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|  | AFA JournalNews of InterestAFA Journal, October, 2002 edition AFA ACTIVISM Street preachers heard at ‘gay pride’ event For the first time in years, Central Pennsylvania’s street preachers were able to proclaim God’s Word to “Gay Pride” revelers in Harrisburg in August – without being arrested. Local attorneys, working with the AFA Center for Law and Policy (CLP), won a temporary restraining order to which the city agreed in federal court. Harrisburg’s homosexual community sponsors numerous events during the year, but no others as lavish as this one. While the homosexual community celebrates freedom by gathering at Riverfront Park, loudly proclaiming their preferences and allegiances, local street preachers have, for many years, responded with raised voices and readings from Scripture. Harrisburg’s police department, using ambiguously worded ordinances and unconstitutional orders, had established a pattern and practice of silencing the street preachers at the request of the homosexual revelers. CLP Litigation Counsel Bryan J. Brown said the case will continue, but that the initial ruling allowed the gospel to be heard at this year’s event. “Each annual event in the past years had resulted in constitutionally troubling arrests, many of which ended in dismissed charges or outright acquittals. The city was forced to allow all of its citizens the freedom to express their beliefs.” AFA attorneys get mixed verdict in NC case A federal judge refused to block an Islamic indoctrination program for incoming students at the University of North Carolina (UNC), but did order that it not be required of students, giving the AFA Center for Law and Policy (CLP) a partial win in the case. The case attracted national attention after UNC told incoming freshmen they would be required to read and discuss a book of excerpts from the Koran – or to put in writing their objections to the assignment. The book is entitled, Approaching The Quran: The Early Revelations. U.S. District Judge Carlton Tilley refused to grant a temporary injunction requested by the CLP. AFA attorneys represented two state taxpayers and three incoming freshmen who object to the UNC summer reading program. The lawsuit claimed the mandatory reading assignment was a violation of the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Although disappointed with the ruling, Steve Crampton, chief counsel for the CLP, said Tilley did grant some relief to UNC students who object to the reading program. “He has determined that the requirements of the university are no longer requirements,” Crampton said. “They have changed the rules for this summer reading program and now students need not even attend the discussion groups, they don’t need to write essays, and they don’t really need to do anything. There’s no penalty.” Still, the CLP decided to appeal Tilley’s ruling to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond. That court denied the appeal. Crampton said both court decisions demonstrate the double standard when it comes to Christianity as opposed to other religions. “There’s no court in the land that would hesitate to strike a program that attempted to do with the Bible what the University of North Carolina has done with the Koran,” he said. EDUCATION NEA’s 9-11 curriculum reveals leftist agenda The National Education Association (NEA) is advising the nation’s school teachers to avoid telling students that terrorists are to blame for the September 11 attacks on America. The NEA launched a new Web site that includes up to 100 lesson plans teachers can use to help students remember 9-11 during the fall semester. The Washington Times reported that among other things, the suggested lesson plans compiled by the NEA recommended that teachers downplay the idea that terrorists are to blame, arguing that the legal system has not found anyone guilty yet. However, one of the suggested NEA lesson plans does appear to advocate blame – but the blame is placed on America. For example, it urges educators to “discuss historical instances of American intolerance.” “Internment of Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor and the backlash against Arab Americans during the Gulf War are obvious examples [of American intolerance],” the lesson plan says. “Teachers can do lessons in class, but parents can also discuss the consequences of these events and encourage their children to suggest better choices that Americans can make this time.” Some critics of the lesson plans were careful to direct their comments at the leaders of the NEA – not the 2.7 million teachers who are members of the union. “There are many fine teachers that have no choice but to belong to the NEA,” said AFA Chairman Don Wildmon. “But the NEA leadership is nothing but a leftist lobby group with an agenda that diverges sharply from its member teachers.” AgapePress, 8/16/02, 8/19/02, 8/27/02 ENTERTAINMENT ‘Champions on Ice’ should cool down show A New Mexico mother who was excited about taking her two young daughters to a Champions on Ice figure-skating performance came away disillusioned and disappointed. In a letter to the CEO of John Hancock Financial Services, Inc., the show’s sponsor, she expressed her unhappiness with parts of the program content. (She mailed a copy of the letter to AFA Chairman Don Wildmon.) Many of the routines were sexually suggestive, she said, including that of French gold-medal ice dancers Gwendal Peizerat and Marina Anissina, when Peizerat put his hands on Anissina’s breasts. Rudy Galindo, openly “gay,” blatantly flaunted his preferred lifestyle in his performance. Another routine featured a man dressed in drag with the woman wearing the outfit of a tough motorcycle man. The mother made it clear that she would never take her daughters to another Champions show until “steps are taken to make it a class act.” “What a shame that mothers can no longer take their children to a figure-skating performance,” said Wildmon. “The calculated, continual promotion of sex and unbiblical lifestyles is a part of the desensitization process taking place in this country.” Contact: John Hancock Financial Services Chairman David F. D’Alessandro John Hancock Place Boston, MA 02117 Phone 617-572-6000 Internet: www.jhancock.com FAMILY Experts: kids need both mom and dad around Experts are verifying what proponents of traditional values have been saying for years: It is important that both moms and dads are around while the kids are growing up. A new study said children of working moms have a greater tendency to suffer developmental problems. Researchers at Columbia University found that children of mothers who work full-time before the youngsters are nine months old have poorer mental and verbal development at age three than those with stay-at-home mothers. In the study, babies were assessed for these skills at 15 months, two years, and three years. USA Today reported that in the tests done when the babies were three, lower scores were seen in babies who had moms return to work soon after birth. One of the things the researchers noted was how sensitive mothers were to their children. Better scores were noted in babies whose mothers were there to comfort when comforting was needed, and to talk and play with them when the baby is active. The study also found that the negative effects of a mother returning to work early were greater for baby boys than girls. USA Today, 7/19/02; AgapePress, 7/19/02 HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA Mom ejected from pro-‘gay’ conference, sues A St. Louis mother is suing a public high school for evicting her from an event presented by a homosexual group. Last October, Debra Loveless wanted to observe a school-sponsored assembly conducted by the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) at her daughter’s high school. Loveless told school officials she considered the event inappropriate, but was trying to view it herself when she was escorted out. She is now suing the principal of Metro High School and the superintendent of St. Louis Public Schools. The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) is representing Loveless in the lawsuit. According to ACLJ senior counsel Frank Manion, the case is about the rights of parents to fully participate in the education of their children. “Parents do not abandon their rights as parents once their children go to school,” he said. “Parents have a right to know what a school is teaching their children, and should not be punished for exercising their parental responsibilities. That’s exactly what happened in this case.” Manion said Loveless did not create any disturbance and that she just wanted to exercise her right as a parent to observe. “She didn’t open her mouth, she wasn’t planning on saying anything – she just wanted to hear … and see what was going on,” he said. “But because of her religious viewpoint, she was evicted. That’s wrong, that’s unconstitutional, and that’s why we’re in federal court.” The real irony, Manion said, is that Loveless was kicked out and discriminated against for merely attending a meeting of a group which claims to fight intolerance. AgapePress, 5/21/02 MEDIA Media continues to take hits for liberal bias It seems that one of the biggest unkept secrets in the U.S. is getting plenty of ink, as a stream of books and articles continues to come out, revealing the liberal slant of the news media. The Media Research Center (MRC) released an extensive new study of network news coverage over the last half decade. The MRC found that, on evening news broadcasts, conservatives were labeled in stories 1,000 times, compared to only 250 times when liberals were labeled – a four-to-one ratio. For example, whereas Concerned Women for America was called “conservative” 41% of the time, the radical group National Organization for Women was labeled “liberal” only 2% of the time. Late last year former CBS News correspondent Bernard Goldberg riled network executives and former colleagues by claiming in his book, Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News, that the news media is biased against conservatives and Christians. Goldberg was a 28-year veteran at CBS and a winner of six Emmy Awards during his career, before retiring in 2000. Bias has become a best-seller. Three additional books have come out as well. Legal affairs correspondent and conservative author Ann Coulter wrote a stinging rebuke on media bias entitled, Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right. A meticulously researched book, Coulter’s work demonstrates that the leftist national media “has been merciless in portraying all conservatives as dumb, racist, power hungry, homophobic and downright scary.” Author and journalist William McGowan has also offered a scathing indictment of the news media industry for which he has worked. In his book, Coloring the News, McGowan admits that media coverage is slanted, and puts the blame on the industry’s demand for diversity – not only in its reporting but also in its hiring practices. “The problem is not an active liberal conspiracy,” McGowan says in Coloring the News. “Rather, it is one of an invisible liberal consensus, which is either hostile to, or simply unaware of, the other side of things, thereby making the newsroom susceptible to an unconscious but deeply rooted bias.” Another book, The New Thought Police, not only popped the liberal media between the eyes for its bias, but also scourged other left-wing institutions, such as feminist organizations, “gay” rights groups and academia. Surprisingly, however, the book was not written by a conservative like Coulter, but by lesbian feminist Tammy Bruce. www.mediaresearchcenter.com Study: Christian media reaches more than church More people around the United States are more likely to experience Christian faith through the media than they are from in front of a pulpit. So says a study by the Barna Research Group, which states that while 63% of American adults said they had attended a church service during the past month, 67% said in that same time they had turned to at least one form of religious media – radio, television or books – or a dose of the Christian faith. Slightly more than half (52%) of the nation’s adults said they had tuned in to a Christian radio program of some type in the past month. The most prolific Christian programming consists of teaching, preaching and talk shows. Forty-three percent of adults said they’d tuned in to a Christian music station. For television, 43% of adults said they had watched some kind of Christian program in the last month, while 33% said they had read a Christian book other than the Bible. Barna Research Group, 07/11/02 PORNOGRAPHY Hotel takes advice, drops pay-per-view porn At least one Ohio hotel has ended the practice of showing pay-per-view porn in its rooms after being informed it could face legal trouble if it continued. Marriott Northeast in Cincinnati was notified by the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office the hotel could be in violation of state obscenity laws for allowing the pornographic videos to be played in its rooms. The action comes after Citizens for Community Values conducted a “pro-decency sting” operation wherein a couple checked into the hotel, ordered two of the eight available pornographic videos, set up a video camera in front of the TV and left. Afterward, the couple forwarded the video to CCV, which passed it on to Warren County prosecutor Tim Oliver. Chief Prosecutor Rachel Hutzel investigated the tape and deemed the explicit content to likely be legally obscene and illegal. The videos ordered were from “level 2.” The level ranking of the videos, set by the provider, ranges from level 1, which is primarily only nudity, to level 4, which is extremely graphic. Hutzel’s investigation found that movies even at level 2 showed obvious sexual intercourse between a man and a woman in multiple partner situations. The Cincinnati Marriott is the only company hotel in Ohio to have dropped the offerings. A Marriott representative said this decision at one hotel is not likely to affect the offerings at other hotels in Ohio or even across the nation, as many hotel chains offer the service. C&F Report, 8/8/02; Dayton (Ohio) Daily News, 8/2/02 PRO-LIFE New Alabama law may help curb abortions The State of Alabama passed a law in April that, if adopted by other states, could have tremendous potential for helping limit the number of abortions that take place in America. The new law requires that women contemplating abortion must be told at least 24 hours before the actual procedure about the medical risks involved and of possible alternatives such as adoption. They must also be shown an ultrasound of the developing baby. State Health Officer Donald Williamson says a meeting held to allow input into the content of an informational booklet based on the law ended with dissatisfaction by both abortion proponents and opponents. “I’m absolutely certain what we produce will probably be criticized by people on both sides,” he said. Pro-abortionist Gloria Gray of the West Alabama Women’s Center in Tuscaloosa said her clinic already conducts counseling without being forced to by a state law. Pro-lifers want a ‘reader-friendly’ booklet that also contains information about the physical dangers and potential psychological trauma years after an abortion. TimesDaily.com, 8/5/02 Couple reveals plans to proceed with cloned baby “Frequently man lives as if God did not exist, and even puts himself in God’s place. [He] claims for himself the Creator’s right to interfere in the mystery of human life.” These sobering words were spoken by Pope John Paul II on August 18, and obviously referred to the issues of human cloning, abortion and euthanasia. Ironically, just six days earlier, Panayiotis Zavos, a fertility specialist based in Lexington, Kentucky, introduced to CNN television viewers the first couple to claim publicly that they will have a cloned baby. Zavos says he plans to conduct cloning procedures over the next two months on seven couples. The process will take place in a foreign country. Interestingly, human cloning has met with opposition, even from the science community. A USA Today article points out that the National Academy of Sciences convened a panel last year to discuss the intentions of Zavos and two other groups poised to clone humans. The group concluded that human cloning should be banned because of the high risk of birth defects and elevated rates of miscarriage. Nevertheless, “Bill” and “Kathy” (not their real names) are enthralled with the possibility of producing the world’s first human clone. The child will be a clone of Kathy since, says Bill, she suffered through 24 months of potentially cancer-causing injectable drugs in an attempt to have a baby, all to no avail. When asked about the medical risks involved for the child, Bill said, “We’re not going to give birth to a monster.… If there is serious abnormality, absolutely … we will abort.” USA Today, 8/14/02; CNN Access, 8/13/02; New York Times, 8/19/02 RELIGION Documents: China is out to destroy Christianity Documents smuggled out of China reveal that country has explicitly, despite denials, been hunting down Christian organizations and doing everything possible to destroy them. Seven documents, authenticated by a distinguished Chinese expatriate government journalist and published as Religion and National Security in China: Secret Documents from China’s Security Sector, reveal that the highly publicized crackdown against the Falun Gong movement, or cult as it was called, isn’t an exception. In fact, the documents reveal how far the Chinese government is going in an attempt to destroy Christian churches in the nation. One document in the book recommends the use of “secret agents” to infiltrate “cults.” Another urges the destruction of the charismatic “Real God” Christian church. Faith & Freedom, Winter-Spring 2002 ‘Unholy matrimony’ ‘Gays’ push for ultimate prize Since it was unleashed on American society 33 years ago, the homosexual movement, through the tireless efforts of its activists, has demanded that the “gay” lifestyle be normalized and accepted – even celebrated – in schools, universities, and corporations. While the biggest prize for activists – the legalization of homosexual “marriage” – still remains elusive, pro-family groups warn that the window for preserving traditional marriage is closing rapidly. Beachhead in Vermont Toward that end “gay” activists have embarked on a peculiarly wily strategy: using a cultural “beachhead” gained in the state of Vermont to expand that foothold to the rest of the nation. Two years ago, under orders from the Vermont Supreme Court, that state’s legislature made provisions for same-sex civil unions. The first-in-the-nation Vermont statute did not legalize homosexual marriage, but instead granted almost all of the same legal benefits, rights, and responsibilities to same-sex couples as those reserved for married couples. Homosexuals simply apply for a civil union license and have their relationship certified before a justice of the peace. Homosexual activists who applauded the new Vermont law when it was passed understood the potentially far-reaching effects. “When a couple enters a civil union, it is a binding legal commitment that confers upon their family a new legal status which is far more than symbolic,” said Mary Bonauto, an attorney with Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders. “It’s not marriage, but it is a mirror-image of marriage which deserves legal respect by governments and private entities both in and out of Vermont.” Bonauto’s statement revealed the strategy in a nutshell: activists could now encourage those who were joined in a Vermont civil ceremony to go to court in other states to force similar concessions. The plan seems to be unfolding nicely. According to Family News in Focus, since Vermont’s law took effect more than 4,000 civil union licenses have been granted – with 85% being issued to out-of-staters. Temporary setbacks for ‘civil unions’ As Bonauto and her ilk intended, homosexuals who were united via civil unions in Vermont are stoking the courtroom fires elsewhere – although the preliminary results indicate that activists can’t expect a cakewalk. In two court cases, the first attempts to extend Vermont’s experiment in other states failed. In late July, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled unanimously to let stand a ruling from the Georgia Court of Appeals that a Vermont “civil union” is not the same as marriage – and is not legal in Georgia. The case stemmed from a lesbian’s attempt to alter a child custody arrangement, previously agreed to in a divorce settlement with her ex-husband, by declaring that she and her lesbian lover were now “married.” The same-sex couple had obtained a civil union license in Vermont just three days after the law went into effect. In a twist on the Vermont strategy, a Connecticut couple who had been “joined” in a Vermont civil ceremony asked a court in their own state to dissolve their union. However, a Connecticut court of appeals threw out the case, saying that, since Connecticut did not recognize civil unions, it had no authority to abrogate one. Even beyond the legal repercussions of Vermont’s civil union law, however, are the potential cultural ramifications. Numerous newspapers are beginning to publish the civil union announcements of city residents who return from Vermont with a license in hand – in the same section as marriage announcements. In August, The New York Times announced that it would join 69 other newspapers that run such celebration announcements, including The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune and San Francisco Chronicle. The decision by The New York Times was itself immediately influential. The Gay Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation announced that the Times’ policy change reaped an immediate harvest, as the number of papers reporting that they run or would begin running same-sex union announcements jumped from 69 to 111. What the future holds The Vermont law will undoubtedly be used in other states to push for legal recognition of same-sex relationships, but homosexual activists are not standing pat. Seven couples in Massachusetts sued their state, claiming that their right to equal treatment under the law demanded that they be allowed to marry. A trial court has rejected that argument, but the same-sex couples intend to press their claim all the way to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. The full-court press by homosexuals is continuing elsewhere – such as New York and even Montana – with the apparent aim of getting a court somewhere to rule that a state must either accept Vermont’s civil unions or even legalize same-sex marriage. Pro-family groups fear that New Jersey may provide the best shot for activists to accomplish that goal. In that state seven more couples have sued, and the case is expected to end up in New Jersey’s highest court – the same court that in 1999 ordered the Boy Scouts of America to allow homosexuals to serve as scoutmasters. | |
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