BMAT
Moral Action Committee Watchman Report
#65 01/06/2006
BMAT
Moral Action Committee Watchman Report
#65 01/06/2006
Click on an article to view OR scroll through the complete document:
1. Readers' Top 10 Stories of 2005 Citizen Special Report
2. Navy Chaplain's Hunger Strike Enters 16th Day
4. Judge Upholds Ban on Christian Prayers in Indiana Legislature
6. Focus on the Family Calls on Evangelical Churches to Talk about Abortion
7. Open Doors Reports Escalation of Church Persecution in 2005
8. Prominent US Priest Accuses Senate Democrats of Anti-Catholic Bigotry on Judicial Nominees
19. Coast to Coast Assaults on Marriage
10. Advertisements have direct Affect on Youth Drinking
11. Critics Question Study Linking Abortion, Mental Health Problems
12. Sanctity of Human Life Director Challenges Christians on Abortion in the Church
13. Massachusetts sued over gay marriage ruling
14. The ACLU lost several important Commandments Cases in 2005
15. Pray in the Indiana House but not in the Name of Jesus according to Judge Hamilton
16. Justice Sunday III Preparations Advance for this Weekend
17. Swiss Hospital Agrees to Help Kill Patients as of January 1, 2006
18. Parents TV Council Statistics of the Week
19. Groups within UMC Confront Denomination's Scripture-Affirming Rulings
20. A Man who believes he is Christ changes his name to Jesus Christ?
21. PA TV: Expel Israelis from Israel 'Be gone. Die anywhere you like, but don't die here
22. Prove Christ exists, Italian judge orders priest
23. In 2005 Iran Became Most Dangerous Nation
24. TBN cancels Hal Lindsey saying he is a Muslim Basher
25. The Corporate Curtain: using "diversity" policies to silence Christians, promote homosexuality
Readers' Top 10 Stories of 2005 Citizen Special Report
From the courts to Congress, the year that's now ended has seen historic ups and downs for pro-family forces.
T
o
say that 2005 was a whirlwind year for pro-family causes is the very definition
of understatement. From the courts to the Congress, from public policy to the
public square, the 365 days of the past 12 months were filled with miraculous
victories and heartbreaking defeats for Christian Americans who advocate for
righteousness.
Earlier this month, we asked you, the Citizen Link reader, to look back over the ups and downs of the year that ends today and vote for what you considered to be the top news event of 2005. The votes poured in, and your nominations have been tallied.
Here, then, without further ado, is your ranking of the top ten pro-family news stories of 2005:
10. (0.5 percent of the vote) <.xxx domain remains in limbo>: Family advocates ended the year successful in stifling plans to create a .xxx Internet domain for pornographic Web sites. A plan to create such a domain, being considered by the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), has been delayed indefinitely in the wake of protests from pro-family groups concerned that such a move would give legitimacy to smut-peddlers. The idea could still be taken up in the future.
9. (1 percent)
8. (1.1 percent)
7. (1.2 percent)
6. (2.8 percent)
5. (4.2 percent)
4. (8.5 percent)
3. (18.3 percent)
2. (30.5 percent)
1. (31.9 percent)
Navy Chaplain's Hunger Strike Enters 16th Day
Jan. 4 2006 Pete Winn Citizen Link
Gordon Klingenschmitt is battling for the right to pray publicly as God would have him.
A
Protestant based in Norfolk, Va., is in Day 16 of a hunger strike protesting
restrictions that have been placed on his religious freedom.
Lt. Gordon J. Klingenschmitt says he has been forbidden to pray "in Jesus' name" while he is in uniform.
"I'm asking the president of the United States to give me back my uniform and let me pray publicly in Jesus' name," Klingenschmitt told CitizenLink. "The chief of Navy chaplains has told me if I pray 'in Jesus' name' that I am denigrating other faiths."
Klingenschmitt says the Navy, at one point, tried to oust him because he insisted on publicly praying to Jesus.
"My commanding officer told a Navy board to end my career, saying in writing, 'Chaplain Klingenschmitt overemphasized his own faith system'—and he was talking about my prayers and my sermons," the chaplain explained. "He also punished me for one of my sermons that I preached in the chapel, in the pulpit—optional attendance on a Saturday afternoon—where I said 'Jesus is the way to heaven.' "
After nine months of being threatened with the end of his career, Klingenschmitt declared his hunger fast in front of the White House a little more than two weeks ago.
"Suddenly, within 24 hours, they gave me a contract extension, so I am still in the Navy, and my career is no longer in jeopardy," Klingenschmitt said. "But I can't wear my uniform for public appearances, and they say I cannot pray 'in Jesus' name' in public unless I'm wearing civilian clothes."
Klingenschmitt, a former Air Force major who took a pay cut to switch branches and become a Navy chaplain, said there has been a law on the books since 1860 permitting individual chaplains to conduct public worship "according to the manner and forms of his own church."
"That law is not being enforced," he said.
The U.S. Navy did not comment on Klingenschmitt's situation.
The Rev. Pat Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition, who has joined the chaplain on his fast, also joined in the plea to President Bush, asking the commander in chief to issue an executive order allowing military chaplains to pray according to their own faith traditions.
"It should never be the role of government to dictate to American citizens, especially the clergy, how they are to publicly pray," Mahoney said.
Alex Person, who heads Focus on the Family's outreach to military chaplains—and who is himself a former armed-forces spiritual adviser—said a chaplain in the military wears two hats. One, obviously, is the military hat.
"She's a Protestant chaplain, or he's a Jewish chaplain, or a Catholic priest for the Navy or the Air Force or the Marines or the Army," Person said. "However, they also represent their specific denomination or faith group, as well."
Balancing the two roles isn't always easy, Person added. And there has long been pressure in the military to be sensitive to "pluralistic" situations, where many different faiths may be represented.
"But a Protestant chaplain, preaching in a Protestant chapel to a crowd of people who are there voluntarily, ought to always be able to pray in Jesus' name," Person said.
Klingenshmitt, meanwhile, said more than 75 members of Congress have joined him in asking President Bush to stand for religious freedom.
TAKE ACTION
Please respectfully ask President Bush to support the rights of military
chaplains to be true to their individual faith traditions. For contact
information, including an easy-to-use e-mail form visit the
CitizenLink Action
Center.
New NBC Series Mocks Jesus
Jan. 4 2006 Wendy Cloyd Citizen Link
"
The
Book of Daniel," debuting Friday, depicts an Episcopal priest and his
dysfunctional family and is raising concern among Christians who fear the false
depiction of Jesus and his teaching could mislead viewers.
"The Book of Daniel," a new NBC series premiering Friday, tells the story of an Episcopal priest who regularly communes with a white-robed Jesus to get advice about the many problems he faces within his congregation and within his own family.
That doesn't sound so bad, until you hear the answers provided by the show's "Jesus."
Take, for example, the advice "Jesus" gives to the Rev. Daniel Webster (played by Aidan Quinn) about his teen-age daughter's involvement in using and selling marijuana. "She'll be fine; she's a good kid," he says.
Webster's 16-year-old son is depicted as promiscuous, regularly engaging in pre-marital sex. And the Jesus character's advice was: "He's a kid; let him be a kid."
Not to mention the fact that Webster's father, also a priest, is involved in an adulterous relationship. Webster's secretary, a lesbian, is sleeping with his sister-in-law. His oldest son is gay. And Webster, himself, is hooked on prescription painkillers.
Steve Isaac, online editor of Plugged In at Focus on the Family, said "The Book of Daniel" is television's latest attempt to cash in on controversy.
"It's not the first time TV has taken Christian clergy and rolled it around in the mud," he said. "This show is 'Desperate Housewives' in the sanctuary."
The show's writer Jack Kenny, who is openly gay, said much of his inspiration for the show came from watching his partner's family.
"I recognize there are going to be people who have an issue with a gay man writing about Jesus," he said. "I'm not making fun of Jesus. I never want to poke fun at religion or at Jesus."
Kenny may very well believe his show is harmless fun, Isaac said, but the reality is it and others like it erode truth.
"These kinds of portrayals, gradually, cumulatively, over time, subtly change the way all of us in the culture think about Christ," he said. "Shows like this continue to change the mainstream's opinion."
"It's just a fallen person's attempt at comedy—the residual affect of not having a moral compass."
While Kenny claims that his characters are spiritual people—"They believe in God, they believe in Christ as their savior and I think that's wonderful," he said—Isaac worries about the representation of Jesus and the impact on the culture.
"They have Jesus portrayed as less than milquetoast. He's not interested in sin at all. Sin is irrelevant to this particular Jesus," Isaac said. "He's interested in hangin' out and being a consoling companion to Daniel."
Just how much will the show influence viewers?
"People have become so accustomed to getting their information from entertainment," Isaac said, "it's reasonable to assume that in a person's heart who doesn't have a relationship with Jesus Christ, that—while it may not completely form their opinion of Jesus—it does tug at their perceptions of Jesus."
TAKE ACTION
Please take a moment to let NBC officials know of your disgust over "The Book of
Daniel." You can do this in two ways:
1) Call and e-mail NBC Entertainment President Jeffrey Zucker.
2) Contact your local NBC affiliate via phone and e-mail and encourage management not to air "The Book of Daniel." You can find contact information by visiting the CitizenLink Action Center and typing your ZIP code into the space provided.
Judge Upholds Ban on Christian Prayers in Indiana Legislature
W
ASHINGTON:
a federal judge in Indianapolis says he won't reconsider his decision barring
the Indiana House of Representatives from opening its sessions with specifically
Christian prayers.
Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma had asked U.S. District Judge David Hamilton to reconsider the Nov. 30 ruling, saying it was too vague to enforce.
The state attorney general's office also has asked the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago to review the decision.
Hamilton ruled that invocations could not mention Jesus Christ or use Christian terms such as savior because they amount to state endorsement of a religion.
Yesterday, Hamilton said if the speaker or others try to evade the injunction the court will take "appropriate measures" to enforce it.
Clergy to Hold Prayer and Consecration Service at Hart Senate Room Where Alito Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings Will be Held Next Week
Jan. 4 2006 Christian Wire Service
Group will ask for God's guidance, wisdom and blessing during Judge Alito's confirmation process.
WASHINGTON, The Christian
Defense Coalition and National Clergy Council will conduct the consecration s
ervice
on Thursday, January 5th.
The organizations will gather for a news conference at the Hart Senate Office Building on Thursday, January 5th at 1:00 P.M. and then go inside and consecrate Hart room 216 where the hearings will be held.
The news conference will be held outside of the Hart Senate Office on the Constitution Ave. NE side.
Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition, comments, "Perhaps the most important decision the Senate will make this year will be the confirmation of the next Supreme Court Justice. Throughout our history, America has turned to God for direction and blessing in our most critical decisions. The next Supreme Court Justice will have a profound impact on the direction of our country for the next thirty years. Issues such as abortion, the definition of marriage and religious _expression in the public square all will be significantly impacted by the next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, we are praying that God will put a person on the court that will honor Him, respect the Constitution and support the founding principles of this nation. We also pray that Judge Alito will receive a fair and balanced hearing."
Rev. Rob Schenck, President of the National Clergy Council, states, "The act of consecrating a special place for sacred use has a long and Biblical history to it. In setting apart the Senate hearing room for God's purpose, we will ask for His will to be done in all that is said by the senators and Judge Alito. We are praying that both parties be faithful to the Constitution, honest in their exchange and devoted to the truth. As to the outcome, we pray only that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
Focus on the Family Calls on Evangelical Churches to Talk about Abortion
Jan. 4, 2006 LifeSiteNews.com
Clergy Asked to Reach Out to Post-Abortive and At-Risk Women During Sanctity of Human Life Week
C
OLORADO
SPRING, Colo., January 4, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - As US churches prepare to
celebrate Sanctity of Human Life Week, January 15- 22, 2006, Focus on the Family
has challenged clergy members to consider recent statistics on abortion when
addressing their congregations in church. A survey by The Alan Guttmacher
Institute conducted among women who had abortions found that one in five
self-identified themselves as Evangelical Christian.
Kim Conroy, Sanctity of Human Life Director for Focus on the Family believes that it's time for churches to be proactive on this issue. "Every post- abortive woman sitting in our churches needs to know that there is help and forgiveness available -- and it's our hope during this Sanctity Week that pastors and other clergy will extend that to her."
Conroy added that while abortion is always a tough topic to discuss, especially when considering the emotions of someone who has experienced it firsthand, it is vital that churches prioritize talking about this growing problem.
"Justice, mercy and compassion must be at the forefront of the conversation if we truly desire to extend healing to the women in our churches affected by abortion -- both those who've already experienced it and those who are right now contemplating it," Conroy said.
For more information, or to request resources on Sanctity of Human Life Week 2006 or Option Ultrasound(TM), visit http://www.beavoice.net
Focus on the Family is a leader in the pro-life movement because of its many effective initiatives. Among them is Option Ultrasound(TM) which was started in 2004. The program's purpose is to make ultrasound machines and sonography training available to medical clinics that meet the professional requirements. In a recent survey the organization found that 79 percent of pregnancy resource center clients decide to carry their babies to term after viewing an ultrasound image of the baby inside them.
Open Doors Reports Escalation of Church Persecution in 2005
Dec. 29, 2005 Allie Martin Agape Press
D
r.
Carl Moeller, president of Open Doors USA says there was a noticeable increase
in persecution of Christians throughout the world in 2005. That international
ministry has released a review of persecution against believers worldwide across
the last year.
The Open Doors review found that there was an increase in persecution of Christians in such countries as North Korea, Indonesia, and Eritrea. Dr. Moeller says many believers in the U.S. and other free nations are largely unaware of the oppression and hostility faced by fellow believers in many parts of the world. He feels some of the countries most hostile to the Christian faith are simply not "on the radar screens" of many in the church.
For instance, the ministry leader notes, "Eritrea doesn't make the news very often because it's not either an ally or an enemy of the United States; but it is a country where millions of people are subjected to a Marxist-influenced government that is drumming up fear in a war with Ethiopia." For Christians in Eritrea, he explains, the difficulty with the government is "primarily that it refuses to acknowledge any religious expression apart from four permitted religions and denominations."
Also, in Eritrea 26 pastors and 1,700 evangelical church members are currently imprisoned, and some have been tortured by government military forces, Moeller points out. Meanwhile, in other nations on Open Doors' watch list, the violence and systematic harassment and maltreatment of Christians either carried out or tolerated by government authorities is similarly egregious.
In North Korea, an estimated 400,000 Christians face daily persecution, including torture in prison camps. That is one reason why that country topped Open Doors' world watch list of countries where persecution is most severe in 2005. Meanwhile, in Indonesia, more Christians were killed and churches burned, and three Christian women were arrested for running a program for children.
Nevertheless, Moeller notes that some positive developments have occurred in the past year. For example, he says the evangelical church is growing rapidly in many of the countries where persecution of the church is common -- even in some parts of Asia and the Middle East that are dominated by Hindu, Buddhist, or Islamic majorities.
The president of Open Doors believes some of this growth can be attributed in part to Christian disaster relief efforts -- particularly the church's response to the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004, which killed more than 283,100 people, and the 7.6-magnitude South Asia earthquake of October 2005, which had an estimated death toll of more than 87,350 people.
That earthquake, the epicenter of which was in the Pakistan-governed territory of Kashmir, caused more than five billion dollars in damage, left an estimated 3.3 million Pakistanis homeless and directly affected more than 4 million people throughout the region. Many of the survivors are at risk from exposure and disease, and panic is widespread among them, as the area has experienced some 1,518 aftershocks -- the most recent on Christmas day, measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale.
Moeller says persecution against the church has not stopped its ministry and relief efforts toward disaster victims. "The church has reached out to help rebuild in tsunami-devastated areas," he notes, "and also in Pakistan where the fledgling Muslim-background [Christian] believer church in the devastated area of Kashmir has been a source of hope and healing for many as they've sought to rebuild in that terrible place."
Open Doors' ministry to the persecuted church has likewise gone forward in the past year. Moeller says the ministry was able to send more than three million bibles and other Christian study materials to China for underground house churches, and has continued to send resources and support to persecuted believers in other nations all over the world.
Prominent US Priest Accuses Senate Democrats of Anti-Catholic Bigotry on Judicial Nominees
F
RONT
ROYAL, Va., The Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, president of Human Life International,
has accused Senate Democrats of the "Catholic bashing" of Supreme Court nominee
Judge Samuel Alito. "The unrelenting campaign waged by many Senate
Democrats, some who claim to be Catholics themselves, against Catholic judicial
nominees who embrace and practice their Catholic faith is disgraceful at best
and at worst is a blatant form of religious bigotry reminiscent of a less civil
period of history," said Rev. Euteneuer.
The HLI leader warns that such tactics will serve to "alienate Roman Catholics who are increasingly frustrated over attacks on those beliefs they hold most dear."
"Religion should never be used as a weapon of discrimination. Democrats and their anti-Catholic allies such as People for the American Way, Moveon.org and Alliance for Justice must abandon their Catholic bashing strategy," said Fr. Euteneuer. "It is time for these Senators-led by the likes of Sen. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)-to put an end to this shameful behavior."
Coast to Coast Assaults on Marriage Jan. 4 2006 Family Research Council
A
homosexual legal group is suing Massachusetts. They want to overturn the
Attorney General's validation of a pro-marriage group's successful petition
drive. VoteOnMarriage.org collected a record 170,000 valid Massachusetts
signatures in their drive to put marriage on the ballot. Massachusetts Attorney
General Thomas Reilly "simply got it wrong" says Gay and Lesbian Advocates and
Defenders (GLAD) in its lawsuit. GLAD is also suing the Secretary of the
Commonwealth, William F. Galvin. GLAD wants to stop Galvin from taking any
"further steps" to put the marriage initiative on the ballot. Reilly's office
noted that although he does not support the marriage initiative, he believes it
has been properly filed and should go forward. The marriage initiative must
still be approved twice by the state legislature under Massachusetts' cumbersome
ballot initiative procedure. The earliest the initiative could be voted on by
the people is 2008. Meanwhile, in the far Northwest, homosexual groups are using
the courts as they target socially liberal Washington State to provide a West
Coast focus for their drive to overturn marriage. Washington State's Supreme
Court is expected soon to hand down a ruling on whether to recognize same-sex
unions as marriages. The state does not require applicants for marriage licenses
to be state residents. If homosexual groups succeed in the Evergreen State's
Supreme Court, Washington could become a mecca for same-sex couples seeking
legal recognition. FRC took part in this case by submitting a brief to the
Washington State Supreme Court in which we maintained that childrearing is an
essential part of marriage. We see here the militant drive of the homosexual
lobby to thwart and defy the will of the people. Americans want to uphold
traditional marriage. Homosexual activists use the courts because they know they
cannot win in the court of public opinion. That is another reason why you'll see
gay activists among the leaders of the anti-Alito faction in next week's
confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Advertisements have direct Affect on Youth Drinking Jan. 4 2006 Citizen Link
New study finds connection between alcohol consumption and how many TV and print spots kids see.
R
adio,
television and print advertising promoting alcoholic beverages are having an
extraordinary impact on kids, according to a new study from the National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
"For every ad, additional ad, that kids saw, over the average, they drank one percent more," said the institute's David Jernigan. "And for every additional dollar per capita that was spent on marketing in their local media market, they drank three percent more."
Kids under 21, he added, only represent 15 percent of the population, but they see nearly 25 percent of all alcohol ads. The study also found that 61 percent of the kids questioned had at least one drink in the previous month, and many admitted to nearly one a day. The institute estimates that alcohol kills 4,000 kids every year.
"At this point," he said, "what we find is, for instance on TV, there are about 266,000 television ads for alcohol in 2004 and nearly a quarter of those were on programming that kids 12 to 20 were more likely than people 21 plus to be watching."
Bridget Maher, a policy analyst for the Family Research Council, said family togetherness can go a long way toward overcoming the negative effects of the advertising.
"Compared to teens that eat dinner with their parents twice a week or less," he said, "those who have family dinners five or more nights a week are 45 percent more likely to have never tried alcohol."
Critics Question Study Linking Abortion, Mental Health Problems
Jan 4 2006 Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com International Editor
N
ew
research linking abortions in young women to mental health problems is causing a
stir, as family planning advocates try to play down the results -- despite
researchers' assertions that the study is the most comprehensive ever of its
kind.
Professor David Fergusson, a psychologist and epidemiologist who headed the
study, said Wednesday he was not surprised at the fuss.
"It's a very sensitive and emotive subject. People have cherished beliefs that
they do not like being challenged."
Although he describes his own views on abortion as "pro-choice," Fergusson said
the research evidence was clear: "There's a distinct possibility - more than a
distinct possibility - that abortion may have mental health consequences."
He expected both sides of the debate to try to use the research results in "an
attempt to use science to back up ethical positions."
While in the case of pro-lifers Fergusson said that meant possibly exaggerating
the results, in fact most response so far has come from the opposing camp,
calling the findings into question.
Fergusson and colleagues at the Christchurch School of Medicine and Health
Sciences in New Zealand have tracked 1,265 women in a longitudinal study since
their birth in mid-1977. The women are now 28 and the study is continuing.
Recently the team turned its attention to the issue of abortion and possible
effects.
Of the 1,265 participants, more than 500 had fallen pregnant at least once by
the age of 25. Of that group, 90 had had an abortion.
Of those who had an abortion, 42 percent suffered from major mental health
problems at a subsequent stage, with symptoms including depression, suicidal
tendencies and alcohol and drug abuse.
Fergusson said that rate was 35 percent higher than in the case of those who
continued with their pregnancies, and almost double the rate of those who had
not been pregnant.
The results were printed this week in the London-based Journal of Child
Psychiatry and Psychology.
Fergusson said he had sent the research paper to four journals - two of them in
the U.S. - before it was accepted by the British publication.
Previously he has had papers accepted "first time every time," but he suspected
that because of the "highly controversial" subject matter of the latest one,
some journals had been reluctant to take it.
Critics hit back
The new study could be used to undermine the most common legal basis for
abortions in several countries. A similar situation exists in neighboring
Australia.
Pro-life campaigners argue that "mental health" is a broad, vague and
hard-to-disprove justification, and a statutory abortion supervisory body in New
Zealand called last November for the wording of the country's laws to be
tightened, saying it had "come to have a de-facto liberal interpretation."
Fergusson said there was little evidence to suggest that abortion improves
mental health. "This study suggests possibly the opposite."
Sanctity of Human Life Director Challenges Christians on Abortion in the Church
Jan. 3 2006 Christian Wire Service
Clergy Asked to Reach Out to Post-Abortive and At-Risk Women During Sanctity of Human Life Week
C
OLORADO
SPRING, Colo., As churches prepare to celebrate Sanctity of Human Life Week,
January 15- 22, 2006, Focus on the Family has challenged clergy members to
consider recent statistics on abortion in the church when addressing their
congregations. A survey by The Alan Guttmacher Institute conducted among women
who had abortions found that one in five self-identified themselves as
Evangelical Christian.
Kim Conroy, Sanctity of Human Life Director for Focus on the Family believes that it's time for churches to be proactive on this issue. "Every post- abortive woman sitting in our churches needs to know that there is help and forgiveness available -- and it's our hope during this Sanctity Week that pastors and other clergy will extend that to her."
Conroy added that while abortion is always a tough topic to discuss, especially when considering the emotions of someone who has experienced it firsthand, it is vital that churches prioritize talking about this growing problem.
"Justice, mercy and compassion must be at the forefront of the conversation if we truly desire to extend healing to the women in our churches affected by abortion -- both those who've already experienced it and those who are right now contemplating it," Conroy said.
For more information, or to request resources on Sanctity of Human Life Week 2006 or Option Ultrasound (TM) visit www.beavoice.net.
Focus on the Family is a leader in the pro-life movement because of its many effective initiatives. Among them is Option Ultrasound(TM) which was started in 2004. The program's purpose is to make ultrasound machines and sonography training available to medical clinics that meet the professional requirements. In a recent survey the organization found that 79 percent of pregnancy resource center clients decide to carry their babies to term after viewing an ultrasound image of the baby inside them.
Massachusetts sued over gay marriage ruling
Jan 3, 2006 Jason
Szep Reuters
B
OSTON
(Reuters) - Gay rights lawyers filed on Tuesday a lawsuit to stop a proposed
ballot measure aimed at overturning a court decision that made Massachusetts the
first and only U.S. state to legalize gay marriage.
The lawsuit by the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) said the state's attorney general erred when he ruled in September that Massachusetts voters could decide in a 2008 poll to redefine marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
They said the decision by Thomas Reilly, a Democrat who is likely to run for governor this year, was unconstitutional because ballot initiatives cannot reverse judicial decisions under the state's Constitution.
"The attorney general simply got it wrong," Gary Buseck, GLAD's legal director, said in a statement.
Reilly's office said his decision was legally sound, adding that Reilly does not personally favor banning same-sex marriage.
Massachusetts' highest court ruled in 2003 that it was unconstitutional to ban gay marriage, paving the way for America's first same-sex marriages in May the following year.
Since then, about 7,000 gays and lesbians have wed in the state, and gay rights advocates across the country have sought to encourage other states to legalize same-sex marriages.
Those efforts have largely failed, most recently in Texas, which in November became the 19th U.S. state to approve a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
Homosexual couples in at least seven states have filed lawsuits seeking the right to marry, while as many as 10 states could see campaigns this year for amendments to uphold marriage as the union of a man and a woman.
'AN ELECTRIFYING ISSUE'
In Massachusetts, VoteOnMarriage.org -- a coalition of conservative and Christian groups -- proposed the 2008 ballot initiative to amend the state constitution by defining marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman.
Between September 21 and November 23 last year, they gathered more than twice the number of voter signatures needed for state legislators to put the question to the public.
On Tuesday they predicted the lawsuit would be defeated.
"We don't think the suit is credible," said Kristian Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, a backer of the initiative. "I think they were surprised at the magnitude of the number of signatures -- 170,000 -- which tells us what an electrifying issue this is with the people."
Conservatives and some religious groups say the issue is so important that voters should decide it, not the state Supreme Court.
Massachusetts' Republican governor, Mitt Romney, a devout Mormon with White House ambitions, supports their position.
The ballot initiative must be approved by 25 percent of the 200-member state Legislature this year and again in 2007 before it can go to voters.
If passed, it would not seek to annul marriage licenses already issued to same-sex couples.
GLAD said it expects (the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk County) to consider the lawsuit against Reilly in the next few months
The ACLU lost several important Commandments Cases in 2005
Jan. 4 2006 Christian Wire Service
W
ASHINGTON,
The ACLU lost several cases at the end of the year that were not reported by the
main stream media. The main stream media is for the ACLU and I guess they don't
want to acknowledge any of these ACLU loses.
The plain and simple truth is the ACLU LOST several important cases which were not reported by the main stream media in late 2005.
One of the most important ACLU loses came on December 20, 2005 and involved a Ten Commandments display in Mercer County Kentucky. This case involved the same exact display from the McCreary County Kentucky case that was recently ruled against by the US Supreme Court.
However, the US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals handed the ACLU a significant defeat when they ruled that this same exact display is CONSTITUTIONAL. The difference between the two cases seems to be that Mercer County always included other historical documents in their display and therefore it was more easily determined to have a secular purpose.
The Court said, "Our concern is that of the reasonable person. And the ACLU, an organization whose mission is to ensure that...the government (is kept) out of the religion business, does not embody the reasonable person." The Courts opinion also rejected the ACLU's "repeated reference to the 'separation of church and state.' This extra- constitutional construct has grown tiresome. The First Amendment does not demand a wall of separation between church and state," the Court said.
"This case represents a huge victory and may signal the beginning of the end of dangerous, ridiculous rulings in favor of the ACLU. Whether the ACLU likes it or not this nation was founded upon the principles of Christianity. We are better off because of the principles taught in the Ten Commandments," said Don Swarthout, President of Christians Reviving America's Values, aka CRAVE. "The problem with the ACLU is that they do not offer anything concrete for us to pattern our lives after. The Ten Commandments are a pretty simple pattern for us to follow," Swarthout said.
Just as important was a case in the US Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals who ruled that the same exact display as the one in the Mercer County Case was CONSTITUTIONAL in Elkhart County, Indiana. After the loss the ACLU has indicated that they will not appeal this case.
On December 2, 2005 the ACLU also lost its case against New York City where they were trying to stop random searches of passenger's bags who were boarding the subway system.
The ACLU had sued the City of New York after they instituted random bag searches on July 22, 2005 following the bombing of London's transit system. The ACLU's contention was that random searches of passenger's bags were an unconstitutional invasion of privacy.
The ACLU seems to favor protecting the rights of terrorists who want to kill law abiding citizens. "The truth is obvious. Terrorists and all others who do not respect the American way of life must be stopped in order to protect the life styles of law abiding American citizens," said Don Swarthout, President of Christians Reviving America's Values.
"The ACLU wants to protect the rights of criminals and terrorists. Why doesn't the ACLU want to protect the rights of law abiding citizens," Swarthout asked?
"The main stream media never talks about these cases where the ACLU loses! They seem to be quick enough to tell us about the cases where they have won, but they will not even mention the many cases where the ACLU loses," Swarthout added.
"We represent a large number of average people from all across America and we are fed up with the unfair treatment we receive from the media and from the ACLU who is a real danger to our nation's well being. Therefore, we have now written to every US Senator asking for an investigation into the activities and agenda of the ACLU. The ACLU was investigated by Congress in 1931 and it is time for that to happen again," Swarthout stated.
Pray in the Indiana House but not in the Name of Jesus according to judge Hamilton
Jan. 3 2006 Family Research Council
A
s
the Indiana House of Representatives opens its 2006 session tomorrow, the first
question facing lawmakers is to pray or not to pray in the name of Jesus. Last
week, U.S. District Court Judge David Hamilton reaffirmed his November ruling
that praying in the name of Jesus violated the high court's concoction of the
"separation of church and state." The ruling was the result of a lawsuit filed
by the Indiana branch of the ACLU. Several House members, Republican and
Democrat, have said that if they are given the chance to open tomorrow's session
they will defy the judge's order and open the session in Christian prayer. The
Indiana House Speaker, Rep. Brian C. Bosma (R), who is challenging the federal
court ruling, has said the session will be opened in prayer but that he will
seek to abide by the judge's ruling pending the outcome of the challenge. It is
important to note that the members of the clergy who open these sessions of the
various legislatures are not employees of the state and are not paid by the
state.
Judge Hamilton is instructing the House Speaker to censor the prayers of the
clergy to ensure they do not pray in Jesus's name. Thanks to Judge Hamilton the
Indiana House of Representatives now joins Saudi Arabia as one more place where
Jesus's name cannot be honored in an official ceremony. The numbers of
anti-Christian rulings like this one from Judge Hamilton are multiplying. It is
decisions like this that give rise to the need for Justice Sunday III which will
be broadcast this coming Sunday night from Philadelphia, PA. Speaker Bosma is
scheduled to join us in this special program. Thank you, Speaker Bosma, and
thanks, too, to the members of the Indiana State House of Representatives who
are resisting this latest example of judicial activism.
Back
Justice Sunday III Preparations Advance for this Weekend
Jan. 3 2006 Family Research Council
S
lated
for this January 8 at 7 pm, Justice Sunday III will raise the pressing issues of
religious liberty, traditional marriage, and the sanctity of human life. All of
these will be at issue during the Alito confirmation hearings that are scheduled
to begin next Monday. The simulcast will be hosted by Greater Exodus Baptist
Church, where Pastor Herbert Lusk, Jr. has provided tremendous leadership in
transforming the inner city through faith-based outreach. Next week, when Judge
Alito's critics bore in on him with their questions on "separation of church and
state," we want people to understand what they really mean is to push people of
faith out of the public arena. When they grill Alito on "privacy rights," they
are really referring to abortion-on-demand and the newly-minted "right" to
commit sodomy. These and other critical issues are before our courts every day.
"Proclaim Liberty Throughout the Land" is our theme for this third judicial
simulcast. That quote from Leviticus is on the crown of our Liberty Bell.
Whether it will remain there is a subject we should all care passionately about.
Urge your friends and family to join us for this simulcast.
Additional Resources
Join
Us for Justice Sunday III
Swiss Hospital Agrees to Help Kill Patients as of January 1, 2006
Jan. 4, 2006 LifeSiteNews.com
L
AUSANNE,
France, Lausanne University hospital, Switzerland has decided to permit assisted
suicides starting from January 1, 2006. Assisted suicide has always been
considered a form of active euthanasia. In addition to Lausanne, other leading
Swiss hospitals are now actively discussing permitting the procedure. Though
Swiss law initially did not allow doctors to kill their patients the practice of
euthanasia has been gradually extended from private groups into the public
health systems.
According to Doctors for Life (DFL), extensive experience with euthanasia laws in other countries has revealed a consistent pattern. Assisted suicide is presented to the public as a last resort necessary to alleviate human suffering. Once this becomes acceptable to the public, says DFL, the categories of people deemed expendable steadily expands to include those perceived to have a diminished value to society or to themselves.
In the Netherlands, doctors have been allowed to practice active euthanasia since 1973. While Dutch death regulations initially required that euthanasia be strictly limited to the sickest patients, it has been steadily redefined with the protective guidelines gradually eroded. As a result, Dutch doctors now legally kill the terminally ill, the chronically ill, disabled people and depressed people, on demand, Doctors for Life reports. Furthermore, repeated studies sponsored by the Dutch government show that a significant number of patients are killed by their doctors every year as a result of involuntary euthanasia.
Consequently, says DFL, "eugenic infanticide has now become common in the Netherlands (even though babies cannot ask to be killed)." According to a 1997 study published in the British medical journal The Lancet, approximately 8 percent of all Dutch infant deaths result from lethal injections. An alarming 45 percent of neonatologists and 31 percent of pediatricians who responded to Lancet surveys had killed babies. "A more severe slide down this slippery slope has been well documented in Belgium with euthanasia advocates actively fighting to not only expand the categories of killable people but to also force health care workers with moral objections to participate in assisted suicides against their consciences."
Parents TV Council Statistics of the Week
O
nly
40% of parents surveyed by the National Institute for Media and the Family say
they understand all of the video game rating symbols.
Households with children currently living at home are only slightly more likely to say they understand all of the ratings (47%).
In addition, only 53% of parents with kids at home say they have ever stopped their children from getting a video game because of its rating...
Games in 2004 were on average more violent, contained more sexual content and had more profane language when compared to games from the late '90s.
In the '90s only 16% of the M-rated games contained any profanity at all and only 33% contained sexual content. By 2004 all (100%) of the M-rated games contained some level of profanity and sexual content.
Kids are six times more likely to see nude or partially nude figures in M-rated video games today than they were in the late 1990s. Yet the ratings haven't changed.
[National Institute on Media and the Family's 10th Annual Media Wise Video and Computer Game Report Card]
Groups within UMC Confront Denomination's Scripture-Affirming Rulings
Jan 2 2006 Prophecy Watch
A coalition of groups
related to the United Methodist Church is calling on the denomination to reverse
rulings by its highest court that went against homosexuals.
a
Judicial Council decision that allowed a Virginia pastor to deny church
membership to an unrepentant homosexual man. One of the signatories, retired
clergyman Gilbert Caldwell with the group "United Methodists of Color for a
Fully Inclusive Church," likens "discrimination" against homosexuals in the
United Methodist Church to racial prejudice blacks encountered during the civil
rights era.
"One justifies prejudice or exclusion because one bases one's exclusion on a
negative stereotype," says Caldwell, "whether we're talking about women, whether
we're talking about blacks, whether we're talking about gay persons."
Caldwell, author of the new book What Mean These Stones, equates the UMC's ban
on homosexual clergy to "the Republican Party's southern political strategy of
an earlier time."
He asserts that within the UMC "the ban against gays in the clergy, the
hesitation about gay persons in some churches, represents a political strategy
that sort of plays on the emotions of people." In fact, he adds, he believes it
"denigrates and minimizes the depth of our faith in who we say we are as a
people called United Methodists."
But such assertions are "absurd," says Mark Tooley, a Methodist activist with
the Institute on Religion and Democracy. "Those who are attempting to overthrow
the Church's standards on Christian sexual teachings," he contends, "have
responded to these rulings with great hyperbole and exaggeration and a lot of
apocalyptic rhetoric."
Tooley maintains that recent Judicial Council rulings simply affirm scriptural
and church teaching that sex is reserved for heterosexual marriage.
A Man who believes he is Christ changes his name to Jesus Christ?
Jan 2 2006 Prophecy Watch
A
Manhattan man's holiday spirits soared to celestial heights Friday when a judge
gave him permission to change his name to Jesus Christ. Jose Luis Espinal, 42,
of Washington Heights, said he was "happy" and "grateful" that the judge
approved the change, effective immediately. Espinal said he was moved to seek
the name change about a year ago when it dawned on him, "I am the person that is
that name."
Espinal, who acted as his own lawyer, got the change approved by Manhattan Civil
Court Judge Diane Lebedeff, who said she was "satisfied that this application is
neither novel, nor would granting it pose practical problems."
The judge said name change applications usually are not denied just because the
change might cause practical difficulties or be thought unwise, as long as a
person with the same name does not object to the proposed change.
She cited a 2001 Utah case in which a man legally changed his name to "Santa
Claus" and a Washington, D.C., case earlier this year in which a name change
applicant obtained a driver's license and Social Security card in the name of
"Jesus Christ."
The judge said she held a hearing in which Espinal, who also uses the last name
Tejeda, testified. She said he was aware of the "common law right to assume
another name without legal proceedings so long as the change is not made to
deceive or perpetrate a fraud or to avoid an obligation" but wanted to go the
formal route anyway.
The judge said Espinal's "reasons were primarily those applicable to his own
private religious beliefs and he stated no desire to use his proposed name to
secure publicity, to proselytize, to fund-raise or advise others that he had
been cloaked by the courts or government with a religious authority."
Espinal, who is unemployed and unmarried and has no children, said, "This was
not done for any reason other than I am that person. You're dealing with the
real deal."
PA TV: Expel Israelis from Israel 'Be gone. Die anywhere you like, but don't die here
Dec. 30, 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
C
alling
it a new level of hatred, an Israeli monitor of Arab media condemned the
Palestinian Authority for broadcasting a feature that called for the expulsion
of Israelis from the Holy Land.
"It is time for you [Israelis] to be gone," said a voice over images of Tel Aviv and an Israeli flag. "Live wherever you like, but don't live among us. It is time for you to be gone. Die wherever you like, but don't die among us."
Itamar Marcus of Palestinian Media Watch said the feature, broadcast Dec. 20 and on a previous occasion, was "yet another program on Palestinian Authority television calling for the destruction of Israel."
Segments of the program, which focused on the town of Jaffa, can be viewed here.
Marcus said the program opened with "a revision of history," by casting the ancient Canaanites as Arabs.
"Palestine was attacked by invaders, but its Arab Canaanite features withstood attempts to change them," the narrator says. Jaffa "remained Arab in name, because the indigenous remain, while the foreign vanish. …
"The doors and windows of the houses are watching and expecting the return [of the refugees"]
Marcus said that in this program "the more than 3,000 years of Jewish history in the area are pre-dated by a fabricated Arab history." The Arab conquest, he pointed out, actually took place in the 7th century.
In the feature, all of Israel's coastal cities, Acre, Haifa, Caesarea, Ashdod, Ashkelon and Jaffa, are said to be situated in what is "known today as Palestine," making Israel non-existent.
The final words of the program recited Israeli-Arab poet Mahmoud Darwish:
"It is time for you [Israelis] to be gone. Live wherever you like, but don't live among us. It is time for you to be gone. Die wherever you like, but don't die among us. We have the past here. We have the present and the future… So leave our country, our land, our sea, our wheat, our salt, our wounds. Everything, and leave the memories."
Prove Christ exists, Italian judge orders priest
Jan. 3 2006 Richard Owen the Times in Rome
AN ITALIAN judge has ordered a priest to appear in court this month to prove that Jesus Christ existed.
T
he
case against Father Enrico Righi has been brought in the town of Viterbo, north
of Rome, by Luigi Cascioli, a retired agronomist who once studied for the
priesthood but later became a militant atheist.
Signor Cascioli, author of a book called The Fable of Christ, began legal proceedings against Father Righi three years ago after the priest denounced Signor Cascioli in the parish newsletter for questioning Christ’s historical existence.
Yesterday Gaetano Mautone, a judge in Viterbo, set a preliminary hearing for the end of this month and ordered Father Righi to appear. The judge had earlier refused to take up the case, but was overruled last month by the Court of Appeal, which agreed that Signor Cascioli had a reasonable case for his accusation that Father Righi was “abusing popular credulity”.
Signor Cascioli’s contention — echoed in numerous atheist books and internet sites — is that there was no reliable evidence that Jesus lived and died in 1st-century Palestine apart from the Gospel accounts, which Christians took on faith. There is therefore no basis for Christianity, he claims.
Signor Cascioli’s one-man campaign came to a head at a court hearing last April when he lodged his accusations of “abuse of popular credulity” and “impersonation”, both offences under the Italian penal code. He argued that all claims for the existence of Jesus from sources other than the Bible stem from authors who lived “after the time of the hypothetical Jesus” and were therefore not reliable witnesses.
Signor Cascioli maintains that early Christian writers confused Jesus with John of Gamala, an anti-Roman Jewish insurgent in 1st-century Palestine. Church authorities were therefore guilty of “substitution of persons”.
The Roman historians Tacitus and Suetonius mention a “Christus” or “Chrestus”, but were writing “well after the life of the purported Jesus” and were relying on hearsay.
Father Righi said there was overwhelming testimony to Christ’s existence in religious and secular texts. Millions had in any case believed in Christ as both man and Son of God for 2,000 years.
“If Cascioli does not see the sun in the sky at midday, he cannot sue me because I see it and he does not,” Father Righi said.
In 2005 Iran Became Most Dangerous Nation Jan. 3 2006 Oracle Commentaries Hal Lindsey
F
irst,
Iran’s continuing pursuit of nuclear weapons despite the warnings of the
international community is one factor that has elevated it to the title of “most
dangerous.” Iran already has Shahab 5 Missiles that are capable of delivering
nuclear warheads to Israel and many places in Europe. Not to mention US troops
in Iraq and Afghanistan.
According to a Claremont Institute report, it has a range of 2,500 miles. The missile is believed to be based on the North Korean Taep’o-dong 2. It is an Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) that can carry a large single nuclear or biological warhead.
Most alarming to the US military is that this missile is a stepping-stone to the development of ICBMs capable of hitting the US mainland.
A Middle East Newsline dated May 20, 2004 reported, “U.S. intelligence officials believe that Iran could begin testing components of an intercontinental ballistic missile in 2005, likely from the Shahab missile family.”
This is probably why President George Bush recently announced that “it is completely unacceptable for Iran to develop nuclear weapons.” It also explains the December 31st Jerusalem Post report that the US began coordinating with NATO its plans for a possible military strike against Iran. The report spoke of an air attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Second, Iran elected a new president who is fanatically driven by the most extreme teachings of the Shiite Muslim faith that was introduced by the Ayatollah Khomeini. His name is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He is an avid Anti-Semite who publicly declared that “the Nazis Holocaust is a myth created by the Jews to get international sympathy for establishing the State of Israel.”
Ahmadinejad announced, “Israel is a cancer that must be wiped off the map.” With the prospect of soon acquiring nuclear-tipped missiles, this elevated him to be a major world threat. You may think that he wouldn’t be insane enough to use nuclear weapons. Don’t count on it.
Some of the Iranian Mullahs recently declared that Muslims would survive and win a nuclear exchange. One of the basic tenets of the Shiite faith is the glorification of martyrdom for Allah. In their thinking, it would be acceptable for several million Iranians to be ‘martyred’ in exchange for ‘cleansing Muslim lands of Jews and infidels.’ Two nuclear warheads hitting Israel would do in a blinding flash what took Hitler six years to accomplish – the elimination of six million Jews. To the Shiite extremist, the consequences that follow would be an acceptable sacrifice. They have actually discussed these things.
If you doubt their intention, just consider the banners draped on the Shahab missiles that are paraded periodically through the streets of Tehran. The crowds shout approval as the banners go by. They read, “We will wipe Israel off the map.” This indicates that the general population agrees with the purpose of the missiles.
Third, President Ahmadinejad is a devout believer in the apocalyptic Muslim prophecies about the soon coming of the ‘Mahdi’ (Muslim Messiah) known as the Twelfth Imam. They believe his coming will be accompanied with a world apocalypse in which Muslim rule and justice will be established on earth.
One of the first acts Ahmadinejad did as President was to donate $17 million of state money for the beautification of the Jamkaran Mosque that is about 80 miles south of Tehran. Devout Shiites believe that the ‘Twelfth Imam’ will first appear at this mosque.
President Ahmadinejad declared last month that “the main mission of the Islamic Revolution is to pave the way for the reappearance of the Twelfth Imam.”
Iranian journalist Hossein Bastani reported “Ahmadinejad saying in official meetings that the ‘hidden Imam’ will reappear in two years.”
Columnist Charles Krauthammer best summarized the significance of all this in his report entitled, In Iran, Arming for Armageddon. He surmised, “So a Holocaust-denying, virulently anti-Semitic, aspiring genocidist, on the verge of acquiring weapons of the apocalypse, believes that the end is not only near but nearer than the next American presidential election … This kind of man would have, to put it gently, less inhibition about starting Armageddon than a normal person. Indeed, with millennial bliss pending, he would have positive incentive to, as they say in Jewish eschatology, hasten the end.”
I am thankful to know from Bible prophecy that this restored State of Israel cannot be destroyed, though it will go through some terrible trials. So it is going to be fascinating to see what God does to stop this clear and immanent threat to Israel’s existence.
The Israeli Air Force has acquired some very specially designed versions of the F-16 fighter known as the F-16i. It has conformal fuel tanks mounted on the sides of the fuselage that extends its range well within Iran’s borders. It also has a large dorsal fin extending from the cockpit to the rudder that houses the most advanced defensive and targeting electronics on any aircraft. It has a more powerful engine and carries a crew of pilot and electronics operator. Israel did not help design and build this plane for normal operation. It is clearly the “Iranian special.” It is believed that Israel has already developed and practiced an attack plan to take out Iran’s scattered nuclear facilities.
And what will be the aftermath of an Israeli attack that kills thousands of Iranians, but also many Russian scientists who live at these nuclear facilities? Well let’s just say we are really getting close to Christ’s return for the Church.
Email Author: Hal Lindsey
TBN cancels Hal Lindsey saying he is a Muslim Basher
Jan. 3 Anointed News
I
nsisting
the cancellation of Hal Lindsey's television show had nothing to do with
content, a Trinity Broadcasting Network spokesman retracted his statement,
admitting officials were concerned, at least secondarily, about offending Arabs
and Muslims. (That means when TBN was confronted with the truth THEY lied.)
As WorldNetDaily reported, John Casoria, general counsel for the network,
responded yesterday to Lindsey's contention that the weekly program
"International Intelligence Briefing" had been canceled for December, and
possibly permanently, because its message was deemed "too pro-Israel and too
anti-Muslim."
Lindsey said that in the
show that was canceled this week, he made a clear distinction between Muslims
seeking jihad and those who want only a job and normal life for their families.
"I cast radical Muslims in a bad light," he said, "showing how they are
intimidating and persecuting moderate Muslims in the Middle East."
Casoria said: As a Christian, he sees Islam as a false religion believing there
is only one way to God, through Jesus Christ but he says Islam basically is a
peaceful religion.
"That's where we violently disagree," Lindsey said. "Islam is not a peaceful
religion; although there may be moderate Muslims, it's because they have not
become followers of the Quran."
In an interview with WND, however, Lindsey said he was told specifically,
through the TBN "chain of command," that his program was being dropped
indefinitely because he was "Arab bashing"
Lindsey also announced that he is taking his popular television program to other outlets beginning in early February. His new half-hour news and commentary series will be called "The Hal Lindsey Report." A new video version of it will also be streamed on Lindsey's website.
The Corporate Curtain: using "diversity" policies to silence Christians, promote homosexuality
Dec. 29 2005 Robert H. Knight Concerned Women for America
How companies are using "diversity" policies to silence Christians, promote homosexuality
A
merica's
corporations are under increasing pressure not only to accommodate homosexuality
but to celebrate it and to punish employees who object.
Over the past two decades, hundreds of companies have adopted varying degrees of homosexual activism in their official policies. As a result, a growing number of Christians have been disciplined or fired for resisting the trend.
Elizabeth Birch, former president of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest homosexual pressure group, said in 2004 that she was happily surprised that corporations have become "the driving engine" of "gay" activism.1
The HRC Web site's National Corporate Sponsors page has this introduction:
The support from corporate America to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community is directly tied to HRC's overall success.2 Please show your loyalty and support by directing your friends/family to our National Corporate Sponsors, listed below.3
The list includes: Volvo, IBM, Citigroup, Chase Home Finance, Prudential Financial, Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams Furniture, Olivia travel, Hotels.com, American Airlines, Washington Mutual, Showtime, Advocate and Out magazines, Canada Tourism Commission, Nike, Deloitte tax consultants, Replacements, Ltd. ("one of the largest private gay-owned companies in America") and Shell Oil.4
Other companies that consistently promote the homosexual agenda, including "gay"-themed ads and/or support for "gay" political-pressure groups, include Kodak, Subaru, Saab, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, the Hartford Insurance Company, Starbucks, Avis, Ben & Jerry's, virtually every motion picture company, including the Walt Disney Company and Paramount, beer companies Budweiser, Miller, Coors and Molson, and many liquor companies such as Absolut Vodka and Seagram's.
Since 2002, HRC has published a Corporate Equity Index, rating companies on their pro-homosexual polices.5 In 2005, with 750 companies surveyed, the number of companies scoring a perfect 100 rose from 56 in 2004 to 101 in 2005, an 80-percent gain. It's important to keep in mind that, although many of these companies are in the Fortune 500, America has more than 5 million companies, most of which do not have pro-homosexual policies.
A few years ago, Cracker Barrel, the Tennessee-based family restaurant chain, surprised observers by adding "sexual orientation" to its employee code as it expanded into the liberal Northeast. But it still earns low marks on the Equity Index, scoring only 29.
A few surprise additions to the 100-rating club are General Mills cereals, Sears, PepsiCo, Walgreen's, Toyota and Kraft Foods. In fact, Kraft has gone as far as donating $25,000 to the "Gay Games," an Olympic-like athletics competition slated for July 2006 in Chicago.6
According to the HRC report "[T]he most significant policy gain in 2005, was the addition of 'gender identity or expression' in corporate non-discrimination policies."7 This means companies are putting cross-dressing, transgenderism and transsexualism on the same level as race and ethnicity. HRC is going a step further, however, and has announced that companies can earn points in 2006 by paying for sex-change-related operations and hormone injections.8
A Revolution Within
The corporate embrace of homosexual activism has come with breathtaking speed.
Alan Sears and Craig Osten, authors of The Homosexual Agenda, write:
Why has corporate America been such an easy target for homosexual activists to push their agenda? One of the main reasons is that the homosexual community has a much higher level of disposable income than most families, and therefore in order to tap that market, many corporations have gone overboard in their willingness to bow to the demands of radical homosexual activists. In addition, homosexual activists, with the aid of the media, have become so adept at demonizing any corporation that does not give in to their agenda that most companies quietly cower at their feet rather than face the public relations wrath of the activists.9
Homosexual activists who target companies follow a series of steps, increasing their demands. They press for:
1. Official recognition of a homosexual employees group.
2. Adding "sexual orientation" to the company's nondiscrimination code.
3. Including "sexual orientation" in diversity workshops and materials.
4. Inviting homosexual speakers who liken "sexual orientation" to race and ethnicity, and disparage traditional morality as a form of bigotry.
5. Creating health and other traditional spousal benefits for domestic partners.
6. Displaying "gay"-friendly indicators, such as upside-down pink triangles in cubicles and offices that indicate a "safe" space for homosexuals.
7. Recognizing homosexual partners in a fashion identical to married partners, including equal access at company picnics and fitness centers.
8. Creation of "gay pride" days and weeks, with company support.
9. Company floats with corporate logos in "gay pride" parades.
10. Company funding of outside homosexual activist groups, such as The Human Rights Campaign, The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, and The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
11. Ending the practice in the office of referring to one's spouse as husband or wife in favor of more "inclusive" terms such as partner or significant other.
12. Having company employees press lawmakers for "gay rights" laws, such as the proposed federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act or federal "hate crime" laws.
13. Punishing employees who object to open displays of homosexuality, such as two women kissing in front of other employees, or the company's support for homosexual activism.
14. Paying the Price for Not Bowing Down to the Idol of 'Diversity'
Here are a few examples of how corporate homosexual activism affects employees:
Fired for Writing on His Own Time -- In Northbrook, Illinois, J. Matt Barber, a manager in Allstate's Corporate Security Division, wrote an article10 on December 17, 2004, for a conservative Web site that expressed his Christian views on homosexuality. Following a "customer" complaint by the homosexual pressure group Human Rights Campaign, Barber was called to meet with two human resources officials, who, as he describes it, "slapped down" a printed copy of the column and asked if he had written it. Barber confirmed that he had written the piece on his own time and in his own home. "Here at Allstate we have a very diverse community," he said he was told.11 The human resources assistant vice president told Barber that his column "did not reflect Allstate's view." Clearly Allstate's "diversity" does not tolerate the historic Christian faith perspective and Barber was suspended without pay and immediately escorted off company grounds.
Three days later, Barber, who had worked for Allstate for five years, was fired "for writing the article." Now, with help from the Christian Law Association and David Gibbs III, who represented Terri Schiavo's family in the final weeks of her life, Barber is challenging Allstate in federal court. One of the comments in his article that cost him his job was: "Marriage between one man and one woman, and the nuclear family have forever been cornerstones of civilized society. Regrettably, there are, at present, many with the militant homosexual lobby who wish to take a sledge hammer to those cornerstones."
Two weeks before Barber was fired, his wife Sarah delivered their third child following a stressful, high-risk pregnancy. Allstate was notified that Sarah was facing a difficult recovery from her C-section surgery, but the company denied Barber's request to extend the insurance, cutting it immediately. The company also refused to provide him in writing the reason for his termination, Barber said.12 "This is just illustrative of what's happening around the country in corporate America," Barber said. "Allstate has 'diversity' training that is nothing short of homosexual indoctrination. They make it clear that if you don't accept it as normal, you're a homophobic bigot. Talk about creating a hostile work environment."13
Fired for Posting Bible Verses -- At Hewlett-Packard's Boise, Idaho, location, Richard Peterson had been an employee for almost 21 years when the company began a workplace-diversity campaign with "diversity posters." In response to the homosexual posters placed near his cubicle, Peterson posted Bible verses at his desk dealing with homosexuality. His supervisor removed the verses and ordered him to stop the postings. When Peterson continued to post Scriptures, he was fired for "insubordination." The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed his case and wrote: "An employer need not accommodate an employee's religious beliefs if doing so would result in discrimination against his co-workers or deprive them of contractual or other statutory rights." In other words, the court affirmed the ability of employers to implement "diversity programs" that promote sexual immorality while prohibiting employees from objecting.14
"Pagan Pride" Yes; Pro-Marriage signs No -- Enoch Lawrence, an employee of the California Department of Social Services, posted Christian signs and verses at his cubicle, including a bumper sticker that said, "Marriage: One Man and One Woman." His supervisor ordered him to remove the materials because they violated a two-year-old department policy "prohibiting sexual harassment and unprofessional conduct." He was told that if he put the materials up in public view, he would be fired for "willful disobedience and insubordination." In the meantime, a "Pagan Pride" festival flier remained posted in the office. Lawrence filed a lawsuit, which is still pending, to reinstate his right to decorate his cubicle and to overturn the department's policy on "workplace expression."15
Censored: Photos of "Traditional Families" -- At Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Christian employees were told that they could not use the company bulletin board and were forced to remove posters and screen-savers that contained any religious content. Even family pictures were forbidden after homosexuals complained that they found it "offensive" to see photos of traditional families.16
"Safe Space" for Comment? Not If You're a Christian -- Betty Sabatino, a personal trust administrator for Texas Commerce Bank in San Antonio, attended a Management Orientation Seminar in which she and others were led through the Texas Commerce Policy Manual. Seminar leaders told participants that the term "sexual orientation" would be added to the nondiscrimination policy. Employees were encouraged to ask questions and were told that they were in a "safe zone," meaning that they could ask anything without consequence. Sabatino asked why the company would choose to give special consideration to people based on their sexual behavior. Afterwards, her boss took her aside and admonished her. The bank's Human Resources Department then contacted her for "counseling." Less than a month later, she was fired. The official reason given for her termination was "loss of confidence with employee."17
"Observe" Gay Pride or Else -- The American Red Cross Blood Services in San Diego, California, fired an employee, Michael Hartman, for expressing his disagreement with homosexuality. In the latter part of May 2005, the Red Cross sent a mass e-mail to employees reminding everyone that June was Gay and Lesbian Pride Month and employees were encouraged to "observe" the celebration. The e-mail concerned Hartman, a Christian, and he expressed his sentiments to several head administrators. He was immediately reprimanded and told that his e-mail was "not appropriate." Hartman's "inappropriate" e-mail contained the following statements: "I would like to start by stating that I am a Christian not willing to compromise my beliefs to promote the agenda of the homosexual community." He added Bible verses including Galatians 6:7