[Active-seattle-l] [Active-l] (NEWS) Today's Cultural Warfare Update
Dara (R'ykandar Korra'ti)
kahvi at murkworks.net
Tue Jan 31 00:49:31 PST 2006
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---- actual message starts here ----
Tim Eyman to file state initiative to repeal GBLT civil rights
protections in Washington State before the governor's ink is even _on_
the paper;
"God's Senator" - Rolling Stone interview with and article about
Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas); Brownback is the man lots of the
theocons want as the next Republican nominee for president; you should
read the whole thing;
Religious groups get "nearly one-quarter" of Bush administration AIDS
money;
"More than a dozen states" are considering right-of-refusal for health
care workers; about half are aimed at allowing pharmacists to refuse
contraception prescribed and abortion services; the others are broad
enough to permit refusal of any treatment for any moral reason,
including refusal to treat queers; you've seen this before on this
update, but now it's making it into the major newspapers;
Faith and Freedom Network asks for "God to STAY this issue from being
put into effect"; "this issue" is the bill passed last week to ban
anti-GBLT discrimination in housing, hiring, and lending;
Muslim fundamentalist reaction against a page of cartoons continues to
grow; fundamentalism is the problem in _any_ religion;
Newer story: Tim Eyman has filed BOTH an initiative AND a referendum to
repeal GBLT civil rights protections; I still don't have the language
of either, however; the referendum needs fewer signatures but has a
shorter deadline; Eyman calls the bill's passage a "disgusting display
of arrogance and selfishness";
Focus on the Family article on Alito debate cloture vote today;
Sen. Kent Conrad (D - North Dakota) to vote for Alito confirmation;
Wendy Wright appointed new president of Concerned Women for America;
Indiana house committee passes bill mandating that doctors tell
patients that "life begins at conception";
Episcopal Diocese in Washington, DC approves same-sex blessing
ceremonies; they're on hold pending a national convention; unofficial
ceremonies have been around for a while but this is still a change;
Concerned Women for America story on a boy wearing a skirt to school to
protest the dress code turns into a bizarre ramble about women in the
military, the false idea of gender equity, a rant against women in
sports (particularly Title IX rules), and the ACLU as the "American
Sexual Confusion Union";
CWA Announces New President;
Human Events says left's "Culture of Death" gets little traction;
CWA congratulates Senate on cloture vote, calls for immediate
confirmation vote on Alito;
Family Research Council's top-of-site page is about expecting President
Bush to re-endorse a Federal anti-marriage-rights amendment to the US
Constitution;
FRC anti-marriage-rights brochure says marrying your same-sex partner
is the same as marrying a horse, will lead to bestiality, goes on to
say that "homosexuality is rightly viewed as unnatural"; says lesbians
are violent batterers, gay men are incapable of long-term
relationships, all the usual things;
FRC attacks Senator Chafee (R-Rhode Island) for planned "no" vote on
Alito over executive-power and reproductive choice issues;
Traditional Values Coalition links to WorldNetDaily columnist:
homosexuality is "a public health disaster," quotes all kinds of
laundered Paul Cameron studies and others of similar bogosity, but
filtered - but I recognise these numbers and claims; still, the point
is the propaganda: gayfolk are diseased perverts;
Eyman starts using "special rights" language of fundamentalists to
define anti-discrimination protection; gets endorsement of Christian
Coalition, who will work with him on his anti-gay initiative or
referendum or both;
----- 1 -----
Eyman plans to file initiative Monday against gay-rights bill
BY BRAD SHANNON
THE OLYMPIAN
January 29, 2006
http://159.54.227.3/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060129/NEWS/60129061
Tim Eyman says he will file an initiative Monday to repeal the
gay-rights bill narrowly adopted Friday by the state Senate.
The longtime initiative promoter said in an e-mail to supporters and
the media late Sunday, “Politicians aren’t thinking about what the
voters want. Let the voters decide.”
“Politicians are deciding based on special interest group pressure and
their own re-election calculations,” Eyman added. “The voters have
watched this disgusting display of arrogance and selfishness for weeks.
The issue has become hopelessly politicized.”
“It’s sad. It’s appalling. It’s anti-American,” state Sen. Karen
Fraser, D-Thurston County, said late Sunday when told of Eyman’s latest
ballot proposal. “It’s bullying, and it’s a money-making scheme for his
organization. It looks like he expects to make a lot of money from
bullying innocent people. I think everybody should decline to sign.”
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
God's Senator
Who would Jesus vote for? Meet Sam Brownback
Rolling Stone
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/9178374/gods_senator?
rnd=1138489413546&has-player=true&version=6.0.8.1024
Nobody in this little church just off Times Square in Manhattan thinks
of themselves as political. They're spiritual -- actors and athletes
and pretty young things who believe that every word of the Bible is
inerrant dictation from God. They look down from the balcony of the
Morning Star, swaying and smiling at the screen that tells them how to
sing along. Nail-pierced hands, a wounded side. This is love, this is
love! But on this evening in January, politics and all its worldly
machinations have entered their church. Sitting in the darkness of the
front row is Sam Brownback, the Republican senator from Kansas. And
hunched over on the stage in a red leather chair is an old man named
Harald Bredesen, who has come to anoint Brownback as the Christian
right's next candidate for president.
Over the last six decades, Bredesen has prayed with so many presidents
and prime ministers and kings that he can barely remember their names.
He's the spiritual father of Pat Robertson, the man behind the
preacher's vast media empire. He was one of three pastors who laid
hands on Ronald Reagan in 1970 and heard the Pasadena Prophecy: the
moment when God told Reagan that he would one day occupy the White
House. And he recently dispatched one of his proteges to remind George
W. Bush of the divine will -- and evangelical power -- behind his
presidency.
Tonight, Bredesen has come to breathe that power into Brownback's
presidential campaign. After little more than a decade in Washington,
Brownback has managed to position himself at the very center of the
Christian conservative uprising that is transforming American politics.
Just six years ago, winning the evangelical vote required only a veneer
of bland normalcy, nothing more than George Bush's vague assurance that
Jesus was his favorite philosopher. Now, Brownback seeks something far
more radical: not faith-based politics but faith in place of politics.
In his dream America, the one he believes both the Bible and the
Constitution promise, the state will simply wither away. In its place
will be a country so suffused with God and the free market that the
social fabric of the last hundred years -- schools, Social Security,
welfare -- will be privatized or simply done away with. There will be
no abortions; sex will be confined to heterosexual marriage. Men will
lead families, mothers will tend children, and big business and the
church will take care of all.
[...]
He tells a story about a chaplain who challenged a group of senators to
reconsider their conception of democracy. "How many constituents do you
have?" the chaplain asked. The senators answered: 4 million, 9 million,
12 million. "May I suggest," the chaplain replied, "that you have only
one constituent?"
Brownback pauses. That moment, he declares, changed his life. "This" --
being senator, running for president, waving the flag of a Christian
nation -- "is about serving one constituent." He raises a hand and
points above him.
Brownback is unlikely to receive the Republican presidential nomination
-- but as the candidate of the Christian right, he may well be in a
position to determine who does, and what they include in their
platform. "What Sam could do very effectively," says the Rev. Rob
Schenck, an evangelical activist, is hold the nomination hostage until
the Christian right "exacts the last pledge out of the more popular
candidate."
The nation's leading evangelicals have already lined up behind
Brownback, a feat in itself. A decade ago, evangelical support for a
Catholic would have been unthinkable. Many evangelicals viewed the Pope
as the Antichrist and the Roman Catholic Church as the Whore of
Babylon. But Brownback is the beneficiary of a strategy known as
co-belligerency -- a united front between conservative Catholics and
evangelicals in the culture war. Pat Robertson has tapped the
"outstanding senator from Kansas" as his man for president. David
Barton, the Christian right's all-but-official presidential historian,
calls Brownback "uncompromising" -- the highest praise in a movement
that considers intransigence next to godliness. And James Dobson, the
movement's strongest chieftain, can find no fault in Brownback. "He has
fulfilled every expectation," Dobson says. Even Jesse Helms, now in
retirement in North Carolina, recognizes a kindred spirit. "The most
effective senators are those who are truest to themselves," Helms says.
"Senator Brownback is becoming known as that sort of individual."
[...]
Every Tuesday, before his evening meeting with his prayer brothers,
Brownback chairs another small cell -- one explicitly dedicated to
altering public policy. It is called the Values Action Team, and it is
composed of representatives from leading organizations on the religious
right. James Dobson's Focus on the Family sends an emissary, as does
the Family Research Council, the Eagle Forum, the Christian Coalition,
the Traditional Values Coalition, Concerned Women for America and many
more. Like the Fellowship prayer cell, everything that is said is
strictly off the record, and even the groups themselves are forbidden
from discussing the proceedings. It's a little "cloak-and-dagger," says
a Brownback press secretary. The VAT is a war council, and the enemy,
says one participant, is "secularism."
The VAT coordinates the efforts of fundamentalist pressure groups,
unifying their message and arming congressional staffers with the data
and language they need to pass legislation. Working almost entirely in
secret, the group has directed the fights against gay marriage and for
school vouchers, against hate-crime legislation and for "abstinence
only" education. The VAT helped win passage of Brownback's broadcast
decency bill and made the president's tax cuts a top priority. When it
comes to "impacting policy," says Tony Perkins of the Family Research
Council, "day to day, the VAT is instrumental."
[...]
Since Brownback took over leadership of the VAT in 2002, he has used it
to consolidate his position in the Christian right -- and his influence
in the Senate. If senators -- even leaders like Bill Frist or Rick
Santorum -- want to ask for backing from the group, they must talk to
Brownback's chief of staff, Robert Wasinger, who clears attendees with
his boss. Wasinger is from Hays, Kansas, but he speaks with a Harvard
drawl, and he is still remembered in Cambridge twelve years after
graduation for a fight he led to get gay faculty booted. He was
particularly concerned about the welfare of gay men; or rather, as he
wrote in a campus magazine funded by the Heritage Foundation, that of
their innocent sperm, forced to "swim into feces." As gatekeeper of the
VAT, he's a key strategist in the conservative movement. He makes sure
the religious leaders who attend VAT understand that Brownback is the
boss -- and that other senators realize that every time Brownback
speaks, he has the money and membership of the VAT behind him.
VAT is like a closed communication circuit with Brownback at the
switch: The power flows through him. Every Wednesday at noon, he trots
upstairs from his office to a radio studio maintained by the Republican
leadership to rally support from Christian America for VAT's agenda.
One participant in the broadcast, Salem Radio Network News, reaches
more than 1,500 Christian stations nationwide, and Focus on the Family
offers access to an audience of 1.5 million. During a recent broadcast
Brownback explains that with the help of the VAT, he's working to
defeat a measure that would stiffen penalties for violent attacks on
gays and lesbians. Members of VAT help by mobilizing their flocks: An
e-mail sent out by the Family Research Council warned that the
hate-crime bill would lead, inexorably, to the criminalization of
Christianity.
[...]
Brownback finds the issue of finances distasteful. He refuses to
discuss his backers, smoothly turning the issue to matters of faith.
"Pat got me elected," he says, referring to Robertson's network of
Christian-right organizations. Sitting in his corner office in the
Senate, Brownback returns to one of his favorite subjects: the scourge
of homosexuality. The office has just been remodeled and the
high-ceilinged room is almost barren. On Brownback's desk, adrift at
the far end of the room, there's a Bible open to the Gospel of John.
It doesn't bother Brownback that most Bible scholars challenge the idea
that Scripture opposes homosexuality. "It's pretty clear," he says,
"what we know in our hearts." This, he says, is "natural law," derived
from observation of the world, but the logic is circular: It's wrong
because he observes himself believing it's wrong.
[...]
Although Brownback converted to Catholicism in 2002 through Opus Dei,
an ultraorthodox order that, like the Fellowship, specializes in
cultivating the rich and powerful, the source of much of his religious
and political thinking is Charles Colson, the former Nixon aide who
served seven months in prison for his attempt to cover up Watergate. A
"key figure," says Brownback, in the power structure of Christian
Washington, Colson is widely acknowledged as the Christian right's
leading intellectual. He is the architect behind faith-based
initiatives, the negotiator who forged the Catholic-evangelical unity
known as co-belligerency, and the man who drove sexual morality to the
top of the movement's agenda.
"When I came to the Senate," says Brownback, "I sought him out. I had
been listening to his thoughts for years, and wanted to get to know him
some."
The admiration is mutual. Colson, a powerful member of the Fellowship,
spotted Brownback as promising material not long after he joined the
group's cell for freshman Republicans. At the time, Colson was holding
classes on "biblical worldview" for leaders on Capitol Hill, and
Brownback became a prize pupil. Colson taught that abortion is only a
"threshold" issue, a wedge with which to introduce fundamentalism into
every question. The two men soon grew close, and began coordinating
their efforts: Colson provides the strategy, and Brownback translates
it into policy. "Sam has been at the meetings I called, and I've been
at the meetings he called," Colson says.
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
Religious groups get nearly one-quarter of Bush administration's AIDS
money
Monday, January 30, 2006 - Page updated at 12:00 AM
By RITA BEAMISH
The Associated Press
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002770853_aids30.html
President Bush's $15 billion effort to fight AIDS has handed out nearly
one-quarter of its grants to religious groups, and officials are
aggressively pursuing new church partners that often emphasize disease
prevention through abstinence and fidelity over condom use.
Award recipients include a Christian relief organization famous for its
televised appeals to feed hungry children, a well-known Catholic
charity and a group run by the son of evangelist Billy Graham,
according to the State Department.
The outreach to nontraditional AIDS players comes in the midst of a
debate over how best to prevent the spread of HIV, the virus that
causes AIDS. The debate has activated groups on both ends of the
political spectrum and created a vast competition for money.
[...]
The emphasis on abstinence, some longtime AIDS volunteers say, has led
to a confusing message and added to the stigma of condom use in parts
of Africa. Village volunteers in Swaziland maintain a supply of free
condoms but say they have few takers.
"This drive for abstinence is putting a lot of pressure on girls to get
married earlier," said Dr. Abeja Apunyo, the Uganda representative for
Pathfinder International, a reproductive-health nonprofit group based
in Massachusetts.
"For years now we have been trying to tell our daughters that they
should finish their education and train in a profession before they get
married. Otherwise they have few options if they find themselves
separated from their husbands for some reason."
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
Health workers may get the right to refuse to act
Monday, January 30, 2006 - Page updated at 12:00 AM
By Rob Stein
The Washington Post
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/
2002770851_refuse30.html
WASHINGTON — More than a dozen states are considering new laws to
protect health workers who do not want to provide care that conflicts
with their personal beliefs, a surge of legislation that reflects the
intensifying tension between asserting individual religious values and
defending patients' rights.
About half of the proposals would shield pharmacists who refuse to fill
prescriptions for birth control and "morning-after" pills because they
believe the drugs cause abortions.
But many are far broader measures that would shelter any doctor, nurse,
aide, technician or other employee who objects to any therapy. That
might include in-vitro fertilization, physician-assisted suicide,
embryonic stem cells, and perhaps even providing treatment to gays and
lesbians.
[More at URL]
----- 5 -----
Galleries Explode as HB 2661 - Sexual Orientation Bill Passes
Faith and Freedom Network
Saturday, January 28, 2006
http://faithandfreedom.us/lobby_wa/2006/01/galleries-explode-as-hb
-2661-sexual.html
When the final vote was announced in the Senate on Friday, the gallery
exploded in cheers and applause. As the lobbyist for Faith & Freedom,
this is the first time I have ever witnessed this type of expression in
the gallery.
The Senators that debated the bill were very candid, polite, and
cordial to each other. The testimony was very specific. Those in
opposition spoke about the Biblical description of "an abomination."
Some gave testimony about children who had "chosen" the homosexual
lifestyle, and how they loved them but not their chosen lifestyle.
Those supporting HB 2661 debated the bill did not endorse same sex
marriage, that it wasn't an agenda, and that every human should have
the right to live their lives as they see fit.
[...]
This is a sad day for the State of Washington. For 30 years those in
favor of giving special rights to the gay community have been pushing
for a bill such as this. Until now, it has been defeated every time.
Businesses, landlords, and schools could all very well feel the
negative impact of this bill as early as Tuesday when the Governor
signs the bill into law. It will become effective in 90 days unless
someone files a Referendum to stay the implementation.
Please continue to pray for God to STAY this issue from being put into
effect.
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
Protests Over Muhammad Cartoon Grow
By DONNA ABU-NASR, Associated Press Writer
Associated Press
Mon Jan 30, 1:26 PM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060130/ap_on_re_mi_ea/
mideast_prophet_drawings_5
BEIRUT, Lebanon - The controversy over Danish caricatures of Prophet
Muhammad escalated Monday as gunmen seized an EU office in Gaza and
Muslims appealed for a trade boycott of Danish products. Denmark called
for its citizens in the Middle East to exercise vigilance.
Denmark-based Arla Foods, which has been the target of a widespread
boycott in the Middle East, reported that two of its employees in Saudi
Arabia were beaten by angry customers. Aid groups, meanwhile, pulled
workers out of Gaza, citing the threat of hostilities.
The 12 drawings — published in a Danish paper in September and in a
Norwegian paper this month — included an image of the prophet wearing a
turban shaped as a bomb with a burning fuse. Islamic tradition bars any
depiction of the prophet, even respectful ones, out of concern that
such images could lead to idolatry.
Danish government officials have expressed regret over the furor but
have refused to get involved, citing freedom of expression. The
Jyllands-Posten newspaper has refused to apologize for publishing the
drawings and has said it did not mean to insult Islam.
[...]
In Gaza, masked gunmen briefly took over an office used by the EU,
demanding an apology from Denmark and Norway. The gunmen said citizens
of the two countries would be prevented from entering the Gaza Strip.
No one was hurt.
The Danish Red Cross said it was evacuating two employees from Gaza and
one from Yemen.
"There have been concrete threats against our employees. The fact that
they are Danish nationals has made the difference," Danish Red Cross
spokesman Anders Ladekarl said.
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
Challenge to gay rights bill filed by Eyman
By Andrew Garber
Seattle Times staff reporter
Monday, January 30, 2006 - Page updated at 01:23 PM
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/
2002771908_webeyman30.html
Tim Eyman filed an initiative and a referendum this morning aimed at
getting rid of the gay rights bill passed by the Legislature on Friday.
[...]
"Politicians are deciding based on special interest group pressure and
their own reelection calculations," Eyman said in a statement emailed
to reporters. "The voters have watched this disgusting display of
arrogance and selfishness for weeks."
[...]
Referendums, intended to give voters a say on laws passed by the
Legislature, need 112,440 valid signatures to get on the ballot. The
signatures have to be turned in within 90 days after the session ends.
March 9 is the final day of this year's regular session.
Initiatives, on the other hand, are generally used to get new laws on
the ballot but can be used to change existing law. Eyman would need
224,880 valid signatures to get an initiative to the people on the
ballot, but has more time to do so. The signatures for an initiative
don't have to be turned in until July 7.
[More at URL]
----- 8 -----
SENATE ENDS ALITO DEBATE AND PROCEEDS TO FINAL VOTE
Up-or-down vote on Supreme Court nominee slated for Tuesday morning.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
January 30, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0039357.cfm
Members of the U.S. Senate cleared the way this afternoon
for the final showdown over Judge Samuel Alito by voting
72-25 to invoke cloture -- or to shut off debate -- on his
Supreme Court nomination.
Pro-family legal experts like American Center for Law and
Justice Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow applauded the Senate for
clearing the way for the president's pick to replace
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the nation's highest court.
[...]
Those Democrats voting for cloture included some known
quantities, such as Robert Byrd of West Virginia, but also
some surprises, such as Maria Cantwell of Washington;
Daniel Akaka of Hawaii; Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and
Herb Kohl of Wisconsin.
[More at URL]
----- 9 -----
Sen. Conrad Listens, Will Vote for Alito
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
January 20, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
Your comments continue to make a difference. Sen. Kent
Conrad, D-N.D., announced today he will join Sens. Ben
Nelson, D-Neb.; Tim Johnson, D-S.D.; and Robert Byrd,
D-W.Va., and cross party lines to vote in favor of Judge
Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court.
Conrad said he reached his decision after careful
consideration -- acknowledging he had heard loud and clear
from North Dakotans.
"(I)t is clear that both the majority of my constituents
and the majority of the American people are in favor of
Judge Alito's confirmation," he said, in a statement.
Conrad added he will not support a filibuster of the
nominee.
----- 10 -----
CWA Gets New President
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
January 20, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
Concerned Women for America (CWA) announced today the
appointment of Wendy Wright as its new president. She had
been serving as the organization's executive vice
president since September.
"Wendy is an incisive policy strategist and eloquent
spokesman for the issues we all care deeply about. Her
leadership in defense of the family and the most
vulnerable victims of the culture war is well-known," said
Beverly LaHaye, CWA’s founder and chairman. "But, what has
always impressed me most is Wendy’s consistent Christian
commitment and integrity. That combined with a striking
humility make a unique presence in the halls of power here
in Washington and at the United Nations where she has
served with such dignity.
"CWA will benefit from Wendy’s gracious acceptance of this
appointment and I look forward to working closely with
her."
Since she joined CWA in 1999, Wright has specialized in
pro-life issues and worked with all six core areas of
concern to CWA: sanctity of life, definition of the
family, religious liberty, pornography, education and
national sovereignty.
She serves as CWA’s representative at the United Nations
and played a key role in earning CWA’s nongovernmental
organization status there. Prior to joining CWA, Wright
worked at the television outreach arm of the Free Congress
Foundation and as an Operation Rescue spokesman. She also
has worked on political campaigns, volunteered with
community programs, taught English at a national Bible
college in Sri Lanka and served as a short-term missionary
there.
"I am excited about CWA’s future and am honored to walk
side-by-side with Beverly LaHaye in our efforts to make a
difference for all Americans," Wright said. "CWA’s vision
is one I’ve long shared – ‘for women and like-minded men
from all walks of life to come together and restore the
family to its traditional purpose and thereby allow each
member of the family to realize their God-given potential
and be more responsible citizens.’ "
----- 11 -----
State Abortion Bill Would Let Women Know When Life Begins
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
January 20, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
A bill now in the Indiana House would let women know that
abortion ends a life.
According to the Indianapolis Star, House Bill 1172, which
cleared committee last week, would require doctors to
inform women preparing for abortions that life begins at
conception. If it becomes law, Indiana would join South
Dakota as the only states with such a requirement.
The South Dakota law was challenged in federal court, and
a judge prevented it from going into effect.
It would also require abortionists to inform women that
their preborn baby will feel pain.
Roger Evans, a Planned Parenthood lawyer, maintained the
proposed requirement is not based on science.
"The fundamental legal issue is whether or not the state
can compel a physician or anybody to be its mouthpiece for
delivering a message that is fraught with religious and
moral value judgments that are not objective, truthful,
nonmisleading facts," he said.
Richard Stith, a professor at Valparaiso University's
School of Law, predicted the Indiana legislation would
survive a court challenge.
He pointed to Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a landmark 1992
U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld the concept of
informed consent, which means states can require women to
receive certain information before they can agree to an
abortion.
"They can't say something that isn't true," he said, "but
the (Supreme Court) has never said that life begins after
conception."
----- 12 -----
D.C. Episcopal Diocese OKs Same-Sex Ceremonies
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
January 20, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
The Episcopal Diocese of Washington voted Saturday to
approve same-sex blessing ceremonies at its annual
convention at the Washington National Cathedral.
The Washington Times reported that the diocese
unofficially allowed same-sex ceremonies for years, and
had a same-sex rite on the books since 2004.
However, that rite has been put on hold until a meeting of
the Episcopal General Convention in June in Ohio, when the
denomination's future stance on homosexual clergy and
same-sex blessings will be decided.
A majority of the world's Anglican bishops have partially
or completely sundered ties with the Episcopal Church over
its 2003 consecration of openly homosexual New Hampshire
Bishop V. Gene Robinson.
----- 13 -----
Boy Wins ‘Right’ to Wear a Skirt to School
Concerned Women for America
1/28/2006
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/10000/CWA/misc/index.htm
A male Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey high school student has won his
battle with the school district to wear skirts to class. Bob Knight,
Director of CWA’s Culture & Family Institute, says this battle is
another feather in cap of the American Civil Liberties Union who took
up the boy’s case. It also points to larger issues of gender confusion
and a culture that refuses to acknowledge differences between the
sexes. Click here to listen.
[Robert Knight: "This is another typical ACLU story... the ACLU brought
the case, and bullied the school into letting this boy wear this girl's
skirt to class.. the kid is not doing it for the usual reasons... he's
doing it to protest the school's ban on wearing shorts... but for
whatever reason, it's going to be disruptive..."
"I think he's just kind of using the ACLU and their radical agenda to
grandstand for his own cause, but what's most interesting is that he
first wore a costume dress, to try to make a point, and he was sent
home... the district superintendent then advised him to purchase an
everyday dress or skirt to wear. That's their way of accommodating
him..."
[In other places, there are even women who are campaigning for the
right to go topless.] "In California, last fall, Senate Majority Leader
Gloria Romero, a Democrat from Los Angeles, said she would introduce
legislation to end sex discrimination in public displays of the human
body. In short, she meant women ought to be able to go topless, because
after all, men can go topless and she saw this as discriminatory. She
actually gave a press conference on the steps of the capitol building
and announced that, 'well, it's legal for men to go shirtless in public
in California, women risk being classifed as sex offenders for baring
the same body parts. This is not about pornography, this is about the
equity of the law of California.'" [etc] "This is the Senate majority
leader in California who can't figure out why women should cover their
tops!"
[Talks about dress codes in the military] "This false idea of equity is
really not about equality, it's about sameness, and we see that it's
really taken its toll on things like men's sports. And college after
college is canceling men's sports programmes, because Title IX, the
Federal law, guarantees equity between the sexes in terms of sports
programmes, and even though men are _far_ more interested in sports
than women. They historically have been more interested, they have
greater need to compete in sports, to work out their greater aggression
- instead of having the funds to fund women's programmes, a lot of
men's sports are being cancelled, like wrestling, for instances, it's
hard to find a good wrestling programme anymore. And Boston University
cancelled its football programme, back in 1997, after some women
complained that there isn't an equivalent programme for women's sports.
So the losers are men, and the universities, because as they've driven
men's sports out of universities, in the same time, fewer and fewer men
are attending college. They're perceiving there's a less friendly
atmosphere for masculine activities. And women are beginning to
dominate colleges."
"Because most of these cases centre around breaking down social norms,
the ACLU really ought to rename itself the... AC.. no... the ASCU, the
American Sexual Confusion Union, because I think that's really what
they're all about, everything from forcing homosexual scoutmasters into
the boy scouts, to enforcing the right of gay clubs to come into
schools that don't want them, to picking on any institution that
resists the homosexual lobby in any fashion - that's what they're all
about these days."]
----- 14 -----
CWA Announces New President
Concerned Women for America
1/30/2006
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/10013/MEDIA/misc/index.htm
Washington, D.C. – Concerned Women for America (CWA) announced today
the appointment of Wendy Wright as its new President. The Board of
Trustees unanimously selected Wendy Wright, a seasoned activist and a
long-valued part of CWA’s team, at its meeting on January 26. Miss
Wright had been serving as Executive Vice President since September.
“Wendy is an incisive policy strategist and eloquent spokesman for the
issues we all care deeply about. Her leadership in defense of the
family and the most vulnerable victims of the culture war is
well-known,” said Beverly LaHaye, CWA’s founder and chairman. “But,
what has always impressed me most is Wendy’s consistent Christian
commitment and integrity. That combined with a striking humility make a
unique presence in the halls of power here in Washington and at the
United Nations where she has served with such dignity.
“CWA will benefit from Wendy’s gracious acceptance of this appointment
and I look forward to working closely with her.”
Since she joined CWA in 1999, Miss Wright has specialized in pro-life
issues and worked with all six core areas of concern to CWA: sanctity
of life, definition of the family, religious liberty, pornography,
education and national sovereignty.
[More at URL]
----- 15 -----
Left's 'Agenda' Gets Little Traction
by Janice Shaw Crouse
Human Events
Posted Jan 27, 2006
http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=11959
Despite all the problems facing President Bush and the leaders of the
Republican Party, liberals continue to have difficulty getting traction
with their agenda. Perhaps this is because it consists largely of
saying little more than "Bush is to blame." Nothing was more pathetic
and farcical during the confirmation hearings of Judge Samuel Alito
than the sight of aging liberal lions of the Senate misrepresenting the
judge’s writings. They only embarrassed themselves and showed how
beholden they were to radical special-interest groups.
Does this portend yet another ineffective effort by liberals in the
2006 congressional elections? Perhaps. It depends in part upon how well
conservatives respond to the challenges ahead. One thing is certain,
however: Liberals will never concede defeat. Politics is their
religion, and they are not going to abandon anti-Americanism or their
embrace of the culture of death.
[More at URL]
----- 16 -----
CWA: On with the Vote-Phony Filibuster Attempt Fails
Concerned Women for America
1/30/2006
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/10019/MEDIA/misc/index.htm
Washington, D.C. – Concerned Women for America (CWA) commends the U.S.
Senate for invoking cloture this afternoon, thereby halting the left’s
attempt at filibustering the nomination of Supreme Court nominee Judge
Samuel Alito.
“Senators did what is necessary in order to give Judge Alito an ‘up’ or
‘down’ vote tomorrow morning,” said Jan LaRue, CWA’s Chief Counsel.
“The idea of filibustering a fine nominee like Judge Alito is beyond
ridiculous—it’s an abuse of the advice-and-consent process and defies
the will of the American people.
“There is absolutely nothing in Judge Alito’s past, present or
foreseeable future that would justify the first-ever filibuster of a
Supreme Court nominee in U.S. history. Everything we have learned about
this man confirms the fact that he should be seated on the Supreme
Court.
"We look forward to a final Senate vote tomorrow morning so that we can
welcome Judge Alito as our next Supreme Court Justice.”
For Information Contact:
Stacey Holliday
(202) 488-7000
media.cwfa.org
----- 17 -----
Eyes on the Prize
Family Research Council
January 30, 2006
http://www.frc.org/ [Top of page]
Permalink: http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WA06A75#WA06A75
Beltway pundits are all buzzing about what President Bush will include
in his sixth State of the Union Address on Tuesday.
I cannot emphasize strongly enough that the President must reach out to
the Values Voters who put him and so many of his congressional allies
in office. No better way could be found than to offer his strong
support for protecting marriage. Congress needs to approve the Marriage
Protection Amendment and send it to the states for ratification.
Read more on FRC Pres. Tony Perkins' Washington Update.
Brochure: The Slippery Slope of Same-Sex 'Marriage'
[More at URL]
----- 18 -----
The Slippery Slope of Same-Sex "Marriage"
by: Timothy J. Dailey, Ph. D.
Family Research Council
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=BC04C02&v=PRINT
A Man and His Horse
In what some call a denial of a basic civil right, a Missouri man has
been told he may not marry his long-term companion. Although his
situation is unique, the logic of his argument is remarkably similar to
that employed by advocates of homosexual marriage.
The man claims that the essential elements of marriage--love and
commitment--are indeed present:"She's gorgeous. She's sweet. She's
loving. I'm very proud of her. ... Deep down, way down, I'd love to
have children with her."1
Why is the state of Missouri, as well as the federal government,
displaying such heartlessness in denying the holy bonds of wedlock to
this man and his would-be "wife"?
It seems the state of Missouri is not prepared to indulge a man who
waxes eloquent about his love for a 22-year-old mare named Pixel.
[More at URL]
----- 19 -----
FRC Calls Chafee 'No' Vote on Alito 'Pandering to Liberal Groups'
January 30, 2006 - Monday
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 30, 2006 CONTACT: Amber Hildebrand,
(202) 393-2100
FOR RADIO: J.P. Duffy
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PR06A30&f=PG03I03
Washington, D.C. - Today, Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) announced his
opposition to the confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito as 110th Associate
Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Tony Perkins, President of Family
Research Council, issued the following statement:
"Senator Chafee's announced opposition to Judge Alito is the worst
possible form of pandering to liberal groups. In the mind of Senator
Chafee, left-wing talking points take precedence over the highly
regarded qualifications of a judicial nominee.
"Judge Alito represents 15 years of judicial experience as well as a
fair and restrained judicial temperament. During his service, Judge
Alito has sworn loyalty to the Constitution and fealty to the rule of
law. In adding a political litmus test, Senator Chafee neglects the
standard which has guided the confirmation process for more than 200
years, thus doing great disservice to the independence of our courts.
"Faced with an intense battle for re-election this fall, Senator Chafee
must now explain to the voters of Rhode Island why he is allowing their
best interests to be undermined by the radical interests lurking in
Washington D.C."
-30-
----- 20 -----
Homosexuality: A public health disaster
Posted: January 28, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By David Bass
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48542
The raging debate over homosexual marriage took another interesting
turn this week when Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge M. Brooke
Murdock struck down Maryland's state law defining marriage as the union
of one man and one woman. The decision, handed down Jan. 20, claimed
that Family Law §2-201 unfairly abridged the fundamental marriage
rights of the nine homosexual couples who filed the lawsuit.
[More at URL]
----- 21 -----
Eyman files initiative, referendum to reverse gay civil rights bill
BY BRAD SHANNON
THE OLYMPIAN
http://159.54.227.3/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060130/NEWS0402/
60130065/1018
Tim Eyman plunked down two $5 bills today to file both an initiative
and a referendum that would erase anti-discrimination protections for
gays contained in a bill Gov. Christine Gregoire plans to sign into law
Tuesday morning.
Eyman, the Snohomish County activist who says he has qualified nine
proposals for the statewide ballot, told a morning press conference at
the Secretary of State's Office that voters in Washington don't want to
allow "special rights" for minorities.
Although Eyman said he hadn't decided yet whether to run a referendum
or initiative, which have different signature requirements and
deadlines, he said voters rather than lawmakers should make the
decision on the underlying law: gay rights.
[...]
He said Eyman, who previously has been known for tax work and a bit of
Libertarian, had finally let people "see who he really is" -- an
associate and activist with the far-right religious extremists.
Rick Forcier, executive director of Olympia-based Christian Coalition
of Washington, said his group plans to support Eyman's efforts and he
does not expect other groups to run separate initiatives or referenda.
The coalition's help would range from volunteer signature gatherers to
sending advocates door-to-door to talk about why the law needs to be
overturned.
[More at URL]
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