 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|  | AFA JournalNews of InterestAFA Journal, February, 2003 edition AFA ACTIVISM AFA attorneys chalk up win for Christmas Just in time for Christmas, the AFA Center for Law & Policy (CLP) won a concession from Miami-Dade County officials, allowing a nativity scene to be placed alongside other holiday displays on public property. The case arose when Ditsy Carmen Suarez, a 35-year-old resident of Miami-Dade County, went into the County Permit and Inspection Center to obtain a building permit. She noticed that a prominent holiday display in the lobby contained religious symbols for both the Jewish faith and the recently-created Kwanzaa tradition, but no symbol of the Christian origins of Christmas were anywhere to be found. When Suarez contacted Miami-Dade officials to inquire about the omission, she was told that the nativity scene was forbidden because it was religious in nature, and the county’s display was designed to contain only non-religious seasonal symbols. Charles Danger, Director of the Permit and Inspection Department, told her that a creche would violate the “separation of church and state.” CLP Senior Litigation Counsel Mike DePrimo, who was asked by Suarez to get involved in the dispute, wrote a letter to county officials. He explained that it was both constitutional to allow a nativity scene in such a holiday display, and unconstitutional to forbid it. The CLP threatened to take Miami-Dade County to federal court, but officials backed down and allowed the creche – eight days before Christmas. “It is pathetic that our culture has become so hostile to the Christian faith that it often takes the threat of a federal lawsuit for Christians to obtain the same rights as others in the public square,” said DePrimo. Disney World boots Christian worship services Disney World in Florida is canceling its long tradition of offering a place for Christian visitors to worship, because allowing the practice to continue would be insensitive toward other religions. According to Cybercast News Service, Disney officials say the theme park will no longer accommodate 1,500 Catholic and Protestant families who want to use facilities for Sunday services. The change in policy ended a practice begun in 1975, when Disney World began allowing on-site Christian worship services, conducted by Catholic and Protestant clergy. The only other option was for guests to travel for miles to find a church – something that was often difficult for visitors unfamiliar with the Orlando area. Disney spokesperson Rena Callahan said it did not seem right to offer only two types of services when there are “so many religions out there.” To continue that, she said, would be insensitive to the resort’s non-Christian clientele. “It seems like you do need to look at the diversity aspect of this and try to serve everyone to the best of your ability,” Callahan said. AFA President Tim Wildmon said Disney’s answer to the diversity issue didn’t make sense. “If you want to allow other religions to have their own services, that would be fine,” he said. “But why offend the Christians by kicking them out, just so you don’t offend the non-Christians?” Wildmon also said Disney’s caution when it comes to offending customers was selective. “Every year Disney hosts ‘Gay Days,’ and countless customers are shocked and offended by what they see while attending during that time,” he said. “Now all of a sudden, when it comes to accommodating Christians, Disney is concerned about offending customers? That makes their explanation pretty hard to swallow.” CULTURE Cervical cancer risk higher for sexually active women Christian groups that encourage abstinence before marriage and then monogamy within marriage have more than just the Bible on their side – they also have medical science on board. According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), for example, women who have had multiple sex partners are at a higher risk for developing cervical cancer than women who are less sexually active. That’s because the primary risk factor for developing cervical cancer is the sexually transmitted disease genital human papil-lomavirus (HPV). HPV is incurable, and is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). There are some 20 million Americans infected with it, and 5.5 million new cases are reported in the U.S. each year. The ACS website lists “intercourse at an early age,” “having many sexual partners,” and “having unprotected sex at any age” as the types of sexual behavior that increase a woman’s risk of getting HPV. ACS also warns that using condoms is not a guarantee against HPV infection, because the virus can be transmitted from areas of the body not covered by a condom. www.cancer.org, 12/20/02; Family News in Focus, 12/19/02 ENTERTAINMENT Youth frequently exposed to beer ads A new study says the nation’s young people are exposed to advertisements for beer and ale more frequently than ads for youth-oriented products, such as soft drinks, fruit juices, snack foods, or jeans. The study was released by Georgetown University’s Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY). The problem stems from the types of television programs on which beer and ale ads often appear. The study cited a 1999 Federal Trade Commission report that said the alcohol industry’s voluntary guideline “permits placement of ads on programs where the underage audience far exceeds its representation in the population.” Of the more than $811 million spent in 2001 on television alcohol ads, 86% was spent on advertisements for beer and ale products. The researchers found that “[b]ecause of the placement of the commercials, almost a quarter of alcohol advertising on television in 2001 was more likely to be seen by youth than adults.” In the study, “youth” was defined as referring to young people under the legal drinking age. CAMY researchers focused on 208,909 ads that aired on network, cable and local broadcast programming. The report found that alcohol advertisements reached 89% of the youth audience, who on average saw 245 alcohol ads. However, the study said, “the 30% of youth who were most likely to see alcohol advertising on TV saw at least 780 ads” in 2001. A spokesman for the Beer Institute, a trade group, told USA Today that the implication that alcohol advertisers target young people with their spots was false. Instead, the source said, society should support programs that are successful in dealing with the problems of underage drinking “instead of wasting valuable time censoring advertising to adults of legal drinking age.” The report concluded by saying, “Research studies have found that exposure to and liking of advertisements affects young people’s beliefs about drinking, intentions to drink, and actual drinking behavior.” USA Today, 12/18/02; www.camy.org, 12/20/02 Martha Stewart magazine ad features nudity Conservative cultural observers have noted that American obsessions with sex and youth could have potentially devastating effects if the two become intertwined. In fact, a number of pro-family groups are already alarmed by the growing acceptance of pedophilia in some circles. The subtle way in which this extraordinary sexualization of youth creeps into the ordinary facets of life was demonstrated by none other than the December 2002 edition of Martha Stewart Living. The normally wholesome magazine was sullied by a disturbing ad that featured nude models made up to look like minors. The ad was for Dooney & Bourke, an upscale clothing retailer. The full-page ad shows two naked girls, with one wearing only a backpack. A representative for Dooney & Bourke assured AFA that the girls are over 18, and defended the “female nude” as “a great tradition in the arts.” AFA Chairman Don Wildmon said he wasn’t buying the company’s explanation. “This photo was clearly an attempt to make these girls look younger than their real age – they look no older than 14, at best,” he said. “Martha Stewart should be embarrassed to allow such an ad in her magazine, and Dooney & Bourke should be ashamed for trying to sexualize our youth.” Action address Dooney & Bourke E-mail: cservice@dooney.com. Study indicates video game, violence link A new study presents alarming evidence that adolescent males who play violent video games may be inhibiting their ability to control their violent urges. According to Dr. Vincent P. Mathews of the University of Indiana School of Medicine, he and other researchers at the school found that playing violent video games for hours changes the way the brain actually functions. Among other things, the part of the brain that is responsible for controlling behavior became less responsive after the game-playing. Perhaps even more significant, researchers found that adolescents who were already getting into trouble with authority figures for disruptive or aggressive behavior evidenced the most distinctive negative effects. “There appears to be a difference in the way the brain responds, depending on the amount of past violent media exposure through video games, movies and television,” Mathews said. The study only added to the concern of Dr. David Walsh, founder of the National Institute on Media and the Family. Walsh’s organization issues a report on the video game industry every year, and in mid-December gave the industry an “F.” It was the first time it had done so. The “Report Card” cited several factors contributing to the failing grade: the increasing number of violent video games being produced and marketed; the inaccuracy of the industry’s voluntary ratings system; and poor enforcement of game ratings by many retail businesses, which often sell to minors video games rated “M” for mature, adult consumers. Following the Institute’s report, Doug Lowenstein of the Interactive Digital Software Association admitted to USA Today that video game retailers have a long way to go in enforcing the rating system. However, he said, “parents are blithely ignoring the ratings. You can point your finger at retailers and the games, but the one making these decisions is Mom and Dad.” www.medicine.indiana.edu, 12/2/02; UPI, 12/2/02; www.mediafamily.org, 12/19/02; Reuters, 12/19/02; USA Today, 12/19/02; Family News in Focus, 12/9/02 Marvel gives kids first ‘gay’ main character Comic book industry giant Marvel Comics will give the homosexual movement another ground-breaking moment, when it repackages a 1950s character as a homosexual. The “Rawhide Kid,” a western comic book character who was developed during the heyday of the popular 1950s TV westerns, was first introduced in 1955. The character was reintroduced in 1960, and enjoyed a 19-year run. Now Marvel is recreating him as a “gay” man in a series scheduled for release in February. While the original Rawhide Kid was not sexual, the newer version will be a homosexual. “He doesn’t come out and say he’s gay,” said Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada. “But it’s obvious through his actions and the things he says that his preference is men, not women.” For example, the Kid makes a remark about the Lone Ranger, saying, “I think that mask and powder-blue outfit are fantastic. I can certainly see why that Indian follows him around.” In the 1990s, Marvel and other comic book companies like DC Comics began inserting homosexual supporting characters and “gay-themed” storylines. (See AFA Journal, 1/03). The current incarnation of the Rawhide Kid, however, will represent the first time the main character of a comic series is homosexual. AFA President Tim Wildmon said Marvel’s decision was part of an ongoing attempt by those in the entertainment industries to promote homosexuality as normal. “If that’s not what is motivating Marvel, then why purposefully take a heterosexual character and change him into a homosexual? I think it’s reasonable to assume that the writers of this comic book series have a particular agenda.” CNN.com, 12/9/02; AP, 12/10/02; Gay.com, 12/10/02 HOMOSEXUALITY New FBI hate crime stats released The latest statistics released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) regarding hate crimes once again undermines claims by homosexual activists that the “gay” community is facing an epidemic of violent crime. Activists continue to demand that Congress pass a federal hate crime statute that would cover sexual orientation. Such a law would enhance the ordinary penalties for crimes committed against homosexuals, if the crime were determined to be motivated by a bias against a person’s sexual orientation. However, conservatives say the laws are unnecessary because violent hate crimes committed against homosexuals are relatively rare, and FBI statistics seem to bear this out. For example, of the 15,980 murders committed in the U.S. in 2001, just one – or .00006% of the total – was committed on the basis of sexual orientation. Likewise, only 203 of the 907,219 aggravated assaults (.0002%) were committed on the basis of sexual orientation. www.fbi.gov, 11/25/02, 10/28/02 Cracker Barrel caves to homosexual activists The board of directors of the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain voted to add the term “sexual orientation” to the company’s anti-discrimination policy. The unanimous vote occurred in late November, after a shareholder meeting, according to Cracker Barrel spokeswoman Julie Davis. “We expect it to have no impact on day-to-day business because we already had a policy in place that prohibited all discrimination in the workplace,” Davis said. Until this year, Davis said the directors refused to adopt “sexual orientation” because they believed the company’s previous policy “covers what needs to be covered, and it would be redundant to add sexual orientation to the policy. The board has taken this position for many years.” Randy Sharp, special projects director for AFA, said the change proved that adopting the new policy was never about dealing with discrimination. “Homosexual activists prompted this move to further their agenda. This was not about equal opportunity employment, but rather the procurement of another feather for their social-restructuring cap,” he said. According to Davis, sexual orientation was not defined in the policy. When asked if a man applying for a job would be allowed to wear a dress if that were his sexual orientation, Davis replied, “I had not considered that. I have no idea. It was a shareholder proposal and it was clear that there was a majority of voters supporting the proposal.” In addition, Davis could not clarify if the sexual orientation policy included pedophilia, bestiality, or the many other deviant forms of sexual orientation. Action address Chrm. Dan W. Evins Lesbians picked ‘cutest couple’ at high school Students at an Illinois public high school have named two lesbians the “cutest couple” on campus – and school officials are praising the decision. The two students at Crete-Monee High School are said to be longtime high-school sweethearts, and their parents have agreed to let a photograph of the couple appear in the school yearbook. The controversy created a stir in Crete, a sleepy farming town in the suburbs south of Chicago. Meanwhile, school administrators are praising students who voted for the couple’s designation. However, Bob Knight, a spokesman for the Culture and Family Institute, said most schools are not embracing sexual perversion and trying to make it seem normal. “The administrators of this school ought to be sacked – I’ll just say that out front,” Knight said. “You’ve got two sexually confused girls, one only 15 years old, and [the administrators are] actually celebrating and applauding their sexual confusion. That shows that these administrators are not fit to educate children.” Knight said concerned parents need to make their feelings known and translate them into action. “If someone doesn’t speak out, situations like this will become more common all over the United States and more kids will experiment with homosexuality,” he said. “Nobody is born gay,” Knight continued. “This is an attempt to give us the idea that it’s inevitable, that these kids are going to be that way anyway, and no one should steer them toward the light [or] steer them toward normal sexuality. It’s very dangerous.” AgapePress, 12/20/02 Study confirms that Internet blocking filters work well A new study gives a further boost to pro-family efforts to restrict the easy availability of pornography to children who use computers at school or public libraries. The results of a study released by The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation show-ed that “[t]he Internet filters most frequently used by schools and libraries can effectively block pornography without significantly impeding access to online health information.” The study was published in the December 11 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Opponents of filtering have long argued that the computer software that screens out pornography will also screen out valuable, non-pornographic materials. However, the Kaiser study showed that, on their least restrictive settings, filtering software blocks 87% of porn web sites while only screening out 1.4% of legitimate health sites. But even when set at their most restrictive settings, filters blocked only 24% of health sites – while screening out 91% of porn web sites. The Kaiser Family Foundation’s Vicky Rideout said, “Filters can strike a good balance between protecting kids from pornography while still giving them access to online health information, but only if they’re configured carefully.” www.kff.org, 12/10/02 PORNOGRAPHY Pro-family group set to ID ‘clean’ hotels Citizens for Community Values (CCV) is set to kick off a campaign to help consumers identify “clean” and “dirty” hotels – based on whether or not the hotels are pornography free. Phil Burress, president of the Cincinnati-based CCV, said the organization has already surveyed 174 hotels in the Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky tri-state area. Burress said 98 of those hotels reported that they did not offer adult pay-per-view movies, and those “clean” hotels are listed on a CCV-sponsored website, www.cleanhotels.com. CCV wants to make such information available to consumers, and eventually to have a comprehensive list of nationwide hotel chains that eschew so-called “adult” programming. The effort is part of CCV’s ongoing fight against pornography. “We’re going on the offensive, and we’re going to stay on the offensive,” he said. “And we are also providing a list of hotels that do offer adult movies to local prosecutors,” in case such fare is deemed legal obscenity. The Cincinnati Enquirer, 12/17/02 RELIGION Study: giving good for body and soul The first-ever study to analyze how giving in daily life affects one’s life span has revealed that the words of Jesus, “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” are true – in more ways than one. Social contact has long been known as a booster for improved health and longer life, but the assumption has been that this occurs because of the support people get from their relationships. But this new study has found that routinely helping others actually protects the helper’s health. Led by University of Michigan psychologist Stephanie Brown, the study followed 423 couples for five years. All the men were at least 65 years old. Those who said they had helped others over the five year period were half as likely to have died. Women typically have a longer life span partly because they have more social contact and, when under stress, seek out companions, says UCLA psychologist Shelley Taylor, in her comments about the study. USA Today, 11/14/02 Apology works wonders New research demonstrates that the Biblical virtue of reconciliation between offended parties may be a biological blessing to boot. A study of 32 male and 29 female college undergraduates revealed that, when offered an apology for wrongdoing by another person, the offended party displayed positive physiological changes such as a lower heart rate, less stress and lower blood pressure. The study, which was conducted at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, also found that students felt more forgiveness, gratitude and empathy, and less anger, fear and sadness, after an apology was given. Dr. Everett L. Worthington, Jr. told Reuters Health that an apology makes it easier to forgive because it reduces the gap of injustice. “Justice can only take you so far, but if you forgive – that can take you all the way to closure.” Reuters Health, 10/10/02 ‘God’ ommitted...again Everyone is familiar with the controversy surrounding the words “under God” being removed from America’s Pledge of Allegiance. The public outcry and a legal stay by a federal appellate court judge have assured, at least temporarily, that the words will stay. Sadly, though, God’s name will now be omitted in another arena. According to Newsmax.com, the October 1 graduating class of the Honolulu, Hawaii, police academy did not end the recitation of their oath of office with the usual phrase, “So help me God.” The city’s police commission agreed to omit the familiar words after receiving a complaint from the Hawaii Citizens for Separation of Church and State, which said that the use of the phrase was unconstitutional. This was the second time within a month that the police department had caved in to the demands of the group. A previous complaint had spurred the department to alter its Web site by deleting a Bible phrase and two poems containing religious content. Newsmax.com, 9/26/02 Christ pushed further out of Christmas The past holiday season saw numerous attempts to purge Christianity from the public sphere, resulting in legal tussles and plenty of outrage. In one of the most eggregious examples of religious discrimination, one school in New York City decided that religious holiday symbols could be displayed – with the exception of the nativity or any other symbols specific to Christianity. According to CNSNews.com, the principal of Thomas Jefferson Magnet School of Humanities in Flushing, New York, issued a policy stating the school could display secular holiday symbols. “Such symbols include, but are not limited to, Christmas trees, Menorahs, and the [Islamic] Star and the Crescent,” the policy said. Christians decried the policy, saying it was absurd to expect people to believe that the Menorah and Star and Crescent were not religious symbols. The Thomas More Law Center filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court on behalf of a Christian parent, who has two children in New York City schools. “The policy relegates Christians to second-class citizens,” said Thomas More lead attorney Richard Thompson. “Forcing schools to only allow secular symbols for Christmas while allowing religious symbols for other religions’ holiday observances shows a callous indifference and hostility toward Christians during one of their holiest seasons.” On the other side of the country, according to WorldNetDaily, a principal issued a similarly bizarre edict, telling three elementary school teachers in his Sacramento, California, school that they could not even say the word Christmas. The policy was made public by a first-grade teacher who has been teaching in the public school system for 24 years. Saying she wished to remain anonymous, the teacher contacted the pro-family public-policy group Capitol Resource Institute (CRI) to find out if the principal’s decree was legal. The United States Justice Foundation (USJF), which researched the law covering the dispute on behalf of CRI, said not only is it legal to mention Christmas in California public schools, but prohibiting the use of the word Christmas is an “abject violation” of the California Education Code. “Christmas and other holidays are an integral part of this nation’s heritage and cultural identity,” said USJF litigation counsel Richard Ackerman. “Because of this fact, references to religious holidays of cultural significance have a protected place in the classroom. Schools are absolutely allowed to observe holidays and to reference the existence, date of, and cultural activities associated with the holiday.” In Wildwood, Florida, American Atheists, Inc., threatened city officials with a costly lawsuit because images of two angels blowing trumpets were displayed on public property. Greg McDowell, the atheist group’s state director in Florida, sent a letter to Wildwood Mayor Ed Wolf, which said: “Last year while driving through Wildwood, I noticed that along with your other ornamental displays, your beautiful, new City Hall had angels outside on the lawn. Angels are without question a religious symbol, and must be omitted this year and in the future.” The letter then threatened “costly legal litigation” if the city did not comply. To its credit, the Wildwood city council ignored the threat, and voted unanimously to display the angels in front of city hall, according to the Sumter County Times. According to the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, other examples of attempts to purge Christ from Christmas were equally ludicrous: GAP stores on the east coast banned Christmas decorations entirely because the displays might make some people feel uncomfortable; in Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music holiday party, the song “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” was eliminated because some members of the city’s Jewish community considered it anti-Semitic; and all religious songs were prohibited by the Los Angeles Unified School District and replaced by tunes about snowballs. Catholic League president William Donohue said, “It is so much bunk to say all religious displays must be banned because some feel excluded or uncomfortable. Christians, who are 86% of the population, feel excluded and uncomfortable by this kind of censorship! The answer is respect for diversity and free speech.” CNSNews.com, 12/4/02; www.worldnetdaily, 12/10/02, 12/13/02; Sumter County Times, 11/29/02 |