BMAT Moral Action Committee Watchman Report #57 11/11/2005

  Nov. 9^th 2005 Free market Foundation

Texas voters have spoken. We are proud and encouraged that marriage in Texas will remain between one man and one woman. Proposition 2 passed by an overwhelming majority, 75.93 percent, in yesterday's Constitutional Amendments Election. A total of 1.7 million Texans voted for the amendment. Texans spoke very clearly, as the amendment passed in 253 out of 254 counties across the state. In addition, this is the largest voter turn-out in a number of years on a Constitutional Amendments Election, with more than 17 percent of registered voters going to the polls. This passage crossed all political, racial and religious lines.

Thank you for your efforts to pass this important amendment. We could not have fought the battle without your help and support. Thank you for spreading the word about the election, encouraging your church to speak on the issue of marriage, and voting for what you believe. We also want to say a special thank you to Texas pastors who courageously stood at the pulpit and spoke the truth and encouraged their congregation to go vote. We share this victory together. 

Please note the disparity between the mainstream media and the voters of Texas. The print media was unbelievable biased and disconnected from Texans, as at least 17 major newspapers came out against Prop. 2, including the Houston Chronicle, Austin American Statesman, Victoria Advocate, San Antonio Express News, Waco Tribune Herald, Galveston Daily News, El Paso Times, Lufkin Daily News and Amarillo Globe News. Although the fight seemed uphill at times, Texans prevailed and defined marriage in the state as between one man and one woman. 

CLICK HERE for Proposition 2 results county by county. For full election results, CLICK HERE.

Nov. 4 2005 American Values by Gary Bauer

The Bible faces a rising onslaught of ridicule, and legal assaults. Its most vocal antagonists include People for the American Way and the ACLU. Why would such opponents applaud a textbook titled, The Bible and Its Influence? Why such support for a revolutionary curriculum published by the Bible Literacy Project?

The answer may lie in the word revolutionary. This new curriculum fits into a set of social and political changes that would try to affect every American. Joseph Farah, founder of WorldNetDaily, summarized it well in his exposure, of a "political movement" called Communitarianism, "which places the importance of society ahead of the unfettered rights of the individual."

"I still believe in old fashioned freedom" Farah concluded, "In the inalienable rights of the individual and the limited powers of the state, these are concepts at odds with Communitarianism."

General Ben Partin shares that concern. In a recent conversation (11-2-05), he recalled that, "The 1928 Program of Third International calls for disarming the citizenry as a final step in the 'preparatory phase' of a Communist 'War of National Liberation.'" Not surprisingly, the 1991 Communitarian Platform calls for domestic disarmament. What is the difference between "disarming the citizenry" and "domestic disarmament?"

Amitai Etzioni, founder of the Communitarian Network, is a member of Mikhail Gorbachev's World Political Forum. The Forum website introduces Etzioni as "Director of the Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies." Etzioni's agenda fits Gorbachev's modernized Communism well. Dialogue (Marx's dialectic process) is essential to both.

The Bible Literacy Project's textbook illustrates the process. Inviting speculation and new interpretations, it instills new meanings in student's minds:

1. Prompts students to question God's character: "Do you think Adam and Eve received a fair deal as described in Genesis?"

2. Undermines Christianity: "Jesus was also seen as an example of self sacrifice that can be imitated." ... "...find examples of such Christ figures in literature, film or even music."

3. Ridicules Biblical warnings: "You've probably seen cartoon or movie depictions of the prophet of doom, a shaggy bearded individual in ragged robes, ranting from a soapbox..." "Try your hand at doing some apocalyptic writing."

Many people closely involved with the Bible Literacy Project are members of the Communitarian Network and share it's mission. They serve on the Bible Literacy Project Board of Directors and Advisory Board. Some of these are:

Charles Haynes, a contributor to the BLP textbook, speaks both for the Bible Literacy Project and for the Freedom Forum, formerly the Gannett Foundation (the liberal Gannett media). Not only involved with the Communitarian Network, he also serves on the Advisory Board of The Pluralism Project', which includes Margot Adler, a Wiccan priestess. As senior scholar at the Freedom Forum's First Amendment Center, Haynes works closely with its lawyer Oliver Thomas, who co-authored "The Right to Religious Liberty," the "basic ACLU Guide."

Os Guinness has worked with Charles Haynes for over 15 years. Quoted by Amitai Etzioni, he is signatory to two Communitarian papers. David Blankenhorn (Board of Directors of BLP), Mary Ann Glendon and Jean Bethke Elstain (Advisory Board of BLP) are also signatories to the Communitarian Platform.

Communitarian ideals sound noble to those who don't remember the terrors of last century's experiments with collectivism. The Bible Literacy Project will spread those ideals and make a mockery of true Biblical literacy.

More at http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/05/bible-literacy.htm 

Watchman Report Correction Howard Wilson

President Bush and the current administration have borrowed more money from foreign governments and banks than the previous 42 presidents combined, a group of conservative to moderate Democrats said Friday.

Blue Dog Coalition, which describes itself as a group "focused on fiscal responsibility," called the administration's borrowing practices "astounding."

According to the Treasury Department, from 1776-2000, the first 224 years of U.S. history, 42 U.S. presidents borrowed a combined $1.01 trillion from foreign governments and financial institutions, but in the past four years alone, the Bush administration borrowed $1.05 trillion.

"The seriousness of this rapid and increasing financial vulnerability of our country can hardly be overstated," said Rep. John Tanner (D-Tenn.), a leader of the Blue Dog Coalition and member of the House Ways and Means Committee.

"The financial mismanagement of our country by the Bush Administration should be of concern to all Americans, regardless of political persuasion," said Tanner in a press release.

Earlier this year, the Blue Dog Coalition unveiled a 12-step plan to "cure" the nation's "addiction to deficit spending." It included requiring all federal agencies to pass clean audits, a balanced budget, and the establishment of a rainy day fund for use in emergencies specifically a natural disaster.

"No American political leadership has ever willfully and deliberately mortgaged our country to foreign interests in the manner we have witnessed over the past four years," said Tanner. "If this recklessness is not stopped, I truly believe our economic freedom as American citizens is in great jeopardy."

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NEW YORK, A new book based on a survey of 1,500 adults ages 18-35 reveals for the first time that there is no such thing as a "good divorce" and even amicable divorces have lasting negative effects on children.

Between Two Worlds: The Inner Lives of Children of Divorce, a book by affiliate scholar at the Institute for American Values, Elizabeth Marquardt, contends that "rarely do we hear about the real and lasting effects divorce has on the approximately one million children whose parents divorce each year." Her book reports on the emotional, moral, and spiritual lives of the first generation of young people to grow up in an era of widespread divorce.

In her book, Marquardt, herself the child of divorced parents, explains that children of so-called "good" divorces often compare poorly even to children of unhappy marriages, and look much worse than children raised in happy marriages. "Even when divorced parents behave well, their divorce confronts the child with the monumental task of having to make sense, alone, of the parents’ very different beliefs, values, and ways of living – a job the parents are no longer required to do," she explains.

"As a consequence, children of both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ divorces come to feel like divided selves," she continued. "They lead a wholly separate life in each parent’s world, leading over time to a troubling inner division that goes to the heart of their identity."

Marquardt makes clear that in divorced families, secrets are epidemic. "Children of divorce feel highly protective of each parent and routinely keep secrets for them, even when their parents do not ask them to," she said. "The parents know little about their child’s life when the child is living with the other parent, and the child knows little about one parent’s world while living with the other."

Marquardt adds that the experience of a loss of trust affects a child’s belief in God – making them much less religious than their peers from intact families. Marquardt believes, without apology, that it is vital that children, whenever possible, grow up with their own two married parents.

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Senate Committee to Hold Pornography Hearing

Nov. 9, 2005 Bill Wilson Citizen Link

A Senate Subcommittee, chaired by Kansas Senator Sam Brownback, held a hearing last Thursday on why the government should care about pornography. It’s the third in a series to call attention to the pornography industry and its effect.

High on the priority list; the manner and extent the Justice Department uses in enforcing anti-pornography laws. One scheduled witness, Pamela Paul, who authored the book; "Pornified" says she’s especially concerned that easy access to pornography is desensitizing America.

"The more pornography people are exposed to, the more likely they are to think that it’s no big deal. My hope is to create awareness of the negative side of pornography and really to combat that public perception."

Paul says most adults can’t comprehend the effect pornography is having on our children, those who have grown up with graphic and perverted images just a click away.

"And this is really transforming the way in which, children, boys and girls, develop sexually. It’s changing what they think of as normal, appropriate, natural human sexual behavior."

Pat Trueman, former head of the Justice Department’s Obscenity Enforcement Group, believes the Brownback hearings will have an effect.

"Because of the pressure of Sam Brownback and the support of the American public, and the good will of the Attorney General, we are going to see the Justice Department have a strong effort against obscenity very soon."

Senator Brownback says one goal of the committee hearings is to make all parents aware of the devastating effects the porn industry has on the nation.

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WASHINGTON, The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) www.persecution.org has just bern informed of a second attack on young Christian girls in Poso, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Ivon (last name unknown) (17 yrs.) and (Yuli) Siti Nuraini (17 yrs.) were shot in the head in the Gatot Subroto st area (Christian Area) of Poso near a Pentecostal church at 7:45 pm local time (11:45 GMT am).

It is reported that two armed men shot the girls point blank in the head with pistols. Ivon was shot through the left cheek and Siti was shot in the right cheek. Both are in coma and in critical condition.

These attacks follow the gruesome beheadings of 3 Christian High school students at the end of October. It is reported that 10 national-level police officials are in Central Sulawesi heading up the investigation into the beheadings. This latest attack coming right under their noses comes as a complete embarrassment to the central government.

There have been reports that the perpetrators of the beheadings are in custody but have not been formally charged. This latest attack also underscores the level of danger to Christians in the Poso area. This attack comes on the heels of 40 or more attacks against the Christian community, including shootings, killings, and major bombings. There have not been any convictions or arrests in any of these attacks.

Contact: Jeff King, of International Christian Concern, 301-989-1708, icc@persecution.org

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Palmdale, CA - At the request of seven California parents, Liberty Counsel has agreed to become lead counsel in a case that shocked the nation last week. In Fields v. Palmdale School District, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that parental rights to direct the upbringing of their children stop at the "threshold of the school door."

Writing for the court, Judge Reinhardt, the same judge who ruled against the Pledge of Allegiance, stated that parents do not have a "right to compel public schools to follow their own idiosyncratic views as to what information the schools may dispense." The court stated that parents have no constitutional right "to prevent a public school from providing its students with whatever information it wishes to provide, sexual or otherwise, when and as the school determines that it is appropriate to do so." The court ruled that the only choice parents have is whether to enroll their children in public school. Once in school, the parents have no authority over what their children are taught. The school, according to the court, can teach the children anything, short of committing treason.

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This week the House of Representatives voted on a Budget Reconciliation bill that takes a significant step toward cutting wasteful government spending. However, the measure is laded with some very troubling features. First, it includes more favorable tax treatment for casinos, race tracks, massage parlors, and liquor stores. That's bad enough. These outfits have never before been treated on a par with regular businesses. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) deserves praise for valiantly fighting against tax preferences for these questionable companies. Second, the bill does not presently contain the very important Boehner-Jindal provision on parental choice in education. Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) is Chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee; Rep. Bobby Jindal (R-La.) is a freshman from the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast. Boehner-Jindal needs to be put in the bill.

Third, the Kennedy-Enzi language from the Senate version of this bill needs to be taken out. Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) would allow private schools to receive funds for giving aid to students evacuated from affected areas. However, schools that take the bait also invite the heavy hand of federal regulators. It's a dangerous bargain. The Kennedy-Enzi proposal denies funding to schools that "indoctrinate" their students. Is saying the Pledge of Allegiance indoctrination? Is the Lord's Prayer? We need a much better Budget Reconciliation Bill.

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It was always lethal to the unborn child. It was intended to be. That's why the Clinton administration hurried its approval through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Now, it seems, RU-486 is dangerous to mothers, too. From September 2003 to June 2005, there were four deaths reported among women who took RU-486. FRC's Connie Mackey recently wrote to the FDA calling for Mifeprex--the brand name of RU-486--to be taken off the market. The letter noted that deaths and other serious complications from RU-486 are likely to be underreported.

Another death, this one in Canada, adds to that concern. The FDA has acknowledged some health concerns about RU-486. In November, 2004, the agency added a "black box" warning to the drug.

Among the complications of using RU-486 are "serious bacterial infections, sepsis, bleeding, and death." The FDA tried to minimize its own warning by saying that "rare but serious complications can occur with any abortion." We are dealing with an entrenched pro-abortion bureaucracy in many instances. It requires constant monitoring. FRC will continue to press for action on this vital concern.

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Pro-lifers say documentary reveals what can be done to shut down clinics.

"Frontline" on PBS aired a program called "The Last Abortion Clinic" Tuesday, an examination of the conflict between the pro-life and pro-abortion movements in the South.

The hour-long feature takes its name, at least in part, from the fact that there is now only one abortion clinic in all of Mississippi.

Raney Aronson, who produced and wrote the program, said Roe v. Wade is becoming irrelevant because of state laws regulating abortion.

"I ended up really chronicling and looking into the pro-life strategy and their success," she said.

Terri Herring, president of Pro-Life Mississippi, was interviewed extensively for the film because of the successful pro-life efforts in her state.

"We have passed 15 pro-life laws in Mississippi that in some way restrict or prohibit abortion," she said. "But . . . even those are very minimal."

Nonetheless, those minimal restrictions have reduced the number of abortion clinics from seven to one. Herring sees the conflict as David versus Goliath.

"I think right now the pro-life movement has the rock in the sling," she said." I think the head of the giant is Roe v. Wade."

Aronson said while she thinks the program is balanced, it focuses so much on pro-life successes, it could appear to be a warning.

"If you're pro-choice you could look at this film in that way and think 'my goodness, I should do something,' " she said.

Daniel McConchie, director of public relations and public policy at Americans United for Life, advised Mississippi allies on their involvement with the program.

"We definitely want people to see it," he said. "This story will help open peoples' eyes to show what other things can be done."

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Parents needed Proposition 73 to protect their young daughters

Proposition 73 asked voters to restore to California families the right to have at least one parent notified by a doctor at least 48 hours before an abortion can be performed on a daughter age 17 or younger. Prop 73 only required parental notification, not consent, and did not have any other effect on the legal status of abortion or abortion funding in California. Similar laws have benefited families in more than 30 states, where they have been in effect for many years.

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Nov. 9, 2005 Hilary White LifeSiteNews.com

LOS ANGELES, Voters in California Tuesday defeated Proposition 73, a ballot proposal that would have required abortion facilities to notify parents of underage girls seeking abortions. Under current California law, thousands of minor girls seek abortions each month without their parents’ knowledge. In a close vote, the proposition was defeated 47.4% to 52.6%. In other states with parental notification laws, teen abortions have been reduced by as much as 30%.

Pre-election surveys showed strong support for Proposition 73 among impoverished blacks and Hispanics, groups that are traditional targets of the abortion industry. A study of 46,000 pregnant school-age girls in California found that 71 percent of the fathers were adults, with an average age of 22.6 years.

Bill May, Chairman of Catholics for the Common Good said that the defeat of Proposition 73, which would not have required parental consent but only notification, was a blow to poor people struggling to protect their families. "Prop 73 was a proposal to do what is working well in 34 other states. Unfortunately, the financial interests of Planned Parenthood's doctors and management prevailed over that of children, parents, and families in California," he said.

A local Los Angeles blogger who writes under the name Quintero, said that Hispanics in his community, led by the extreme leftist and pro-abortion Spanish-language television, overwhelmingly voted against the proposition. "In my Mexican barrio where my polling station is located, the turnout was incredibly strong. Millions of Latinos -- even viejitas [little old ladies] who pray their Rosary to the Virgencita every day -- cast their votes against Prop. 73."

Quintero identifies the indifference of the Catholic clergy as a major factor in the failure of the proposition. In a situation that is familiar to Canadian pro-lifers, despite their official "endorsement" of the proposition, the Catholic bishops and clergy of California showed little interest in actively working to support it.

Quintero writes, "There was little or no mention of the ‘Parental Notification’ ballot measure in the several parishes in my part of town. And even in those parishes where it was mentioned, support for it was, at best, anemic."

In the November edition of Canada’s national pro-life newspaper, The Interim, a centre-spread photo essay identifies the past inaction and indifference of many Catholic bishops and clergy as one of the most significant contributors to the contemporary abortion crisis.

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U.S. House passage of a bill to bypass a Supreme Court decision on the issue of property rights is a "step back in the right direction," according to the Libertarian Party of Connecticut. The bill, which was approved 376 to 38, would make any government using eminent domain to seize private property for commercial use ineligible for federal funding for up to two fiscal years.

Property rights advocates are still steamed over the Supreme Court's ruling earlier this year in the Kelo v. City of New London case. A majority of justices ruled that governments could seize the home, small business or other private property from one citizen and transfer it to another private citizen if the local community's economy would benefit from the transfer.

Soon after the Kelo verdict was rendered, lawmakers in Washington introduced bipartisan legislation to limit the power of eminent domain, which was expanded to private businesses by the case.

"We are very pleased with this step to protect private property rights for citizens," Brad Keena, communications director for Rep. Dennis Rehberg (R-Mont.) told Cybercast News Service. Rehberg authored one of the first bills to set new ground rules for eminent domain after Kelo.

Keena added that the bill "sends the message to think twice before encroaching on property rights."

But Kenneth Gordon, a spokesman for the Libertarian Party of Connecticut, was not as optimistic, saying that he would wait until President Bush signed the Private Property Protection Act into law.

"It's a bit of good news," said Gordon. "But we have to wait for the whole process. I doubt those people in New London will get their homes back.

"Hopefully the right to private property will be federalized," he added.

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TOPEKA, Kansas, A 6-4 vote by the Kansas State Board of Education Tuesday means that Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution can now be examined critically by teachers in state schools.

Secularists were quick to condemn the move.  The Campaign to Defend the Constitution condemned the decision as a "threat posed by the religious right to American democracy," while Dr. Alan Leshner, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science called the measure "A vote to mix science and faith in public school science classrooms."

Pope Benedict XVI, then Cardinal Ratzinger, in a lecture delivered in 1999 at the Sorbonne, countered an attempt by evolutionary scientists to claim that any mention of faith in the context of how life begins is "unscientific."

"Every explanation of reality that cannot at the same time provide a meaningful and comprehensible basis for ethics necessarily remains inadequate," Ratzinger said, according to a Zenit report. "Now the theory of evolution, in the cases where people have tried to extend it to a ‘philosophia universalis,’ has in fact been used for an attempt at a new ethos based on evolution."

"Yet this evolutionary ethic that inevitably takes as its key concept the model of selectivity, that is, the struggle for survival, the victory of the fittest, successful adaptation, has little comfort to offer," he explained. "Even when people try to make it more attractive in various ways, it ultimately remains a bloodthirsty ethic. Here, the attempt to distil rationality out of what is in itself irrational quite visibly fails. All this is of very little use for an ethic of universal peace, of practical love of one's neighbor, and of the necessary overcoming of oneself, which is what we need."

Meanwhile, the Dover, Pennsylvania, Area School Board that was the first region to allow the teaching of Intelligent Design alongside evolution initiated in January has been voted out of office.

The Kansas Board of Education’s decision differs from what Dover attempted, though, according to Eugenie Scott, director of the National Center for Science Education. Kansas educators "[believe] it will be legally more viable to say ‘evolution is really crummy science,’" rather than openly advocating an Intelligent Design position, she said, according to a Medill News Service report.

TUPELO, Miss., The Washington Supreme Court ruled that an individual who is not a parent, but who has had a relationship with a child's biological or adoptive parent, can claim the same legal rights to a child as the parent.

The case involved two women who had cohabitated for twelve years. In 1994, the two women, Sue Ellen Carvin and Page Britain, decided they wanted a child. A male friend, John Auseth and Britain had relations, she become pregnant, and a child was born in 1995. Britain and Carvin raised the child for the next six years. Their relationship ended in 2001. Britain then married Auseth, and in 2002, she sought to terminate all of Carvin's contact with the child.

With only one dissent, the court held that Washington's "common law recognizes the status of de facto parents and places them in parity with biological and adoptive parents." If Carvin is able to establish standing as a de facto parent, said the court, then just like Britain, she "would have a fundamental liberty interest in the care, custody and control" of the child.

Dissenting Justice Johnson wrote, "The majority purports to dispose of the constitutional issue raised . . . by waving a magic wand and creating 'de facto' parents."

Brian Fahling, senior trial attorney for the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy, called the majority's decision "an unambiguous case of social engineering."

"Washington law sets forth in the clearest terms when a parent-child relationship exists, and the majority simply elected to disregard the law," Fahling said. "Relying upon 'advancing technologies and evolving notions of what comprises a family unit,' the court imposed on the people of Washington their own definition of what constitutes a family.

"This decision is judicial activism in the extreme; it is evidence, not that we are on a slippery slope, but that we are already at the bottom of that slope," Fahling added.

The Center is the legal arm of the American Family Association, Inc. located in Tupelo, Mississippi. The Center restricts its practice to First Amendment issues.

Contact: Kathryn Hooks, American Family Association Center for Law & Policy, 662-844-5036 X227

Congress is considering legislation designed to step up enforcement against Internet gambling, an activity that's already illegal, but is a booming industry.

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2005 calls on the Treasury Department to draft regulations that must be followed by financial institutions. One example: Credit card companies would be prohibited from approving Internet gambling transactions based in the U.S.

The legislation even has the endorsement of the National Football League. It wants to shut down online gambling on professional football games.

Tom McClusky, director of government affairs at the Family Research Council, said the legislation would give enforcement agencies more clout.

"A lot of time the federal government's hands are tied," he said. "This allows both credit card companies and the Treasury Department to work hand in hand in trying to shut down some of these sites."

McClusky told Family News in Focus that while the legislation will not solve the problem, it would be a good first step.

"The FBI and the Treasury Department have found that a lot of the funding goes to some pretty unscrupulous things, anything from pornography sites to terrorism," he said. "So, if this helps in that fight that is certainly a good thing."

Chad Hills, gambling analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said unless there's a crackdown, any home with a computer is a potential casino.

"We're going to have a casino in every living room where there are computers," he said. "With this Internet-savvy generation of kids, it won't be long before they figure out a way to get on there and start gambling as well."

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Student Supervisors Told No Bible Studies

Nov. 7 2005 Citizen Link

Become an RA in Wisconsin give up your free speech.

The University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire has told resident assistants (RAs) they can no longer lead Bible studies in their dormitory rooms. The university considers the students to be state employees because they receive free room, board and a small stipend in return for providing supervision in the dorms.

The controversy began when RA Lance Steiger held a Bible study in his room. When the university found out, it threatened disciplinary action if he didn't stop.

Mike Rindo, directory of communications at the university, said taking an RA position changes the status of the students.

"They’re prohibited from leading or organizing those events in their rooms or in their residence halls where they have supervisory authority over other students," he said.

The penalty ranges from a letter of reprimand to dismissal and loss of scholarship.

Jeremy Tedesco, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, said free speech should be the overarching concern.

"Does he have to give up his religious rights in order to be an RA?" he asked. "He can’t ever hold a Bible study in his own dorm room. He can’t potentially pray with another student in his dorm room. I don’t know where this ends."

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WASHINGTON, Concerned Women for America (CWA) applauds the pro-family people of Maine who worked tirelessly in an unsuccessful effort to pass a third straight "People's Veto" of the "gay rights" law imposed by the legislature and governor.

"Homosexual activists poured in resources from out of state, engaged in smear tactics and were aided by a media that routinely engaged in character assassination," said Robert Knight, a Maine native and Director of CWA's Culture & Family Institute. "The pro-family people were outspent by more than 10 to 1, saw hundreds of yard signs ripped up, and generally were under siege. But having fought the good fight and done all they could, they can hold their heads high.

"This setback means that Mainers must gird themselves for the next assault, which will be on marriage. Homosexual activists hope to force the Pine Tree State to issue counterfeit marriage licenses like Massachusetts is already doing."

Maine voters rose up twice – in 1998 and again in 2000 – to pass a "People's Veto" to overturn "gay rights" laws passed by the legislature and backed by the governor.

"This time around, the activists threw the kitchen sink at them, and it finally worked. But Maine's pro-family movement is as strong as ever, and they'll continue to work for sound public policy," Knight said.

"I'm proud to have worked with such wonderful people in this campaign," said Charla Bansley, State Director for CWA of Maine. "Maine's pro-family groups led by the Christian Civic League, the Coalition for Marriage and Maine Grassroots Coalition never wavered."

"Maine and the nation owe a lot to Mike Heath of the Civic League, Sandy Williams of the Coalition for Marriage, and Paul Madore of the Maine Grassroots Coalition, and all their volunteers," Knight added. "Without their dedication, sacrifice and integrity, Maine would have knuckled under without a whimper. I think the other side knows they are not going to go away. They're in it for the long haul."

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Nov. 9, 2005 Liberty Counsel

Tampa, FL – last Tuesday night the Hillsborough County School Board restored several religious holidays to next year's school calendar. By a 5-2 vote, the board adopted a calendar that gives children a day off on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, Good Friday and the Monday after Easter. Mathew D. Staver, President and General Counsel of Liberty Counsel, has provided a legal memo to the Hillsborough County School Board regarding the constitutionality of celebrating Christmas during the holiday season.

After 24 people spoke last Tuesday night, the school board voted in favor of Superintendent Mary Ellen Elia's recommendation to restore religious holidays to the calendar and to further study the issue. The issue gained national attention when Hillsborough County Commissioner Brian Blair criticized the school board on the Fox News channel program, The O'Reilly Factor.

Liberty Counsel's memo is part of its "Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign," which the religious liberty organization launched a few weeks ago. Christian Educators Association International has joined Liberty Counsel in the "Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign." Its 8,000 members, consisting primarily of public school teachers and administrators, have also received the Christmas memo and are distributing it in their communities.

Last week Dr. Jerry Falwell urged tens of thousands of pastors around the country to join Liberty Counsel's "Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign" by placing advertisements in their local newspapers. The advertisements and the Christmas memo are available on Liberty Counsel's Web site at www.LC.org.

Staver commented, "I am pleased that the religious holidays have been restored by the Hillsborough County School Board. The community senses a sigh of relief. Schools may coordinate days off with religious holidays. It is not only constitutional, but it is common sense to do so. Moreover, during the December holiday season, it is constitutional to celebrate Christmas. It sends a wrong message to either eliminate all holiday celebrations or to eliminate only the religious and Christian components of the holiday season. The Founding Fathers never intended the First Amendment to be used as a weapon against the celebration of Christmas."

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This week, Hamas announced it had no intention of keeping the informal truce with Israel it has maintained for the last nine months. The truce was "informal" because Hamas reserved the right to attack – and did – but for the most part laid low and regrouped. 

Having gained their second wind, they are ready to resume the war. "In the face of this Zionist aggression, no one should dream about the renewal of this truce," said a Hamas spokesman, Mushir al-Masri. 

Israel rejected a Palestinian Authority proposal that Israel stop targeting militants if they would lay down their arms. Israel insists on the dismantling of violent groups. 

Raanan Gissin, an aide to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said, "We're not going to pay with Israeli lives while they are experimenting in trying to reach understandings with terror organizations and they continue to carry out terror attacks against us." 

Israel's rejection of the proposal did not sit well with Washington, which continues to urge Israel to show "restraint" in the face of unrelenting and unapologetic aggression linked back to most of the capitals of the Arab world. 

It is important in understanding Israel's true peril to recall the words of former Prime Minister Golda Meir, who famously (and accurately) observed: "The Arabs can fight, and lose, and return to fight another day. Israel can only lose once." 

While the rest of the world experiments with Israel's security, if the experiment fails, the only loser will be Israel. Israel is as literally in a fight for her survival as America was in World War II, or – although the liberals don't seem to care – as in America's current war against terror. 

During World War II, nothing less than unconditional surrender of the Axis powers was acceptable. They were disarmed, occupied and re-educated. Their systems of government were replaced with U.S.-imposed democracies. Washington has proclaimed the same objectives regarding its Islamic enemies. 

Nothing less than total surrender and disarmament, or the total destruction of al-Qaida is acceptable. President Bush has made it clear that there is no room for negotiation with terrorists. Until the terrorists disarm and disband, American forces will continue to hunt them down and kill them wherever they find them. 

But when it comes to Israel, Washington urges restraint and negotiation by the Israeli side. 

According to Bible prophecy, the world is divided into four main spheres of power in the last days – all of which are already in existence today. The Russian-Islamic bloc, the Asian "Kings of the East" the Organization of African Nation's "Kings of the South" and the European Union's revived Roman Empire, out of which Daniel says the antichrist will rise to power. 

Israel is the main player in the Last Days' drama, the preferred enemy and ultimate target of all four of these global power players. Israel is in place and in character for the role she was predicted to play. 

Missing from the overall Big Picture is any mention of a fifth, overarching superpower resembling the United States. Where did it go? Perhaps Washington took some of the advice it is now offering Israel.

Howard Wilson hwilson@texasmoralaction.org