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AFA JournalNEWS OF INTERESTAFA Journal, August, 2002 edition ACTIVISM Lone Christian battles ‘plastic porn’ models A dedicated Christian in North Carolina is fighting the infiltration of pornography into what has been a family pastime – building plastic models. Bud Press of Shelby, North Carolina, is a member of the International Plastic Modelers’ Society (IPMS). Model-building has long been considered a family-oriented hobby, and members of the Society often participate in shows to display their wares. However, Press is embroiled in a battle over pornographic nude figures that he says are being displayed at those shows and in stores and trade publications. “IPMS, since its inception in the early to mid 1960s, has always carried the moniker ‘family-oriented,’” Press said. “You would think that the plastic model building industry would be the last place on earth that would allow the infiltration of pornography – but it’s there, and it’s dangerous.” Press’ objections to pornographic models caused the IPMS to place them behind curtains at shows as a compromise, but Press continues to campaign against the very existence of the displays. He also objects to advertisements in the IPMS bi-monthly publication from companies that deal in X-rated materials and sado-masochistic themes. He said the infiltration of pornography is a “tidal wave” – and a battle that, as a Christian, he feels he is fighting alone. Press said most plastic model contests take place in public schools, civic centers, churches, hotels and National Guard armories. He advises parents to contact the local coordinator and inquire about displays of nude figures or screened areas before taking their children. Anyone interested in learning more about this issue contact: Bud Press, 3838 Towery Road #2, Shelby, North Carolina 28150; Phone: 704-434-7862. CULTURE New approach may decrease risky teen behavior Some universities, colleges, high schools and middle schools are trying a fresh approach to convince students to avoid risky behavior like drinking, drug abuse and the use of tobacco. It’s called “social norming,” and it operates on the assumption that kids gravitate toward the behavior that they think is “normal” among their peers. The smarter approach tells kids the truth – that most of their fellow students are not involved in risky behavior – rather than trying to scare kids by focusing on the negative effects of those behaviors. According to an article in USA Today, over 30 college campuses nationwide are trying social norming. At the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, for example, a social-norming effort produced a 29% drop in student smoking that stunned school officials. In two high schools in DeKalb County, Illinois, school officials also tried the new approach. Lydia Short, who spearheaded that program – the first in the nation for a high school – said she had been concerned about the messages kids were getting, especially around prom time. “Parents will tell [their teens], ‘I know everyone will be drinking, so don’t drink and drive.’ Teachers will tell them, too: ‘I know everyone will be drinking …’ But everyone won’t be drinking. Most won’t,” Short told USA Today. Students often have a perception about what their peers are doing that is vastly different than reality. A 1999 poll of students at the University of Washington in Seattle, for example, discovered that kids believed that 95% of their fellow campus classmates smoked. The truth, however, was that only about one-third did. One supporter of the approach said, “Social norming breaks down that perception. If I’m a student, and I think 95% of everybody smokes, there’s a perception that that’s what people do here. Potentially that becomes my behavior because I want to fit in.” In DeKalb County school officials began trying social norming in 1999, stressing that only a minority of kids were drinking alcohol (44%) and smoking tobacco (26%). Within two years both behaviors declined, to 30% and 17% respectively. USA Today, 5/28/02 EDUCATION U.S. high school seniors flunk history Considering how close high school students are to voting age, their performance on the U.S. history portion of the 2001 Nation’s Report Card exam was “truly abysmal,” says Diane Ravitch, historian and education professor at New York University. Professor Ravitch, who is also a member of the test’s governing board, said this fact was alarming. “Our ability to defend – intelligently and thoughtfully – what we as a nation hold dear depends on our knowledge and understanding of what we hold dear,” she said. The exam, which is periodically administered by the National Center for Education Statistics, determines 4th-, 8th- and 12th-grade students’ progress, or lack thereof, in a variety of subjects. Unfortunately, U.S. history is the subject in which seniors scored lowest, both in 2001 and in 1994, the previous year for testing. Students were scored at one of three levels: basic, proficient (at grade level), or advanced. Although all students should ideally perform at least at grade level, this was not the case: 57% could not perform even at the basic level; 32% performed at the basic level; only 10% performed grade-level work, and 1% were advanced or superior. For example, only 30% of seniors could correctly identify the purpose of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), while 69% got it wrong (with 1% omitting the question altogether.) USA Today, 5/10/02 ENTERTAINMENT Disney kids’ movie promotes ‘alternative families’ Walt Disney’s new summer animated film for children, Lilo & Stitch, took in $35.8 million in its June weekend debut, but what parents may not know is that the film falls right in line with the entertainment giant’s promotion of the homosexual agenda. The movie is about the friendship between a Hawaiian orphan girl named Lilo and an alien traveler named Stitch. According to The Advocate, a magazine which targets the homosexual community, the children’s film is “a cartoon supporting alternative families,” because “[i]n-stead of two moms or two dads, Lilo winds up with her older sister, an adopted extraterrestrial, an ex-CIA social worker … and several alien uncles.” The Advocate did not read this interpretation into Lilo & Stitch, but instead relied on someone who would know the film’s intention: the movie’s openly homosexual co-producer Dean DeBlois. In an interview with The Advocate, DeBlois said: “We hope that what everybody takes away from [Lilo & Stitch] is that a family is what you make it, not necessarily what you’re born into.” AFA President Tim Wildmon said Lilo & Stitch is yet another reason why AFA continues to advocate the boycott of Disney that it began in 1996. “In very subtle and not so subtle ways, Disney continues to try to shape an America that ultimately rejects the Judeo-Christian views of human sexuality, marriage and family,” he said. Recent court decisions could reshape country On two successive days, America was set abuzz talking about the implications of two judicial rulings that could change the educational landscape across the nation. On June 27 the U.S. Supreme Court rocked the public education establishment by ruling that school vouchers – which allow parents to use taxpayer funds to pay for their kids’ schooling at either public, private or religious schools – are constitutional. That 5-4 decision now gives the go ahead to any city or state that wants to give parents the choice of where they want to send their kids to school. The high court ruling stems from a legal challenge to Cleveland’s six-year-old pilot voucher program. School vouchers have been fiercely resisted by those who argue that such plans weaken public school systems and represent an unconstitutional government establishment of religion, since parents can use taxpayer monies at religious schools. The Supreme Court disagreed. “[T]he Ohio program is entirely neutral with respect to religion. It provides benefits directly to a wide spectrum of individuals, defined only by financial need and residence in a particular school district,” wrote Chief Justice William Rehnquist for the majority. “It permits such individuals to exercise genuine choice among options public and private, secular and religious. The program is therefore a program of true private choice.” In a stunning ruling one day earlier, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found that the Pledge of Allegiance violates the Establishment Clause of the Constitution because it contains the words “under God.” Schools in nine western states were ordered to stop starting the school day with the Pledge, although one of the judges has now halted enforcement of the decision pending appeal. That lawsuit was brought by a California atheist on behalf of his daughter. (See related story, page 8.) TV’s prime-time dads subject of study The presence of father figures on prime-time network TV shows took some positive strides forward, as well as a couple of steps back during the 2001-2002 television season. A recent study released by the Parents Television Council (PTC) based in Los Angeles, California, found that 83% of TV children have a father figure involved in their lives. However, while there are more dads on prime-time TV, the study found that the networks are not promoting traditional families in which children live with both married parents. Only 47% live in a traditional family with their married biological parents. The first-ever analysis also determined that 8% of TV children live in a joint-custody situation where both parents (whether divorced or never married) share time with the children. Fourteen percent of TV kids are raised by single fathers. Interestingly, of the single fathers portrayed on TV, 90% are widowers. Brent Bozell III, founder and president of PTC, said that in the past, Hollywood has downplayed the vital role of fathers in raising their children. “[I]t’s heartening to see the networks place a renewed focus on the importance of father figures,” he said. “It would be better still to see a greater emphasis on the positive impact made by the millions of fathers who live with their children, and their wives, in a nuclear family.” PTC’s study included 119 shows depicting 150 children. Parents Television Council, 6/12/02; AgapePress, 6/18/02 MEDIA Media groups donate to liberal organization Media representatives claim the mainstream news outlets aren’t liberally biased. However, actions speak louder than words. In an apparent conflict of interests, media organizations like The New York Times, CBS, NBC and Disney (which owns the ABC network) have for several years donated money to the liberal lobbying organization People for the American Way (PAW). The story came to light in an article by Bryon York in National Review Online. York examined annual reports for PAW covering the last four years, and said the media heavyweights had purchased tables at PAW’s annual fundraising dinners periodically from 1998 to 2001. The New York Times spent $500-$600 per seat in 1998, 2000 and 2001. PAW’s liberal pedigree is unquestioned, from the views of founder Norman Lear, the famous television producer, to the efforts of the organization to promote “gay” rights, abortion and other issues of the left. In an interview with Family News in Focus, Liz Swasey, communications director for Media Research Center, said, “If the major networks had contributed to the National Rifle Association, can you imagine the brouhaha that would have ensued? … The Society [of] Professional Journalists has a code of ethics … you don’t contribute financially to political causes.” National Review Online, 4/26/02; Family News in Focus, 5/8/02 PORNOGRAPHY Federal panel pulls plug on computer filtering law For the third time, the federal judiciary has hamstrung those wanting to protect children from Internet pornography by tossing out laws passed by Congress. In the latest decision, a three-judge panel of the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declared unconstitutional a congressional law which required public libraries to install Internet filtering software on computers that were accessible to children. (See related story, page 17.) The law, the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), required the computer filters if a library wanted to receive federal money. CIPA was challenged by the American Library Association (ALA) and the American Civil Liberties Union on free speech grounds. The court agreed, saying in its May 31 decision, “Any public library that adheres to CIPA’s conditions will necessarily restrict patrons’ access to a substantial amount of protected speech in violation of the First Amendment.” The ALA has been criticized by AFA and other pro-family groups because the group’s spokesmen have publicly stated that children have every right to access whatever is in public libraries, even the most hard-core pornography. To document the ALA’s radical position on such matters, AFA produced a video, Excess Access, in 1999. Earlier in the month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the Children’s Online Protection Act, which had made “virtual” child porn illegal. Virtual child pornography is created by computer simulation and does not use real children in its sexually explicit material; however, law enforcement officers often cannot tell which is real and which is not, creating the need for the law. The nation’s highest court also nullified the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which made it a crime to make sexually-oriented material accessible to children on television or the Internet. AP, 5/31/02; Reuters, 5/31/02 PRO-LIFE Presbyterians endorse women’s right to abortion During its annual meeting, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the nation’s largest Presbyterian denomination, OK’d a woman’s right to abort her child. The PCUSA said abortion was acceptable as long as an unborn child is not “viable,” meaning that it could not survive outside the mother’s womb, even with medical help. Even after that, however, delegates said a woman could still abort her child after what it calls “prayer and pastoral consultation.” The decision, passed by an overwhelming 394-112 margin, took place at the PCUSA’s annual General Assembly, held in Columbus, Ohio. Judy L. Woods, moderator of the PCUSA’s advisory committee on litigation, told The Columbus Dispatch (Ohio), “We affirmed the fundamental right to [abortion] prior to viability. But after viability, we have said that although there is still a right to choose [abortion], that choice has to be undertaken after prayer and pastoral consultation … and only in certain circumstances.” However, Terry Schlossberg, executive director of Presbyterians Pro-Life, said those “certain circumstances” listed in the decision essentially allowed abortion under any circumstances. “This allows for so many exceptions; there’s no way for the church to counsel that any late-term abortion would be objectionable,” he said. The Columbus Dispatch reported that the delegates also voted to retain payment for late-term abortions in the denomination’s medical benefits plan. The Columbus Dispatch, 6/22/02; AFR News, 6/25/02 Abortionists accused of rape cover-up A Texas pro-life group is accusing the nation’s largest abortion provider of illegally concealing child sex abuse. Life Dynamics of Denton, Texas, said it has irrefutable evidence that Planned Parenthood facilities and the National Abortion Federation have knowingly violated state and federal laws that require them to report sexual abuse of children. Life Dynamics president Mark Crutcher said his group conducted a survey of over 800 Planned Parenthood and National Abortion Federation facilities in which a caller portrayed herself as a 13-year-old girl who was made pregnant by a 22-year-old man. Such sexual conduct constitutes statutory rape and child abuse in all 50 states. Crutcher said the results were appalling. He said an overwhelming majority of the clinic workers agreed to conceal this illegal sexual activity, even after they acknowledged that they were required to report it. “We’ve got all these people in the country right now concerned about the covering up of pedophilia by the Catholic Church. What we’ve discovered is that the real professionals at covering up for pedophiles work at Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Federation,“ he said. “These people were on the phone with a 13-year-old girl that was the victim of statutory rape and they were being told that information, and they were willing to conceal that crime in order to make the financial profit that comes from doing the abortion on this young lady.” Crutcher said lawsuits are being prepared, and efforts are under way to turn this evidence over to the U.S. Attorney General and state attorneys general for possible prosecution. AgapePress, 5/24/02 RELIGION Coach not hired because of religious views Stanford University officials have admitted that the religious beliefs of University of Nebraska assistant football coach Ron Brown played a part in their decision not to hire him. Apparently Brown’s Christian beliefs were incompatible with Stanford’s liberal student body and homosexual community. Alan Glenn, Stanford’s assistant athletic director of human resources, said Brown’s Christianity “was definitely something that had to be considered” in the job interview. “If I’d been discriminated against for being black, they would’ve never told me that,” Brown said. “They had no problem telling me it was because of my Christian beliefs. That’s amazing to me.” Julie Fitzgerald, a sophomore political science major at Stanford and financial officer for the 50-member Queer Straight Social and Political Alliance, said Stanford was definitely a “queer-friendly campus.” She said, “I don’t think he would fit in very well. If somebody with those views came onto campus, there’d be a lot of activism about those views.” Brown’s highly publicized religious beliefs – he once called homosexuality a sin on his Christian radio talk show – have been a factor before in his being turned down for coaching jobs elsewhere. He says it’s worth it, however, even if he never gets the chance to coach anywhere else. “I’m thrilled at Nebraska,” Brown said. “The question is: Am I willing to water down my faith to gain in this world, or do I sacrifice my faith for the calling? … Every day, there’s the temptation. … But no, this world’s not worthy. This thing about following Jesus Christ isn’t flag football. It’s for real. You can’t straddle the line.” Daily Nebraskan, 4/11/02 |
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