BMAT Moral Action Committee Watchman Report #8 12/05/2004

San Diego Cross Will Stay (CNSN-News) A 43-foot cross "honoring veterans" and the granite walls surrounding it will stay on top of San Diego's Mount Soledad despite efforts by the American Civil Liberties Union and one atheist's 15-year battle to have it removed.. Two California Republican U.S. representatives -- Duncan Hunter and Randy "Duke" Cunningham -- included language in the recently approved omnibus spending bill that designated the cross and surrounding walls a National Veteran's Memorial. Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, noted that using the argument of "separation of church and state" doesn't hold water -- the phrase is nowhere in the Constitution. "This cross and memorial, soon to be officially designated a National Veteran's Memorial, is constitutionally permissible," Thompson said. "It's time to stop government by the ACLU and for the ACLU."

Church Free Speech Bill Fails (American Report) Pastors will not be totally unshackled to speak about political issues from the pulpit anytime soon. Efforts to pass The Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act as language in the omnibus spending bill have failed. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., would have allowed pastors to forthrightly address political issues without fear of losing their church's tax-exempt status. There is no word yet if Jones will try to reintroduce the bill in the next session of Congress.

Walking Evidence for Adult Stem Cells (Tony Perkins-Citizen link) In what will likely be a recurring theme, the pro-life community can say to supporters of embryonic stem cell research, we told you so. A South Korean woman paralyzed for twenty years is walking again after her spinal cord was treated with stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood. Advocates of embryonic stem cell research can only dream about this type of result. The difference between the use of embryos and the use of umbilical cord blood is literally the difference between life and death, between cures and false hopes. The killing of human embryos for scientific research crosses an ethical line, but, as science proves, actual cures are to be found with stem cells obtained ethically. There is now walking evidence that there is no justification for destroying embryos for failed science, much less using taxpayer money for embryonic stem cell research. Stem cells obtained from cord blood and other ethical sources should be regarded as the hope of the future, rather than science that kills human life for the sake of some researcher's curiosity. The scientific world and the public officials who subsidize their work with taxpayer money should take notice.

PHILADELPHIA - A preliminary hearing has been set for December 14 in Philadelphia City Court to determine probable cause for charges against eleven Christians arrested for alleged "hate crimes" while exercising their First Amendment rights at Philadelphia’s "Outfest" on October 10. The charges brought against Repent America’s Michael Marcavage and ten others during the homosexual "coming out" event consist of three felonies and five misdemeanors, which could result in up to 47 years in jail.

After being arrested on October 10, 2004, Linda Beckman was detained after being held for 21 hours in a holding cell, and then ordered by a judge to serve a 5-7 day prison sentence, which ended up being 10 days in the Philadelphia Women’s Prison. http://www.repentamerica.com/lindabeckman.html
Voice your opposition to their arrests and false charges by contacting Philadelphia Commissioner Sylvester Johnson in the Public Affairs Office at 215-686-3388.

NEW YORK (AP) - Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia says a religion-neutral government does not fit with an America that reflects belief in God in everything from its money to military and congressional chaplains. Scalia told an interfaith conference at a New York synagogue that U.S. courts should be mindful of the nation's religious heritage.

Liberal radio host Keillor's Anti-Christian Bigotry (Focus On The Family-Citizen Link)
Keillor-National Public Radio (NPR) told an audience this week that born-again Christians should not be allowed to vote, in light of how they cast their ballots on Election Day. "My feeling is that born-again people are citizens of heaven," he said. "That is where their citizenship is . . . It's not here among us in America." He also reportedly said, "If born-again Christians are allowed to vote in this country, why not Canadians?" Keillor obviously thinks what he said was funny, but as one conservative [who] posted comments on the Web site FreeRepublic.com noted, if the object of his scorn was anybody but Christians, somebody would be screaming that he was guilty of a hate crime. "Replace 'born-again Christians' with 'black people,' " the poster noted, "and Keillor would get a sense of the depths of his bigotry." If you'd like to let Keillor know what you think of his sense of humor, "Take Action"
http://www.family.org/cforum/action_center.cfm?capwizurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcapwiz%2Ecom%2Ffof%2Fdbq%2Fofficials%2F Or I can E-mail you the link. (Howard Wilson) hwrwdw@sbcglobal.net

America's Immigrant Population at Record High, Group Says (CNSNews.com) - More than 34 million people now living in the United States were born outside the country, a new survey says. Mexican immigrants account for most of the increase in the nation's foreign-born population over the past four years, according to the Center for Immigration Studies.

A California teacher has been barred by his school from giving students documents from American history that refer to God -- including the Declaration of Independence. Steven Williams, a fifth-grade teacher at Stevens Creek School in the San Francisco Bay area suburb of Cupertino, sued for discrimination on Monday, claiming he had been singled out for censorship by principal Patricia Vidmar because he is a Christian. "It's a fact of American history that our founders were religious men, and to hide this fact from young fifth-graders in the name of political correctness is outrageous and shameful,"

said Williams' attorney, Terry Thompson. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case of a California atheist who wanted the words "under God" struck from the Pledge of Allegiance as recited by school children. The appeals court in California had found that the phrase amounted to a violation of church and state separation.

QUOTEWORTHY: How many observe Christ's birthday! How few, his precepts! O! 'tis easier to keep holidays than commandments. -- Benjamin Franklin

No Child Left Unmediated (November 24, 2004 by Phyllis Schlafly-Eagle Forum) Big Brother is on the march. A plan to subject all children to mental health screening is underway, and the pharmaceuticals are gearing up for bigger sales of psychotropic drugs. Like most liberal big-spending ideas, this one was slipped into the law under cover of soft semantics. Its genesis was the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health (NFCMH) created by President George W. Bush in 2002.

A Columbia University pilot project of screening students called "Teen Screen" resulted in one-third being flagged as "positive" for mental health problems, and half of those being turned over for mental health treatment. If this is preview of what would happen when 52 million public school students are screened, it would mean hanging a libelous label on 17 million American children and putting 8 million children into the hands of the psychiatric/pharmaceutical industry. Parental rights are unclear or non-existent under these mental screening programs. What are the rights of youth and parents to refuse or opt out of mental screening? Will they face coercion and threats of removal from school?

International Complacency Pushes Israel Into A Corner (CNN) Just when a confluence of unrelated events revived the prospect of peace talks with the Palestinians, Iran's potential nuclear threat to the Jewish state suddenly seems greater than ever. In fact, the Iran dilemma is almost the mirror image of new hope with the Palestinians: The prospect of a nuclear-armed, radical Islamic regime suddenly has moved from the "within years" to the "within months" column, differences between the United States and Europe are dogging resolution — and the United States wants Israel to just sit still. Reports of Iran's accelerated development of nuclear material, as well as missiles to deliver it, have profoundly unsettled Israelis. The complacency of the international community drives Israel, pushes Israel to the corner," Sneh, a retired general, told CNN. "We don't prepare a pre-emptive strike, but, gradually, along the axis of time, we are pushed to the corner."

Howard Wilson hwilson@texasmoralaction.org