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

[R'ykandar Korra'ti]

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---- actual message starts here ----
Focus on the Family sends its support letters to Alito;

FotF: government needs to regulate broadcast "indecency" much more  
strongly, also needs to crack down on the Internet;

FotF report: Democrats to have "strategic" No votes on Alito, and use  
his confirmation as an issue in the 2006 election;

Preliminary announcement of anti-abortion-rights march;

FotF: "Last ditch" effort to "tar" Alito's record;

FotF trumpets a study "affirming" that abortion is bad for women,  
interviews a researcher from New Zealand;

FotF: 70% of Americans would vote for a female presidential candidate;

Stephen Bennett and CWA's Janice Shaw Crouse rail against Brokeback  
Mountain, Capote, Transamerica, as "homosexualising" America;

Agape Press newsbriefs include Microsoft, HP boycott; also how most  
Christians don't "understand God's way... to [handle] their financial  
resources";

Agape Press: Concerned Women for America, Exodus International condemn  
Golden Globe awards;

CWA's Robert Knight, other American fundamentalist evangelical  
conservatives hoping for Tory win in Canadian elections, support  
Harper;

CWA California chapter opposes bill on anti-bullying programmes,  
includes ACTION ITEM;

CWA's Robert Knight: gay actors shouldn't play Christians, even if the  
movie ends up being very good and uplifting - it's contaminated by  
queerdom;

Traditional Values Coalition _also_ claims to deliver 1700-odd letters  
to Alito in support; has the "A+ for Alito" theme on the binder that's  
being carried by Concerned Women for America, and the number is the  
same as Focus on the Family's and the binder meets the description they  
used - are they all redelivering the same letters?

TVC rails against Federal intervention against doctors working within  
Oregon's "right-to-die" law being struck down by Supreme Court, says  
the vote was 6-3, would have been 5-4 with Alito onboard, and that  
means their work isn't done; also rails against Lawrence v. Texas,  
saying it will "be used to legalize incest, prostitution, polygamy, and  
make it nearly impossible for states or local communities to enforce  
standards of morality";

Touchstone Magazine: homosexuality is a "linguistic as well as moral  
error," says it and feminism are "against traditional morality";

TVC links to albertmohler.com commentary: men can't be friends anymore  
because of those damned fags making other people think you might be t3h  
queer, condemns libertarianism;

Martin: Harper would set back rights, break pledge not to reopen  
abortion debate;

Three Queen’s University law professors say polygamy should be legal in  
Canada on religious grounds; Focus on the Family Canada shrieks, said,  
"we told you so!" and blames queers with marriage rights; Morman  
religious polygamy is what actually prompted the paper;

Focus on the Family Canada: 10% of PM email, phone calls last year  
against marriage rights for gayfolk;

Faith and Freedom Network using poll reports they just released to  
attack GBLT-rights bill in Senate;

Faith and Freedom Network releases analysis of poll they ordered, claim  
continually falling support for GBLT marriage rights in Washington  
State (compared across different polls); includes link to poll  
questions and response sets; analysis says only two groups support GBLT  
marriage, Seattlites and government employees; a look at the actual  
numbers show that isn't true, there's a very interesting third group:  
18-35 year olds, statewide, by a 12-point support margin and with an  
absolute majority (51% yes, 39% no, 10% don't care).


----- 1 -----
LETTERS OF ENCOURAGEMENT FOR ALITO HEADED TO WASHINGTON
More than 1,750 notes go to the Supreme Court nominee.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
January 19, 2006
by Stuart Shepard, managing editor

http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0039253.cfm

Today, we shipped out three large binders stuffed with
more than 1,750 truly encouraging e-mails for U.S. Supreme
Court nominee Judge Samuel Alito.

It is an honor and a humbling privilege to serve the
readers of CitizenLink. Your notes were gracious,
heartening and inspiring. Here are a few examples:

-- I just wanted to tell you how proud I was of the way
you maintained your
dignity despite the Senate Democrat's incredible rudeness
and dishonesty
during your confirmation hearing.

-- You and your family are in my family's prayers each day
and I have been forwarding the reports from CitizenLink to
my extended friends and family who, in turn, have prayed
for you.

[More at URL]


----- 2 -----
Congress Hears How to Curbing Indecency and Pornography
SUMMARY: Not surprisingly, industry experts say it's all up to parents.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
January 19, 2006
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor

http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0039260.cfm

The Senate Commerce Committee heard testimony today on how
to protect children from indecency on TV and pornography
on the Internet, although some pro-family experts question
whether the industry's suggestions are truly helpful for
parents.

The committee, chaired by Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska,
first heard testimony from members of the television
industry and media advocacy groups about solutions to
indecency on TV.

Jack Valenti, former chairman and CEO of the Motion
Picture Association of America, told the committee that
it's really up to parents to control what their children
see on television.

He suggested that the Ad Council be given the task of
educating parents about controls already available, such
as V-Chip technology.

[...]

Brent Bozell, president of the Parents Television Council
(PTC), said placing the entire responsibility on parents
does nothing to solve the real problems faced by families.

"The V-Chip is a dodge," he said, pointing to a PTC report
last year that found the rating system to be
"inconsistent, inaccurate, arbitrary and capricious."

Bozell questioned the motives of the other panelists.

"Virtually every person testifying before you today
represents a vested special interest and will say and
spend whatever it takes to protect their special
interest," he said. "We speak on behalf of another special
interest altogether: the vast majority of Americans sick
and tired of the sewage being poured out of the airwaves,
or on cable programs they are being forced to underwrite."

[...]

He made it perfectly clear through his examples why the
industry cannot be trusted to regulate itself.

[...]

< Protecting Children on the Internet >

In the afternoon, a hearing focused on how to best protect
children from pornography on the Internet.

Dr. James Weaver III, professor of communication and
psychology at Virginia Tech, called the ease with which
children can access pornography a "public health crisis"
and advocated that Congress treat it as such.

[More at URL]


----- 3 -----
Democrats Urge Strategic 'No' Votes on Alito
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
January 19, 2006

[Received in email; no URL]

U.S. Senate Democratic leaders urged members Tuesday to
vote against President Bush's Supreme Court nominee, Judge
Samuel Alito, in an effort to lay the groundwork for
making a campaign issue of his decisions on the court, The
New York Times reported.

The vote count "matters a lot, and I think the debate
leading up to it matters," said Sen. Richard Durbin,
D-Ill., a member of the Judiciary Committee and the
Democratic whip.

At a closed meeting of the Democratic caucus, Sens. Harry
Reid, D-Nev., the Democratic leader, and Patrick Leahy,
D-Vt., the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee,
made the case against Alito.

But people who were at the meeting also said that of the
45 senators who normally attend, only about two dozen were
present.


----- 4 -----
Pro-Lifers to March for Those with No Voice
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
January 19, 2006

[Received in email; no URL]

The 33rd annual March for Life Rally is scheduled for
Monday to begin at noon on the Mall in Washington, D.C.,
and end on Capitol Hill.

Concerned Women for America (CWA) offered its support and
prayers for the march, a pro-life gathering that seeks to
preserve and uphold the sanctity of all human life.

Wendy Wright, executive vice president of CWA called it a
chance to speak for those who are never heard in the
debate.

"We as Americans pride ourselves on protecting those who
have no voice, yet we end precious lives everyday in the
name of choice," she said. "The cries of the unborn have
not gone unheard and those who participate in the March
for Life will not go unseen. We will march for those
babies who will never get a chance to."


----- 5 -----
LAST-DITCH ALITO ATTACK ADS EXPECTED
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
January 17, 2006
Delay gives Democrats more time to tar the Supreme Court nominee's  
record.

http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0039240.cfm

Experts say the delay of a Senate Judiciary Committee vote
on U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel Alito until
Tuesday will most likely mean a weeklong flurry of attack
ads from the left.

Committee Democrats seized on a procedural rule which lets
any member push the vote back by a week -- that despite a
promise from the ranking member, Sen.  Patrick Leahy,
D-Vt., that the rule would not be used except in an
extraordinary circumstance.

Cathy Cleaver Ruse of the Family Research Council said
Alito's nomination surely doesn't meet that description.

[More at URL]


----- 6 -----
Research Affirms that Abortion Harms Women
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
January 17, 2006
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor

http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0039241.cfm

SUMMARY: A New Zealand researcher set out to prove that
abortion does not cause adverse mental-health problems,
but he found the opposite.

Professor David Fergusson, a researcher at Christchurch
School of Medicine and Health Sciences in New Zealand,
wanted to prove that abortion doesn't have any
psychological consequences. What he found surprised him:
Women who had abortions are one-and-a-half times more
likely to suffer mental illness.

"When we did the research, I was very much convinced that
abortion didn't have any harmful effects," Fergusson told
Family News in Focus. "So, from a personal point of view,
I would have rather seen the results come out the other
way -- but they didn't. And as a scientist you have to
report the facts, not what you'd like to report."

[...]

"To provide a parallel to this situation, if we were to
find evidence of an adverse reaction to medication, we
would be obliged ethically to publish that fact," he said.
"The fact is that abortions are the most common medical
procedures that young women face. It verges on scandalous
that a surgical procedure that is performed on over one in
10 women has been so poorly researched and evaluated,
given the debate about the psychological consequences of
abortion."

[More at URL]


----- 7 -----
Americans Would Vote for a Female Presidential Candidate
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
January 17, 2006

[Received in email; no URL]

According to a Gallup poll, 70 percent of Americans would
vote to elect a woman president, USA Today reported.

First Lady Laura Bush praised the election of Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf to the presidency of the African nation of
Liberia during a trip to the inauguration ceremony last
week. Sirleaf is the first female president on the
continent of Africa. As for the United States, Bush said
she would like to see a woman president here, too.

"I think it will happen for sure," she said, "probably in
the next few terms of the presidency of the United
States."


----- 8 -----
Hollywood ‘Homosexualizing’ America
By Terry Vanderheyden
LifeSite
January 18, 2006

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jan/06011807.html

HOLLYWOOD, January 18, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – This time, “Hollywood  
has gone way too far,” according to Stephen Bennett, Host of Straight  
Talk Radio, who is critical of Hollywood’s decision to award four  
Golden Globe awards to the homosexual cowboy movie, “Brokeback  
Mountain.”

“Hollywood has sunk to an all-time moral low,” Bennett emphasized. “I  
guess 2006 will be known as ‘The Year of the Homosexual’ in Hollywood.  
With ‘Brokeback Mountain,’ ‘TransAmerica’ and ‘Capote’ winning several  
major ‘gender-bender’ Golden Globes - Hollywood is no doubt ‘out’ on a  
mission to ‘homosexualize America.”

Felicity Huffman, a star in the television series Desperate Housewives,  
won best actress for her role as a male who undergoes a sex change  
operation in the movie Transamerica. Philip Seymour Hoffman won best  
actor for his portrayal of homosexual Truman Capote, author of  
Breakfast at Tiffany’s, in the movie Capote.

[...]

“When Hollywood is pumping out anti-family movies with sexually  
explicit, twisted and perverse themes that glorify homosexuality,  
transsexuality and every other kind of sexual immorality – then awards  
itself for doing so – middle America better take note.

[...]

Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse, Senior Fellow of the Beverly LaHaye Institute  
at Concerned Women for America commented on the awards: “Once again,  
the media elites are proving that their pet projects are more important  
than profit.”

[...]

Crouse concluded, “If America isn't watching these films, why are they  
winning the awards?”

[More at URL]


----- 9 -----
Commentary & News Briefs
January 18, 2006
Compiled by Jenni Parker
Agape Press

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/1/182006h.asp

[...]

..Lawmakers have held a hearing on whether "sexual orientation" and  
"gender expression or identity" should be added to the state of  
Washington's anti-discrimination law. One opponent objected that those  
are "behavior-based classifications" that don't warrant civil rights  
protection. Another simply read from the Bible until the committee  
chairwoman cut her off. Supporters say homosexuals should be covered by  
the state law that already bans discrimination in housing, employment  
and insurance based on race, gender, age, disability, religion, marital  
status and other factors. Rev. Ken Hutcherson, who pastors a  
Seattle-area church, says he will call for a boycott of Microsoft,  
Hewlett-Packard and other companies supporting the homosexual rights  
bill. [AP]

[...]

..The leader of a financial stewardship ministry says most Christians  
have a desire to be good money managers but do not always have the  
training they need to understand God's way when it comes to handling  
their financial resources. Howard Dayton, co-founder and CEO of Crown  
Financial Ministries, says the problem is that most churches only offer  
people financial advice when it comes to tithing and nothing more. In  
that case, he says, people tend to fall back to the default practice of  
managing the remainder of their finances pretty much the same way the  
world does. "Many churches have typically focused on teaching God's  
people only how to handle ten percent of their income, the area of  
giving," he explains. "It's a crucial area," he admits, "but frankly,  
they haven't addressed the other 90 percent." Dayton says some of  
Crown's studies of more than 1,000 congregations that have received  
financial training show many of these churches' families paying off  
more than $20,000 in debt within three years of their instruction. He  
strongly urges Christian churches that have not done so already to  
develop a financial training program for their members. [Ed Thomas]

[More at URL]


----- 10 -----
Groups Say Golden Globes Presented Hollywood's Hyped Version of  
Homosexuality
By Jenni Parker
Agape Press
January 18, 2006

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/1/182006f.asp

(AgapePress) - A prominent pro-family organization and a leading  
"ex-gay" ministry are highlighting the highly hyped and politicized  
atmosphere of Monday night's Golden Globes award ceremony, at which the  
pro-homosexual film Brokeback Mountain was a clear victor.

Winning four Golden Globe Awards, the film about homosexual  
sheepherders who hide their affair for decades held the spotlight for  
much of the evening, while other homosexual- and transgender-themed  
films also received accolades.

The Golden Globes honored Brokeback Mountain with the best drama, best  
director, best song and best screenplay awards. Meanwhile, Desperate  
Housewives co-star Felicity Huffman won best actress honors for her  
role as a pre-operative male-to-female transsexual in the  
gender-bending road trip movie Transamerica. And Philip Seymour Hoffman  
won best actor for his portrayal of homosexual writer Truman Capote,  
author of Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood, in the film Capote.

[More at URL]


----- 11 -----
U.S. conservatives hoping Harper's Tories win
Toronto Star
Jan. 19, 2006. 12:20 AM

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/ 
Article_Type1&c=Article&pubid=968163964505&cid=1137624636564&col=9687058 
99037&call_page=TS_Canada&call_pageid=968332188774&call_pagepath=News/ 
Canada

WASHINGTON (CP) — It's all about the chance for a new start.

At the White House, there's cautious optimism about Conservative gains  
in Canada's election campaign.

Republicans view Stephen Harper's rising fortunes as a relief and a  
balm after so much bickering between the two countries under Liberal  
Prime Minister Paul Martin.

Social conservatives are thrilled.

Canada's election has provoked more notice than usual south of the  
border, where there's a keen expectation of change among some.

Major newspapers like the Washington Post and USA Today, as well Fox  
News, have followed the race. The New York Times recently noted that  
Harper ends every stump speech with "God bless Canada."

[...]

For Robert Knight, who's with the evangelical group Concerned Women for  
America, the most interesting thing about the election campaign has  
been the Liberal party's reaction to the possibility of a Conservative  
win.

"They're getting positively hysterical. They remind me of some  
Democratic senators. They're using scare tactics and character  
assassination and the facts don't seem to interest them."

Knight is well aware that Harper says he wouldn't invoke Canada's  
notwithstanding clause to overturn same-sex marriages or push to  
overturn abortion rights. But there's no question he'd be a welcome  
respite from 13 years of Liberal rule.

"The Conservative party at least in some ways embodies the values that  
conservatives in the United States hold, like smaller government and an  
emphasis on traditional values," said Knight.

"There is a feeling that under a Harper government, the speeding train  
heading for a social wreck would at least be slowed, if not reversed."

Right-wing commentator Patrick Basham said the pleasure of a Harper win  
among American conservatives will be emotional.

[More at URL]


----- 12 -----
Targeted Bills 2006
Concerned Women for America, California Chapter
1/18/2006

http://www.cwfa.org/articledisplay.asp? 
id=9932&department=FIELD&categoryid=misc

This will be a busy legislative session in Sacramento and one that will  
require prayer and action, with a number of bills that did not complete  
the committee process already scheduled for hearings beginning January  
10. You can track these bills and share your support or opposition with  
committees and legislators throughout the process. Just check the  
“Targeted Bills 2006” list on our Web site. The list will be regularly  
updated with new bills, talking points and sample letters to allow you  
to make your voice heard quickly and easily.

AB 606, the first bill on the list, would give unfettered discretion to  
the state Superintendent of Schools to withhold funding from any school  
district that did not develop policies to prevent harrassment of  
homosexuals. While no reasonable person would want to see acts of  
violence on school campuses for any reason, this should not result in  
mandated pro-homosexual curricula. There are methods of dealing with  
instances of violence or discrimination without infringing on the  
religious beliefs of students and parents. Instead of one person having  
the authority to decide on whether a school has properly dealt with  
alleged violations of state law, our courts should be the arbiter of  
such acts. Existing provisions for exemption of the pro-homosexual  
curriculum would be repealed under AB 606. Please contact your member  
of the Assembly to oppose this bill.


----- 13 -----
‘End of the Spear’ Lead Actor Promotes Homosexual Agenda
Concerned Women for America
1/19/2006

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/9935/CWA/misc/index.htm

The movie ‘End of the Spear’, the story of the missionaries speared to  
death in Ecuador in the 1950’s, hits theaters this weekend. While there  
is much to commend this movie on the story of Jim Elliot, Ed McCully,  
Pete Flemming, Roger Youderian and Nate Saint, Christians should be on  
their guard when viewing interviews with the lead actor Chad Allen. Bob  
Knight, Director of CWA’s Culture & Family Institute, says that Mr.  
Allen, who plays pilot Nate Saint, is a well known homosexual activist  
and he is using the notoriety from this film to promote those causes.  
Click here ( http://www.cwfa.org/play.asp?id=cw20060119a ) to listen.

[Robert Knight: "This is a very powerful story, it's about the five  
missionaries who went to Ecuador and were killed by pears of the native  
people in Ecuador in the 1950s, and how the wives of the murdered men  
and others actually surrounded the villagers with love, and forgave  
them, and brought many of the villagers to Christ... it stars Chad  
Allen, and hence there's the controversy, because Chad Allen is not  
just any actor; he's the cover boy for The Advocate magazine, a  
gay-themed magazine; he's a homosexual activist himself, who has  
produced homosexual movies, he's contributed to the Gay and Lesbian  
Victory Fund... he's outspoken in support of gay marriage, and  
homosexuals adopting children, and he's been given a platform now  
amoung Christians to spread the gospel that homosexuality isn't  
something that the lord really disapproves of... he says he's a  
Christian, and that the lord wouldn't do anything so unfair as to deny  
him his 'true nature,' which is to commit homosexual acts with other  
men." "He's been involved with... all-night drug-soaked sex orgies..."  
"You got to wonder why the producers of End of the Spear chose an actor  
like this; it's not as if his homosexuality is incidental... he makes  
it his identity. He declares it, he advocates in the public square for  
accepting homosexuality and even changing laws... he starred in Corpus  
Christi, a very offensive play about a character names Joshua who's a  
stand in for Jesus Christ and his 12 apostles, all of whom are  
homosexuals... this play has been so controversial that some campuses  
have banned it as sacrilegious and blasphemous."

"Here's a little sample of Chad Allen's theology; he was talking about  
Corpus Christi, he said, 'I view it as a deeply Christian play. What it  
does, is, it asks us all, 'Can we see ourselves as Christ? Are we all  
capable of that same kind of relationship with God?' Well, of course,  
none of us is capable of that kind of relationship with God, because  
Jesus Christ was the only begotten son of God, he is God incarnate,  
none of us can ever even approach that status. We can be children of  
God... but that's not the same as being Jesus Christ.'" More complaints  
about theology, "misinterpretations" of the Bible, etc.

"It's a real shame... even Ted Bayer, our friend who publishes  
Movieguide... gave it a +1 rating, and four stars for quality... so  
we're not talking about the quality of the film itself, we are  
concerned about it being used as a way to allow Chad Allen entry into  
Christian circles and to equate his gospel of accepting homosexuality  
with the gospel of Jesus Christ." Urges people not to have "their  
children in the room" when Chad Allen is interviewed, and not to google  
Chad Allen, because of "homosexual websites, and those lead to  
pornographic websites." Ends with saying "open homosexual actors"  
shouldn't play Christians in Christian-themed movies.]


----- 14 -----
TVC Delivers 1700 Pro-Alito Letters To White House
Traditional Values Coalition

http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2577

January 19, 2006 – On January 18, TVC Executive Director Andrea  
Lafferty and TVC Communications Director Amy Skeen delivered two  
binders filled with more than 1700 letters of encouragement to the  
White House for Judge Samuel Alito and his family.

[More at URL, including photo of one of the binders]


----- 15 -----
Supreme Court Sides With Oregon Suicide Law In 6-3 Vote
Traditional Values Coalition

http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2575

January 19, 2006 – In a 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld  
Oregon’s “right-to-die” law. The three dissenting votes were Chief  
Justice John Roberts, Justice Antonin Scalia, and Justice Clarence  
Thomas. (If Judge Alito had been seated on the Court, it is likely that  
this would have been a 5-4 decision, which means that the Court is  
still slanted to the left. Our work is not over even with Judge Alito  
confirmed later this month.)

[...]

The editor of Slate magazine theorizes that Anthony Kennedy will now  
become the swing vote on the Supreme Court, replacing O’Connor. Kennedy  
has turned out to be a leftist who wrote the majority opinion in  
Lawrence v. Texas, overturning all state sodomy laws. Justice Scalia  
predicted that Lawrence would eventually be used to legalize incest,  
prostitution, polygamy, and make it nearly impossible for states or  
local communities to enforce standards of morality.

[More at URL]


----- 16 -----
The Gay Invention
Homosexuality Is a Linguistic as Well as a Moral Error
by R. V. Young
Touchstone Magazine

http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=18-10-036-f

For thousands of years, until the late 1800s, our ancestors were  
completely oblivious to the existence of a fundamentally distinct class  
of human beings. Indeed, during the long period of Greco-Roman  
antiquity and more than a millennium and a half of Christian  
civilization, man did not even have a name for this class.

Or so asserts an almost universal assumption fixed in the language  
almost everyone uses: that “heterosexuals” and “homosexuals” are two  
permanently and innately different kinds of human being, and that  
“sexual orientation” constitutes a difference comparable to the  
difference between male and female. Widespread acceptance of  
“homosexuality” and associated terms thus biases discussion of the  
subject before an argument is even formulated.

[...]

The “gay” liberation movement, like feminism, is a branch of the wider  
sexual revolution that depends upon the postulate that traditional  
morality is false and untenable because it assumes a stable human  
nature with corresponding norms of conduct—moral absolutes, in other  
words. Modern relativism has always maintained to the contrary that our  
“sexuality” is like every other human capacity and attitude,  
“constructed” by our social milieu; in Marxist terms it is an  
ideological “superstructure” arising from the inexorable evolution of  
the material “base.”

[More at URL]


----- 17 -----
Sexual Confusion and the End of Friendship
Wednesday, December 14, 2005

http://www.albertmohler.com/commentary_print.php?cdate=2005-12-14

Nominations for the 63rd annual Golden Globe Awards were announced  
Tuesday, and the movie identified as a "cowboy romance" has taken the  
lead with seven nominations. Brokeback Mountain, starring Heath Ledger  
and Jake Gyllenhaal as two cowboys linked in a homosexual romance, has  
been nominated for Best Motion Picture Drama, Best Actor in a Drama,  
Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Score and  
Best Song. Already, critics are predicting that Brokeback Mountain is  
the leading candidate to be chosen as Best Picture at the upcoming  
Academy Awards ceremony.

[...]

Anthony Esolen, Professor of English at Providence College in  
Providence, Rhode Island, warns that this breakdown of the natural  
sexual order has led to the death of friendship--particularly to the  
death of male friendships.

In "A Requiem for Friendship: Why Boys Will Not Be Boys and Other  
Consequences of the Sexual Revolution," published in the September 2005  
issue of Touchstone magazine, Esolen begins by reminding readers of a  
scene from J. R. R. Tolkien's great work, The Lord of the Rings. Sam  
Gamgee, having followed his master Frodo into Mordor, the realm of  
death, finds him in a small filthy cell lying half-conscious. "Frodo!  
Mr. Frodo, my dear!" Sam cries. "It's Sam, I've come!" Frodo embraces  
his friend and Sam eventually cradles Frodo's head. As Esolen suggests,  
a reader or viewer of this scene is likely to jump to a rather perverse  
conclusion: "What, are they gay?"

Esolen suggests that this question is an "ignorant but inevitable  
response" to the context. He goes on to recall that Shakespeare and  
many other great authors spoke of non-sexual love between men in  
strongest terms. Similarly, when David is told of the death of his  
friend Jonathan, he cries: "Your love to me was finer than the love of  
women."

As Esolen understands, the corruption of language has contributed to  
this confusion. When words like love, friend, male, female, and partner  
are transformed in a new sexual context, what was once understood to be  
pure and undefiled is now subject to sniggering and disrespect.

Esolen insists that this linguistic shift was no accident. He accuses  
"pansexualists" of corrupting the language in order to normalize sexual  
confusion and anarchy. They have used language "as a tool for  
establishing their own order and imposing it on everyone else," he  
argues.

As Esolen explains, "The pansexualists--they who believe in the  
libertarian dogma that what two consenting adults do with their  
privates in private is nobody's business--understand that the language  
had to be changed to assist the realization of their dream, and also  
that the realization of their dream would change the world, because it  
would change the language for everyone else."

[More at URL]


----- 18 -----
Harper would set back rights, Martin warns
Last Updated Thu, 19 Jan 2006 22:01:21 EST
CBC News

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canadavotes2006/national/2006/01/19/Martin- 
harper060119.html

Liberal Leader Paul Martin accused Stephen Harper of having the most  
extreme right-wing agenda in the history of Canada and warned that a  
Tory government could set back the rights of Canadians, particularly  
women.

He said the Conservative leader wants to limit the power of the courts  
and reopen debates over same-sex marriage and abortion rights.

"You add it all up and you see why Mr. Harper regards the courts with  
such suspicion because they stand between him and the most socially  
conservative agenda that has ever been this close to forming a  
government," Martin said.

Martin was responding to Harper's remarks from Tuesday that a Tory  
majority wouldn't wield power unfettered because of the  
Liberal-dominated Senate, and a civil service and judiciary that have  
been put in place by the Liberals.

He accused Harper of planning to stack the courts with socially  
conservative judges if he wins. He said this is of particular concern  
to women, given that there is a vacancy on the Supreme Court.

[More at URL]


----- 19 -----
Study proposes legalizing polygamy
Focus on the Family Canada
January 18, 2006

http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/family/stories/011806.html

Parliament should decriminalize polygamy because the courts would  
likely strike down the law banning it as unconstitutional, according to  
a government-funded study by three Queen’s University law professors.

“Virtually everyone in a polygamous marriage is there for religious  
reasons,” co-author Beverley Baines told the Kingston Whig-Standard. “I  
came to the conclusion that we define freedom of religions very  
broadly. I think the courts would say the prohibition infringes on the  
Charter right to freedom of religion.”

A constitutional law expert, Baines claimed that decriminalization  
would allow governments to extend rights of custody, access, support  
and divorce to women and children when a polygamous marriage ends. She  
also suggested that Canada cannot avoid allowing polygamy because it is  
“enormously multicultural now.”

As well, chief author Martha Bailey told Canadian Press, “We don’t  
criminalize adultery. In light of the fact that we have a fairly  
permissive society . . . why are we singling out that particular form  
of behaviour [polygamy] for criminalization?”

Polygamy has been a crime since 1890 when Section 293 of the Criminal  
Code was enacted as a deterrent to polygamous Mormons migrating to  
Canada. For more than 60 years, it has been practiced in Bountiful, a  
fundamentalist Mormon community in southeastern B.C. The community is  
currently the focus of an RCMP investigation into allegations of child  
abuse and sexual exploitation.

[...]

Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, however, said the government has no  
plans to act on the study.

[...]

Focus on the Family Canada, which has been working hard to promote  
traditional marriage in Canada, is not surprised that the institution  
is under further assault.

[More at URL]


----- 20 -----
Marriage definition tops PM's mail
Focus on the Family Canada
January 18, 2006

http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/family/stories/011806_02.html

Opposition to allowing same-sex couples to legally marry was by far the  
most frequently addressed subject in communications directed to Prime  
Minister Paul Martin last year, Canadian Press reported.

Over all, 10 per cent of all the letters, e-mails and telephone calls  
received by Martin’s office concerned homosexual marriage. That does  
not include form letters and e-mail templates.

Last January, when the government had indicated it planned to introduce  
a bill legalizing homosexual marriage, an analysis by the Prime  
Minister’s Office revealed that of the 880 phone calls received that  
month, the “overwhelming majority of callers was opposed to a  
redefinition of traditional marriage.” And in February, after the  
legislation had been introduced, 5,755 personally written items were  
received.

[More at URL]


----- 21 -----
Monday, January 16, 2006
Seattle PI Says We Further Complicated Matters
Faith and Freedom Network

http://www.faithandfreedom.us/weblog/2006/01/seattle-pi-says-we- 
further-complicated.html

As you may have heard by now, Dr. Joe Fuiten, Bob Higley, our lobbyist  
and I held a press briefing in Olympia last Wednesday. Here was a  
strong turn-out from the statewide news organizations.

Much has been written and reported in the few days that have followed.

The Elway Poll and Joe’s Analysis was distributed to all the press  
state-wide and the elected officials.

The Poll and Analysis is available on our website. Click here.

The Seattle PI is reporting that House Speaker Frank Chopp has put  
civil rights legislation for gays and lesbians on a fast track. The  
Senate is advancing the vote this week – probably tomorrow.

The PI wrote, “Adding to potential complications, a Christian  
conservative group [that would be us] released results Wednesday from a  
poll that showed statewide support for gay marriage dropping to 35  
percent.”

Speaker Chopp said, “I don’t have faith in their poll.” He said  
Democrats do a lot of polling as well and that what the voters really  
want is for the legislature to spend it’s time on education, healthcare  
and jobs.

[More at URL]


----- 22 -----
Analysis by Dr. Joseph B. Fuiten
Chairman, Faith & Freedom
In regard to Poll Conducted for Faith & Freedom by Elway Research
January 2006

http://www.faithandfreedom.us/analysis.htm

Is There Support for Redefining Marriage in Washington State?

Washington State was among more than 40 states in the last decade to  
pass laws defining marriage as between a man and a woman.  Following a  
court decision in Massachusetts requiring the Legislature to allow  
same-sex marriage, the year 2004 saw thirteen states pass  
constitutional amendments reasserting the definition of marriage as  
between a man and a woman.  In 2005 Texas became the 19th state to  
change their constitution.  The Washington State Supreme Court took up  
the matter in March 2005 and will render its decision in 2006.

Over the last two years a number of polls have attempted to gauge  
movement in public opinion on the topic of same-sex marriage here in  
Washington State. In a poll conducted by The Elway Poll in behalf of  
the Faith and Freedom Network, public opinion about same-sex marriage  
was assessed. This report is a summary of the findings of the poll  
conducted December 27-30, 2005 and published in January 2006.

[Ed. Note: link to poll PDF is here:  
http://www.faithandfreedom.us/pdf/AnalysisandPoll011106.pdf ]


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