lower courts have  
already ruled traditional marriage to be unconstitutional. However,  
these are only state courts.

[More at URL]

----- 13 -----
Few Homosexuals Choose to "Marry"
Family Research Council
by: Tim Dailey

http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=CU06D06&f=PG03I03

Despite insistent demands by Homosexuals and lesbians to have the  
"right" to marry, a new study by the Institute for Marriage and Public  
Policy shows that few avail themselves of the opportunity when the  
option is legally available. The study, "Demand for Same-Sex Marriage:  
Evidence from the United States, Canada, and Europe," compared the  
estimated population of homosexuals and lesbians with the number of  
same-sex "marriages" in jurisdictions which permit homosexual  
"marriage."

----- 14 -----
Courts, Governors Siding with Ten Commandments Displays
Christian Attorney Sees Tide Turning Against ACLU's War on Decalogue
By Allie Martin
American Family Association/Agape Press
April 28, 2006

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/4/afa/282006g.asp

(AgapePress) - A Christian attorney says he's confident that public  
displays of the Ten Commandments will continue to be more acceptable in  
the legal arena.

Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue signed a bill permitting the display of  
God's sacred laws in public buildings. And the Seventh U.S. Circuit  
Court of Appeals upheld a Ten Commandments display in Elkhart County,  
Indiana v. Brooks. Mat Staver, president and general counsel of Liberty  
Counsel, says courts are approving historic rulings when it comes to  
the public display of the Ten Commandments.

[More at URL]

----- 15 -----
Spurned Massachusetts Parents File Suit Against Local School System
They Say Schools Have Violated State's Parental Notification Law
By Jim Brown
American Family Association/Agape Press
April 28, 2006

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/4/afa/282006b.asp

(AgapePress) - Parents in Lexington, Massachusetts, have filed a  
federal civil rights lawsuit against the town and school officials over  
their refusal to notify parents before classroom discussions with  
students regarding homosexuality. The two families bringing the suit  
claim school officials' actions violated the state's Parental  
Notification law.

The suit was filed yesterday (April 27) by parents David and Tonia  
Parker and Rob and Robin Wirthlin accuses school officials of violating  
their federal and Massachusetts civil rights in addition to the charge  
concerning the state Parental Notification law. Last year David Parker  
was arrested and spent the night in jail for refusing to leave  
Estabrook Elementary School until officials acknowledged his right to  
be notified when his six-year-old son is subjected to discussions about  
same-sex relationships.

[More at URL]

----- 16 -----
Minnesota House Approves Ban on Taxpayer Funding of Abortions
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 28, 2006

http://www.lifenews.com/state1627.html

St. Paul, MN (LifeNews.com) -- The Minnesota state House easily  
overwhelmingly approved a bill that would ban using state taxpayer  
funds to pay for abortions. The measure is designed to overturn a  
Minnesota Supreme Court ruling forcing the state's taxpayers to foot  
the bill for abortions for poor women.
House lawmakers signed off on the measure by an 81-50 vote. Sponsored  
by Rep. Laura Brod, a Republican, it would require the state's high  
court to re-examine its 1995 decision in Doe v. Gomez.

"I know many taxpayers in my district and throughout Minnesota would be  
very concerned that their hard-earned tax dollars are being used to  
fund abortions in this state," Brod said, according to an AP report.

[More at URL]

----- 17 -----
Commentary & News Briefs
April 28, 2006
Compiled by Jody Brown
American Family Association

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/4/afa/282006h.asp

[...]

...Senator Sam Brownback says he is angered by the seven deaths  
connected to the abortion drug RU 486. The Kansas Republican wants to  
see the drug taken off the shelves. "The public wouldn't stand for this  
level of failures if a drug had anything else that it was involved with  
other than abortion and life issues," he points out. "RU 486 must be  
pulled off the market before another woman dies." Brownback supports an  
effort being led by Mike Enzi of Wyoming, who sent a letter to the  
Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting the drug be pulled  
off the market until government authorities can review the drug's  
approval process, which was conducted by the Food and Drug  
Administration in the waning days of the Clinton administration. [Bill  
Fancher]

...Senator Robert Byrd has introduced a proposed constitutional  
amendment that would allow, but not require, voluntary prayer in public  
schools and extracurricular events. The West Virginia Democrat says the  
First Amendment was never intended to bar voluntary expressions of  
religion. It says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an  
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."  
Byrd says many people focus only on the first clause, "at the expense  
of the second clause, which protects the right of Americans to worship  
as they please." The 88-year-old senator is seeking re-election this  
year to another six-year term. [AP]

[More at URL]

----- 18 -----
"Day of Silence" in schools this Wednesday despite parents' outrage. A  
day of homosexual indoctrination.
Coming to a high school near you on Wednesday: The "Day of Silence"
Online as of 28 April 2006
Article 8 Alliance/MassResistance

http://www.massresistance.com/latest_email.html

The "Day of Silence" is an odious propaganda event held each April in  
high schools and middle schools across the country. The day-long event  
(now becoming multi-day) is promoted by the Gay Lesbian Straight  
Education Network (GLSEN), a well-financed national homosexual  
organization aimed at promoting homosexuality among schoolchildren, and  
organized in high schools and many middle schools through their  
(government financed) "Gay-Straight" alliance clubs and homosexual  
faculty members.

During an entire school day, children (and teachers) are asked to wear  
pro-homosexual rainbow stickers on their clothes, and remain silent  
during the school day in solidarity of the national homosexual  
movement. We cannot exaggerate how odious this is. Children are told by  
teachers and administrators that this is a noble cause, equated to the  
Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. They are told that homosexuality is  
normal and natural and that they must help fight all the "haters" and  
"bigots" out there. There are posters and speeches and pamphlets and  
free stuff, but no tolerance at all for any dissent.

In recent years, it's become quite sophisticated in the way they  
persuade vulnerable kids to participate with great passion. During the  
Day of Silence last year at Lexington High School, kids who wore  
traditional marriage stickers on their shirts endured a stream of  
hateful profanity during the day, and one girl was assaulted in front  
of teachers - who did nothing to stop it.

And this year, it promises to be even bigger. In some schools, it will  
encompass up to three days of events. Here's more info:

[...]

CALL YOUR LOCAL SCHOOL OFFICIALS. Ask them if they are having any "Day  
of Silence" activities. Let them know that they don't have a right to  
impose such depraved state-sponsored propaganda on vulnerable kids. If  
you can, pick up literature, take pictures, and help us expose it.

----- 19 -----
Groups Endorse ‘School Risk Audit’ to Expose ‘Gay’ Agenda in Schools
Concerned Women for America
4/25/2006
By Robert Knight

CWA is part of coalition urging parents to use new survey to alert  
their communities.

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/10593/CFI/family/index.htm

Are your local schools promoting homosexuality?

There’s a new way to find out.

A coalition of pro-family groups is urging parents to do a “School Risk  
Audit” to determine whether and how the schools have become conduits  
for homosexual activism.

Concerned Women for America (CWA) has joined with Mission America,  
American Family Association, Citizens for Community Values, Family  
Research Council, Eagle Forum, Americans for Truth, Exodus Mandate, and  
several state organizations (see below at end of article) to recommend  
a “School Risk Audit” inspired by a resolution passed in 2005 by the  
Southern Baptist Convention and developed by Mission America President  
Linda Harvey.

Parents can download the audit form and use any portion they wish or  
the entire document. The Audit includes recommendations for parental  
action in the wake of the survey, such as how to alert school  
authorities and how to issue a press release.

The release of the School Risk Audit has been timed to counter  
homosexual activists’ promotion of the 10th annual occurrence of “The  
Day of Silence,” in which students in kindergarten through college are  
encouraged to stay silent all day in support of “gay kids.” The Day of  
Silence, which proponents claim will be observed in more than 4,000  
schools nationwide, is slated for Wednesday, April 26.

[More at URL]

----- 20 -----
CWA: Senate Must End Recess on Judges
Concerned Women for America
4/27/2006

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/10603/MEDIA/misc/index.htm

Washington, D.C.— Concerned Women for America (CWA) is encouraged to  
hear that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tennessee) intends to  
bring Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the  
D.C. Circuit Court to a floor vote before the Memorial Day recess.  
Kavanaugh, the White House staff secretary, needs a Senate Judiciary  
Committee hearing before proceeding to an up-or-down vote on the Senate  
floor.

[More at URL]

----- 21 -----
Number of marriages, births dropping
Focus on the Family Canada
Today’s Family News
April 28, 2006

http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/family/stories/042806_01.html

Fewer couples are marrying, and women who do marry are having fewer  
children. Adding to these statistics, the Ottawa Citizen reported that  
many more children are living with common-law parents.

These alarming trends come from a new report by the Canadian Council on  
Social Development. It offers disturbing evidence of the continuing  
deterioration of traditional family ideals.

The number of marriages per year plummeted by nine per cent, while the  
number of births fell 14 per cent, between 1994 and 2003.

The fact is that women are delaying motherhood. In 2003, 48 per cent of  
the women who gave birth for the first time were aged 30 or older.

[More at URL]

----- 22 -----
Kentucky Promotes A Secularized America
Faith and Freedom Network
Thursday, April 27, 2006

http://www.faithandfreedom.us/weblog/2006/04/kentucky-promotes- 
secularized-america.html

The Kentucky Board of Education has voted to take the first step in  
redefining how America dates its time.

The board has voted to include a new secular system of dating the  
calendar. They want to add to the traditional B.C. (before Christ) and  
A.D. (Anto Domini, “The year of our Lord”) a secularized, B.C.E.  
(Before the Common Era) and C.E. (Common Era).

This new secular system of time dating will appear in the curriculum  
and other materials used by Kentucky educators. This new system is  
already being included in new versions of text books being used across  
the country.

[More at URL]

----- 23 -----
Real Women Lobby Congress
Concerned Women for America
4/27/2006

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/10605/CWA/misc/index.htm

Grassroots women from across the nation gathered in Washington this  
week for “Real Women’s Lobby Day.” The event, co-sponsored by Concerned  
Women for America, focused on promoting pro-life legislation. Maureen  
Gregory, a CWA Prayer and Action Chapter leader in Georgia attended  
this year’s event and shares her experiences. Click here to listen.

[Met with Senator Brownback during their morning training session, who  
"revved [them] up, like a cheerleader" "we will win this war"; talks  
about how their prayer chapter's representative is already "pro-life"]

----- 24 -----
King and King: Homosexual Marriage Promoted in Second Grade Class
Concerned Women for America
4/26/2006

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/10606/CWA/misc/index.htm

A second grade teacher in Lexington, Massachusetts chose the fairy tale  
“King and King” to read to her class. The teacher said the tale, about  
a prince who must choose a bride but chooses another prince instead, is  
completely appropriate for the class’s theme day on weddings, because  
homosexual marriage was legal in the state. Bob Knight, Director of  
CWA’s Culture & Family Institute, disagrees but notes this battle is  
one parents are facing nationwide. Click here to listen.

[Robert Knight: "A second grade teacher in Massachusetts apparently  
took advantage of "Wedding Day" where they're discussing weddings and  
read to the children a book called _King and King_; and this book is a  
fairy-tale type book with pictures, and it's about a prince who is told  
to look for his princess, and he rejects all the women in the book, as  
something wrong with them, and decides he really wants to marry another  
prince. So he marries another prince and they become "King and King,"  
and then they acquire children after that. And this second-grade  
teacher thought this was suitable to read to seven year olds. And  
parents found out about it, and went to the school and complained, and  
the teacher's response was, well, gay marriage is legal in  
Massachusetts, so I don't have to inform parents before I read  
materials like this."

Martha Kleider: "That's a very valid point by the part of the teacher.  
Apparently this was approved by the legislature, the representative  
body of the people of that state."

RK: "Well, it makes it harder for parents to object when it's the law  
of the land, although just because something's legal doesn't mean it's  
right and that it's appropriate to share it with children knowing that  
many of them come from backgrounds where parents have traditional  
beliefs about marriage, in fact, I would wager most of them. Just  
because cigarette smoking is legal doesn't mean the teacher should next  
read them a book about the joys of cigarette smoking. So legality isn't  
the only consideration. When you're reading a book to small children  
that will confuse them about something as basic as marriage and about  
the difference between men and women and how men and women interact,  
you're missing with their minds. It's immoral, if it isn't illegal."

"We've been warning this for years... we've said, you know, if gay  
marriage is legal, then the schools will say they have the right to  
teach kids that homosexuality is normal and healthy. They'll even bring  
in materials showing that gay weddings are normal, and of course, here  
it's happening in Massachusetts. But it's not must Massachusetts, in  
California there's a bill that our CWA chapters are fighting fiercely,  
and the bill would introduce the homosexual, bisexual, and transgender  
agenda to schools throughout the curricula from K through 12. Now  
you're talking about kindergardeners having elements of homosexuality  
in their arithmetic lessons. And the way they do it is, Bill and Bob  
live together, and they buy three apples, and Bill gives one to Bob,  
that sort of thing. I was asked a similar question like this, I just  
taped a segment for National Public Radio on this _King and King_ book  
in Massachusetts, and the reporter said, well, how do you answer this,  
what about the homosexual activists say it's not about sex, it's just  
about relationships, and they read books like _Sleeping Beauty_ and  
_Cinderella_, and would you say they're about sex, because the  
heterosexual couple gets together? It's a very disarming question, and  
my answer is _YES_ (emphasis in original), because we're talking about  
normal relations between men and women, and we're pointing to the  
institution of marriage, which was constructed to channel sex into a  
stable male-female, hopefully-for-life relationship, for the good of  
the couple and for bringing children into the world. And bringing them  
into a family. Of course it's about sex, ultimately. And kids look  
around, they know boys are different from girls - and so, if they're  
confronted with a book like _King and King_, where two men get together  
and act like a husband and wife, the first question the kids are gonna  
ask is, well, what do they do, exactly? And that's what's intended  
here, that's what the homosexual activists hope to do, to destroy the  
children's innocence, to confuse them about gender and sexuality, and  
to do it in such a disarming way - who could object, it's just a  
children's book."

MK: "And of course the next logical question for most children is,  
which one's the mommy? Because there's the construct of mommy and daddy  
as roles, whether it's there - beyond the actual gender, It's the role  
of each parent."

RK: "That's right. The NPR reporter, Tovia Smith, asked me this  
question as well; she said, well, I understand in Massachusetts they're  
going to have like math problems and just mention homosexual couples;  
Massachusetts has a parental notification law. In which case the  
parents have to be informed if controversial subjects, particularly  
about sexuality, are brought up. And she asked me, well, what do you  
think should trigger it? Any mention of homosexuality at all? In any  
context? Such as something that doesn't outright say it but implies it?  
And I said _yes_, because it's such an explosive topic, it's all about  
perceptions, and these are vulnerable children who are trying to figure  
out who they are, and when you have something that directly contradicts  
what their parents and their churches and their synagogs are teaching  
them, that should be considered an intrusion of a religious point of  
view. _[!!!!! Ed note: This argument applies directly against science  
that contradicts religions teachings, too! Man, what a pandora's box  
this opens up! They've been aiming for this for years, but they haven't  
pulled it off yet, and they rarely put it in this clear a way. If it  
doesn't agree with their religion, it can't be taught.]_ You know, the  
secularists are always watchful that we don't establish religion in the  
public schools, and they establish the secular faith of sexual  
adventurism, as opposed to the Judeo-Christian point of view that  
really governs our laws - to me, that's establishing a religious  
viewpoint, because it is the doctrine of secular humanism that there is  
no norm  in sexuality, that anything goes. So I think that might be a  
possible legal route for parents who are despairing of doing anything  
to stop this.

MK: [Is this just Massachusetts and California?]

RK: "It's all over the place, Martha, in fact, this is the week of the  
Day of Silence, in which students from elementary schools - in fact  
kindergarten, they're aiming at kindergarten this year - all the way up  
through college, are supposed to remain silent and not return inquiries  
from teachers or administrators or their classmates, and it's supposed  
to be in solidarity of their "gay friends" who are being "oppressed in  
this heterosexist society." It's really an intrusion in the learning  
process; it's a way to force kids to deal with homosexuality whether  
they want to or not; and it's - I don't know of any other event that  
disrupts the school day like this. The day after the Day of Silence is  
the Day of Truth, and that's the counter-offensive, but the sponsours  
of that, Alliance Defense Fund, are very careful to point out that  
activities are scheduled for after school hours, and that the kids are  
not to disrupt normal instruction. In other words, they're respectful  
of the atmosphere, they're respectful of kids, and their parents, as  
opposed to the Day of Silence, where they want to walk all over  
everybody else. _[Ed. Note: Okay, so. First, from The Day of Silence  
FAQ  ( a href="http://www.dayofsilence.org/about/faq2.php ): "GLSEN  
encourages students to participate in the Day of Silence in cooperation  
with their schools. We encourage students to get support from their  
principals and educators and participate in the school day as needed."  
The implication that there is massive disruption of the school day has  
not, in my experience, been substantiated with facts. Most of the  
protest is silence and handing out cards. The Day of Truth (  
http://www.dayoftruth.org/about/default.aspx ) anti-GBLT response  
effort people do _exactly the same thing_, only they also wear  
T-shirts. Their language on school co-operation is similar in several  
ways http://www.dayoftruth.org/resources/default.aspx?cid=3559 ) :  
"While it is not necessary for students participating in the “Day of  
Truth” to ask permission of school officials, they are encouraged to do  
so. ADF has prepared a letter for participants to share with school  
officials informing them of the event."]_

MK: "Bob, What can parents do if they notice something like this being  
snuck in to their child's curriculum?"

RK: "Well, they can do a lot of things. They can first bring it to the  
attention of the school officials, and - they should bring it to the  
attention of other parents first, so there's strength in numbers, you  
really shouldn't do something just on your own, it's best if you inform  
a couple of other parents - because school officials in public schools  
have a habit of telling you, you're, looking at you sideways, making it  
out like you're the one crazy one in the barrel, and no one else has  
complained, they love saying things like that, so you get a few other  
people to complain, it really helps. And then, if that doesn't help,  
you go to the school board, and if the school board is not responsive,  
you take them out! You replace them with people who respect parental  
rights and respect children's innocence!"

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