Watchman #96

Two Pennsylvania preachers silenced by officials in one city have emerged victorious in a legal battle over free speech. The two Christians were barred from speaking in a public park last year after they were arrested during a pro-homosexual event known as "PrideFest 2005" in Harrisburg.

At that time, both preachers were charged with "defiant trespass" and also with violating the city's noise ordinance for preaching on a sidewalk. The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) went to court on their behalf, filing suit against the city and arguing that the Christians' constitutional rights had been violated.

Although a federal district judge in Pennsylvania denied one of the ministers' motion for a preliminary injunction to allow him to preach in public during this year's PrideFest event, the judge stated in his ruling that the preacher's rights had indeed been violated by Harrisburg officials.

ADF-allied attorney Randy Wenger appealed the decision on the injunction to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit; but rather than continue litigation, city officials agreed to uphold the pastors' constitutional rights. As a result of the Harrisburg officials' capitulation, the street preachers were able to witness publicly during the 2006 "gay pride" event.

"We ended up working with the city," Wenger explains. "After appealing to the Third Circuit Court," he says, "the city gave in and agreed to a stipulated injunction, which was signed by the federal court judge." The city representatives also signed the district court's order to guarantee that no further infringement of the Christians' rights would occur.

Preachers are regularly arrested at PrideFest each year, the ADF affiliate points out. "But free speech rights apply to everyone," he asserts. "The city cannot take sides. Christian speech shouldn't be treated differently than any other kind of speech in a public forum."

Wenger says the City of Harrisburg has now agreed not to misuse noise ordinances and trespass statutes to silence Christian speech on public rights-of-way. Doing so, he warns, violates the rights guaranteed to U.S. citizens in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

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Alaska Churches in ACLU-Led Legal Battle over Property Taxes

August 4 2006 Allie Martin Agape Press

Churches in Alaska are fighting an effort by the ACLU and some residents to challenge a statewide law that gives tax exemption for real property owned by a religious organization.

The American Civil Liberties Union and other plaintiffs claim the exemptions for private property that is the residence of an educator in a private religious or parochial school violate federal and state equal protection and establishment clauses. They are seeking a permanent injunction barring enforcement of the exemptions, as well as attorney's fees and costs.

The case involves several churches, among them Anchorage Baptist Temple (ABT), which is represented by Florida-based Liberty Counsel. ABT owns six residences used for housing teachers who work at the church's Anchorage Christian School, a K-12 school with about 700 students. The houses allow the school to recruit and retain a well-qualified staff despite not being able to offer a salary and benefits package comparable to that offered by public schools. If the exemption statute for these houses is invalidated, ABT would have to divert more than $20,000 annually from its ministries to cover property taxes.

Mat Staver, founder of the legal firm, says the ACLU has a clear agenda with the lawsuit -- and that this legal action is just one step in a series of steps the liberal group is taking in its attempt to revoke the tax-exempt status of churches.

Mat Staver

They are saying that this ministry outreach of the church -- the educational mission and these parsonages that are allowed for the educators -- should not be tax exempt," Staver explains. "But the problem with not being tax-exempt is they are part and parcel and central to the ministry of the church," he explains, "and if you attack this particular exemption, you ultimately nibble away against the broader tax exemption of churches."

The Liberty Counsel spokesman contends the ACLU "does not care about children" and is trying to silence the educational ministry of churches. For that reason, he says, the litigation must be fought.

"We believe that this law is constitutional. We believe that it is appropriate to recognize the tax-exempt status of this aspect of the church's mission," he says. "And we know that the ACLU's ultimate agenda is not just simply to stop at these parsonages for the educators, but also to revoke the tax-exempt status of churches in general."

Liberty Counsel is also representing Bible Baptist Church of Fairbanks and Valley Baptist Tabernacle in Palmer in the same lawsuit.

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Towards A One World Church - Methodists, Lutherans, Catholics Take Historic Ecumenical Step

August 1 2006 Prophecy News Watch

Three world church bodies made an unprecedented move in ecumenical history on Sunday when Lutherans, Roman Catholics and Methodists signed a joint agreement on justification.

"We plowed new ground today," commented Dr. George H. Freeman, general secretary of the World Methodist Council. "This opens the door for future ecumenical relationships."

Following years and even decades of dialogue with one another, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), the Roman Catholic Church, and the World Methodist Council took part in what Dr. Ishmael Noko, LWF general secretary, identified as "a new ecumenical landmark" and what will go down in history.

"You're at a historic and significant moment here this Sunday," Geoffrey Wainwright, a professor at Duke University Divinity School, told the thousands of Methodists who witnessed the historic event. "When they put pen to text, something will have changed."

Two representatives from each of the three church bodies inked the agreement with their signatures, enlarging ecumenical dialogue and relationships and achieving a significant new step in reconciliation.

Wesleyan followers at the 19th World Methodist Conference stood up out of their seats to witness Lutheran representatives Noko and Sven Oppegaard, Methodist representatives Freeman and Sunday Mbang, and Roman Catholic representatives Cardinal Walter Kasper and Soo-Hwan Kim make history.

Kasper called it "one of the major achievements of ecumenical dialogue" and quoted Pope Benedict XVI who had noted the tri-parted agreement as a "full visible unity in faith."

Dialogues between Methodists and the Roman Catholic Church have been long-running for over four decades. After the Roman Catholics shook hands on the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification with Lutherans in 1999, Methodists, who had also been in dialogue with Lutherans for some two decades, came in as a third party to endorse the agreement and at the same time be included in it.

A Methodist statement was drafted and circulated among all member churches of the World Methodist Council and according to Wainwright, every response was positive and some even enthusiastic. With "strict unanimity," the Methodist Council approved the statement last week and officially signed it Sunday.

Noko expressed his hope that other international and national bodies will pay attention to the joint ecumenical move.

According to Gillian M. Kingston, chairperson of the Program Committee of the World Methodist Conference, the Methodists are also in dialogue with the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the Anglican Church, as well as The Salvation Army. While dialogue began with the Orthodox Church, talks are currently on hold.

As a guest speaker, the Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia, general secretary of the World Council of Churches and a Methodist, highlighted Sunday's event as "a giant step to … overcoming Christian divisions."

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School District Reverses Policy Banning Religious Literature

August 9 2006 Liberty Council News Release

Charlottesville, VA - Following intervention by Liberty Counsel, students in the Albemarle County Public Schools will now be able to distribute information announcing Bible clubs, church activities and other after-school religious events.

Last week, twins Gabriel and Joshua Rakoski requested permission from their teacher at Hollymead Elementary to distribute flyers announcing a church-sponsored Vacation Bible School scheduled to begin on August 7th. Their teacher refused permission and required the twins to put the flyers back in their book bags. Their father, Ray Rakoski, contacted the school and was referred to the District's literature policy, which prohibits "distribution of literature that is for partisan, sectarian, religious or political purposes."

Mr. Rakoski contacted Liberty Counsel for assistance. Liberty Counsel sent a demand letter informing the District that its literature distribution policy was unconstitutional. The District could not ban the Bible club flyers while allowing other announcements about after-school events, such as Boy Scout meetings or karate classes. The District responded by reversing its religious literature ban.

The District's policy was in direct conflict with the United States Supreme Court precedent requiring schools grant equal access to facilities and provide equal treatment to religious organizations as is provided to secular organizations. The District violated well-established constitutional principles by prohibiting the Rakoski twins from distributing fliers about their church-sponsored event.

Anita Staver, President of Liberty Counsel, stated, "We are pleased the Albemarle County Public Schools will now allow students to distribute literature with religious viewpoints. We are especially pleased with the prompt resolution of the matter by the school district. The First Amendment extends to the distribution of religious literature and students do not shed their constitutional right to free speech when they enter the school."

Equal Access Means Equal Treatment

You can order our informative "Equal Access" booklet that explains the the rights of religious groups to use public schools, libraries and parks. Religious groups have the same right to meet in public facilities as secular groups. Students also have the right to equal access for their student-led clubs on public school campuses. Order your copy in our online store or call us at 1-800-671-1776.

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Ministry Fights District Court Ruling against Faith-Based Prison Program

August 8 2006 Allie Martin and Jenni Parker Agape Press

Prison Fellowship will appeal a recent court ruling that ordered the shutdown of its faith-based InnerChange Freedom Initiative (IFI) program in Iowa. In its ten years of operation, IFI has helped bring about a drastic reduction in the number of former inmates returning to prison; but liberal opponents sued, claiming the Christ-centered prison outreach violated the so-called separation of church and state.

The comprehensive, faith-based prisoner "Reentry Program" known as IFI was founded by Prison Fellowship in 1997 and now exists as a separate organization. The program's mission, according to IFI's website, is to create and maintain prison environments that foster respect for God's law and for the rights of others and to encourage inmates' moral and spiritual regeneration. The vast majority of IFI's funding is from private sources.

Through InnerChange, prisoners are provided with faith-based counseling for two years before their release, then for another year after they return to society, thus enhancing prison security and protecting the public as well. Iowa state officials have testified to the effectiveness of the program, noting that IFI has significantly lowered prisoner recidivism rates. Nevertheless, on June 2 of this year, Judge Robert Pratt of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa agreed with the plaintiff, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, that the faith-based prison program is unconstitutional.

Judge Pratt ruled that faith-based IFI does violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, and he ordered the program shut down within 60 days. After this decision was handed down, IFI and Prison Fellowship retained the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty to lead an appeal of the ruling before a federal appellate court.

Prison Fellowship's president, Mark Earley, says the District Court's order has meanwhile been stayed pending appeal. And pursuing this appeal is important, he asserts, not only for the sake of this particular organization's ministry in that state but also for the sake of faith-based prison outreaches like it across America.

"The significance of this case is that the judge ruled that even if this program in Iowa was fully supported by private funds, he didn't feel it could be constitutional," Earley explains. "If that ruling is allowed to stand, it not only has implications for what Prison Fellowship and InnerChange Freedom Initiative do, but it affects every ministry that seeks to minister, as in this case, to adults who have volunteered to receive services that are somehow in the public sector."

The District Court's decision represents the mindset of many in the judiciary who are hostile to Christianity, the Prison Fellowship official asserts. He says Judge Pratt "took it upon himself to define evangelicals" and "said any evangelical by definition has to be trying to convert someone whenever they say something or whenever they do something."

According to the judge's thinking, Early contends, "an evangelical ... as he defines it, can't do anything in a government setting because, by definition, they are trying to convert. So it's a really, really bad case for a lot of different reasons."

On July 19, attorneys for the Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty filed a Notice of Appearance before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in the case of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State v. Prison Fellowship Ministries. Becket Fund spokesman and legal counsel Jared N. Leland says his group will pursue litigation through the appellate system to protect IFI and programs like it.

"Religion is quite often at the root of rehabilitation," Leland says. "Recognizing this reality, IFI creates an atmosphere in which inmates can turn from crime, change their lives, and reenter society as a healthier contributor to the community." State prison systems, he adds, should be not only permitted but encouraged to provide inmates with such rehabilitative programs.

A spokesman for the Becket Fund says the organization is confident the appellate court will overturn the earlier District Court ruling in the case, thereby enabling InnerChange Freedom Initiative and Prison Fellowship to continue prison ministry in Iowa and elsewhere.

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Evangelical Churches Flourishing in Europe

August 1 2006 Prophecy News Watch

Church attendance in Europe has been steadily decreasing in recent decades. Traditional Protestant and Roman Catholic churches have a hard time drawing in new members, particularly young people. But Evangelical churches are booming across the region, particularly those attended by immigrants from Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

It is late morning on a sweltering Sunday, and the first morning service at Impact Christian Center is finally wrapping up. But the boisterous congregation is still singing and swaying to Gospel music played by the band on the podium.

Outside, a waiting line to get into the second morning services stretches down half a block of this gritty working-class neighborhood. Half of France may be away on summer holiday, but this Evangelical church remains packed. Impact is not the only Evangelical church were attendance is soaring.

Evangelical Christianity is flourishing in Europe. France has witnessed an eight-fold increase in Evangelical Christians during the past half century, from roughly 50,000 to 400,000. Those numbers are small in absolute terms. Evangelicals represent less than two-percent of the European population.

But Christopher Sinclair, an expert on Evangelical movements at the University of Strasbourg in France, say they show that spirituality is not dying out in Europe.

In a country where people are a bit disappointed by traditional religion, Sinclair says, they are impressed by the way these Evangelical churches are alive and welcoming.

The churches underscore the fact that while secularization continues to progress in Europe, there has been what Sinclair calls a spiritual turning in recent years. Roman Catholic and traditional Protestant churches are increasingly borrowing from the Evangelicals' energetic and inclusive doctrine. Sinclair says immigrant Evangelical churches like Impact have are also bringing a renewal to Europe's Evangelical movement.

Impact was founded by French-Congolese twin brothers Yves and Yvan Castanou, who are both pastors at the church. Since it opened four years ago, the church's attendance has jumped from 200 to 600 members today.

Pastor Yves Castanou takes a break from greeting parishioners at the church's small community center to explain Impacts success.

"This is just a church focusing on the needs of people. Spiritual people, spiritual issues as well as social issues, family issues, financial issues, all different kinds of issues," he said. "The church is there to solve all problems, not only spiritual problems. And that is what really makes a difference."

Serge Didikouko, waiting in line to attend morning service, says he joined the church three years ago. A native of Ivory Coast, Didikouko says he likes the multi-ethnic flavor of Impact, where parishioners are from many different countries.

He says there is a better atmosphere here than at the last Evangelical church he attended.

"There was not the friendship, and there was too much communitarism. It is strange because we are all African, but even if we are African they were too communitarian. They were West African, East African, South African. But here we are 26 different nationalities," he explained.

Some native French like 26-year-old baker Luc Perrin, have also joined impact. Perrin says he likes Impact because the faith is alive here. He says African churches like impact are warmer and more open to God than European churches. But Perrin admits that not all French feel this way. Evangelicals make them afraid. Many French, including some government officials are wary of Evangelical churches, particularly immigrant congregations.

Some are concerned about the growth of scam "prosperity churches" that prey on poorer people. Credible Evangelical churches like Impact Christian are also worried about them. Some Evangelical churches also complain that it is hard to get permits to construct new worship centers. Others have had run-ins with local officials.

Majagira Bulangalire, the president of Community of Churches of African _Expression of France, an umbrella group of immigrant Evangelical churches.

Bulangalire admits there have been a few problems with local authorities. But he says once they see the churches can serve their communities in a positive fashion they are very open. He says the French Interior Ministry has also been welcoming. Some Roman Catholic parishes have adopted Evangelical-style bible study classes. Jean-Arnold de Clermont, head of the Protestant Federation of France, says traditional Protestant churches are realizing they can learn from their Evangelical counterparts.

For many years, Clermont says, the French Protestant movement was a bit scornful of the Evangelical movement. They thought the Evangelical's theology was not solid, and that that traditional Protestants were more scholarly. He says now they realize they were wrong. Today, Clermont says: it’s important the two movements learn from each other and grow together.

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Tisha b' Av: A Tragic and Peculiar Day in Jewish and World History

August 1 2006 Prophecy News Watch

On Wednesday, August 2, at sundown, many in Israel fasted during what is noted as the darkest day on the Hebrew calendar. Tisha b' Av. (The 9th day of the month of "Av").

The 9th of Av is a tremendously sobering day in the Jewish collective mind. And unless you are prone to believe in coincidence or chance, the following information should lead you to pray for the peace of Israel. The Bible instructs us, as Christians, to continually pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalms 122:6)

Consider the following tragic events that have transpired on this dark and sad day in Jewish history:

"It was on this day that the twelve spies were sent by Moses to observe the land of Canaan." (1) The bad report from ten of the spies caused fear and disillusionment amongst the Hebrew people, which led to their extended vacation in the wilderness for forty years.

In 586 B.C., the First Temple was destroyed by the invading Babylonians and the Hebrews were taken captive by King Nebuchadnezzar for a period of 70 years.

In 70 A.D., the 10th legion of Rome, under Titus Vespasian, destroyed the Second Temple in Jerusalem thus fulfilling Jesus' prophetic proclamations (Matt. 24:1-2) which led to the exile of the Jewish people from their homeland until May 1948 when the modern state of Israel was regathered, thus fulfilling another ancient prophecy (Ezekiel 36-39).

The signing of an edict by King Edward I in 1290 effectively expelling the Jewish people from England.

In 1492, the order to banish Spain's large Jewish community was issued in the Alhambra decree.

World War I officially began on the ninth day of Av in 1914.

A Call to Prayer and Fasting:

The Israeli state is currently under tremendous global pressure to stop defending itself from the onslaught of radical Muslims who deeply desire the destruction of the Jewish state.
The Moral Action Committee of the BMA of Texas is calling for a time of fasting and prayer for the peace for Israel and our Jewish brothers and sisters in their time of distress and mourning. Please join us.

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Democracy / Security

Shipping-corridor deal cuts heart out of US heartland

August 8 2006 Phyllis Schlafly

Grassroots Americans of all parties and economic classes rose up out of their political apathy a few months ago and forced President Bush to reverse his administration's decision to allow a Middle East government to own America's major ports. But the push for foreign ownership continues: the next port scheduled to be taken over is Kansas City, Missouri.

Even though public schools stopped teaching geography a couple of decades ago, most Americans (especially residents of the Show Me state) are surprised to learn that Kansas City (where the only waves are "amber waves of grain") is a port. We are also surprised, and shocked, to discover that Mexico will be running its own inspection facility.

The plan, shrouded in secrecy, has been in the works for at least three years, but it is now coming to light because of the diligent use of Missouri's Sunshine law by concerned citizens. Joyce Mucci and Francis Semler forced the release of the emails from Kansas City to Mexico, including one admitting that "The space [in Kansas City] would need to be designated as Mexican sovereign territory."

SmartPort spokesmen are now running away from this written admission, blaming "the problems and pressure the media attention has created." However, the stubborn sovereignty issue won't go away; the plan does involve setting up Mexican customs officials in downtown Kansas City.

The mechanism for this deal is a "nonprofit" business economic development corporation called Kansas City SmartPort Inc., whose president is Chris J.F. Gutierrez. The deal calls for Kansas City to lease the valuable property at 1447 Liberty Street.

As laid out on SmartPort's website, the plan is to enable cheap-labor products made in Communist China to travel in sealed "containers nonstop from the Far East by way of Mexico," through "a ships-to-rail terminal at the port of Lazaro Cardenas in Mexico," then up "the evolving trade corridor" to Kansas City, Missouri, where they would have their first inspection.

A Kansas City SmartPort brochure explains further: "Kansas City offers the opportunity for sealed cargo containers to travel to Mexican port cities with virtually no border delays."

A key purpose of the project is to take jobs away from U.S. longshoremen in Los Angeles and Long Beach who earn $140,000 a year and replace them with Mexican laborers at $10,000 a year. U.S. truck drivers and railroad workers will likewise be replaced by Mexicans.

The port of Lazaro Cardenas on the west coast of southern Mexico is controlled by Hutchison Whampoa, the same giant Hong Kong shipping firm that owns the ports at both ends of the Panama Canal. The Chinese-made goods will be carried by Kansas City Southern Railway de Mexico directly to Kansas City, where freight will be distributed east and west and on to Canada.

Kansas City Southern was originally just a belt rail around Kansas City but, after buying various Mexican rail companies and tracks, KCS now controls a 2,600-mile artery from Lazaro Cardenas to Kansas City. KCS's president, Michael Haverty, was one of only five U.S. businessmen who met with Presidents Bush and Vicente Fox, along with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, at their Cancun Summit in March.

Mexico was at first expected to pay for the big, expensive machines to conduct high-tech gamma-ray screening for drive-through inspections of containers, but Mexico declined the honor. SmartPort has applied for a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (i.e., to get the U.S. taxpayers to pay for the machines).

The Kansas City city council has already earmarked $2.5 million in loans and $600,000 in direct aid (of taxpayers' money) to SmartPort, which would build and own the facility and then sublet it to the Mexican government. The cost could go as high as $6 million because Kansas City has an existing lease that runs through 2045 on the same property with the 107-year-old American Royal, which uses that land for its annual livestock/rodeo/barbecue event.

The last piece in finalizing this project is getting the U.S. State Department to approve the Mexican operation on U.S. soil by signing off on what is called the C-175 document. It has already been approved by U.S. Customs.

Meanwhile, NASCO (North America's SuperCorridor Coalition), another non-profit business organization, has taken on the mission of building an "international, integrated and secure, multi-modal transportation system" from Lazaro Cardenas through Kansas City and up to Winnipeg, Canada. This will allow Mexican trucks to haul goods along a 12-lane superhighway through the heartland of the United States.

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Northeast Hurricane Could Cripple U.S. Economy

August 1 2006 Prophecy News Watch

This month, the nation's best hurricane experts met for the first time ever with nervous insurance industry reps about a storm lurking beyond the horizon.

"The risk is increasing and it's increasing every year," catastrophe risk analyst Karen Clark told CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller.

That storm a long overdue northeast hurricane which the latest computer models now predict could devastate the region and cripple the U.S. economy.

"It will be the largest financial disaster that this country has ever seen," Clark, the president and CEO of AIR Worldwide, said.

A direct hit on New York's Long Island by a Category 3 or higher hurricane would cost $100 billion.

But the same size storm spinning into central New Jersey would be catastrophic — raking New York and points north with its strongest winds. The result: $200 billion in damages and lost business.

"And much of that disruption will not be covered by insurance," Clark said.

Economic losses would be twice that of the 9-11 attacks, and three times larger than Hurricane Katrina. When it comes to a northeast hurricane, experts say forget what you know. They're much bigger than their southern cousins.

"A Category 3 storm could do a surge of more like a Category 4 or 5," said Phil Klotzbach, a meteorologist at Colorado State University. "So you could see 20 to 25 feet of water."

A major northeast hurricane is nearly three times more likely this year thanks to favorable weather conditions, including the position of the Bermuda High. Last year it pushed storms southwest. Now it's set to steer hurricanes up the East Coast.

"Northern hurricanes move two to three times faster than southern hurricanes, so they're gonna be here much sooner," Coastal Geologist Nicholas Coch told Miller. "So a hurricane that is off the coast of Charleston will be here in eight hours. That fast."

That's exactly what happened in 1938, when the hurricane known as the Long Island Express tore through the region. Hurricane winds charged as far north as Canada.

The difference today is that real estate values from Maryland to Maine are among the highest in the nation — with Manhattan's skyline in the bull's-eye.

"The air is going to be squeezed in those canyons. The water is going to be rise about the level of the highway and then it's going to hit the subterranean infrastructure," Coch said.

A severe winter storm in 1992 offered just a taste of what could happen. Stricter building codes like those Florida put in place after Hurricane Andrew could limit damage above ground. But only a handful of northeast communities have adopted them.

"Insurance companies are in the same state that New Yorker is in: an acute state of denial," Coch said.

Opinion is split on whether the insurance industry and the U.S. economy could withstand a $200 billion blow. Even if they did — the experts say it's likely the financial well-being of many Americans will be swept away by the storm.

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Family / Social

Plan B Could Be Available Over-the-Counter in U.S. Within Mere Weeks

August 9 2006 John Jalsevac LifeSiteNews.com

WASHINGTON, D.C., after three years of wrangling between the Food and Drug Administration and Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. it appears that the drug company is suddenly on the brink of finally getting what it wants—over-the-counter access to the abortifacient Plan B or “morning after” pill.

The most recent development in the three-year-long battle indicates that Plan B could very well be available over-the-counter within a matter of mere weeks.

Early last week it was reported that the FDA contacted Barr Laboratories Inc., the manufacturer of the “emergency contraceptive” Plan B, indicating that it wanted to meet within seven days to discuss new steps the company must take in order to sell the abortifacient without a prescription. Among the requirements that the FDA laid out was that Barr would table a plan to restrict over-the-counter access to those over the age of 18.

The most recent development is that Barr has agreed to revise its application accordingly and to resubmit within two weeks, agreeing to restrict the drug to those over 18. It is, however, still unclear exactly how the company intends to go about enforcing the age restriction, which many, including the FDA, have said in the past is anywhere from difficult to impossible.

The FDA promised that it would act quickly on the revised application, according to a Bloomberg news report.

The chairman of Barr, Mr. Downey, told the NY Times that the acting Food and Drug Commissioner, Andrew C. von Eschenbach, had promised to work with the company to resolve the current dead lock . Although initially the company had hoped to be able to obtain permission to provide unrestricted over-the-counter access to Plan B, with no age limit, Downey admitted “I don’t have the ability to get all that I want.” The pharmaceutical company had previously, partially compromised and petitioned, to make Plan B available over-the-counter to anyone over 16.

Although the FDA has said that the decision to renew negotiations over Plan B are fuelled by science rather than politics, the not even thinly veiled timing of the current push for over-the-counter access has left opponents more than a little skeptical about the FDA's objective consideration of the factual merits or demerits of such a plan. Last week Concerned Women for America (CWA) responded to the renewed debate by criticizing the FDA, which it says “consistently puts women second to politics”.

In this case the FDA’s announcement to renew discussions with Barr came only one day before senate hearings into confirming the FDA’s acting Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach were set to begin. Senate Democrats including Senators Hillary Clinton and Patty Murray, have clearly voiced their intent to block the nomination of Eschenbach for FDA commissioner until the Plan B issue is resolved in their favor—that is, until the FDA makes Plan B available over-the-counter.

Since the beginning of Eschenbach’s senate hearings a series of major developments in Barr’s application have occurred in rapid-fire succession, culminating in the most recent news that Plan B could be available over-the-counter within mere weeks.

CWA President Wendy Wright has condemned Barr Pharmaceutical’s push to for over-the-counter access to Plan B, saying, “Any scheme based on who buys the drug is absolutely meaningless. Anyone, man or woman, over 18 could buy the drug and turn around – even in the store – and give it to a 13-year old. Neither FDA nor Barr, the Plan B drug maker, has the ability to penalize those that would sell or give the drug to a minor. No one can believe that the FDA or Barr could enforce a gender restriction on sales so that only women can buy it but men could not.”

In response to the arguments of advocates of Plan B that it reduces unwanted pregnancies and abortions, Wright responded, “Countries that make the morning-after pill easy to access show no drop in pregnancies or abortions, but they do experience skyrocketing rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STD). Common sense and care for women – especially minor girls – requires medical oversight of this drug. The FDA needs to stop playing games with women’s lives.”

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Child Exploitation Escalating, Says Justice Department

August 09 2006 Monisha Bansal CNSNews.com Staff Writer

While touting recent federal and local law enforcement initiatives to combat child exploitation, the U.S. Department of Justice along with the FBI and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children say the problem is "escalating."

"I think it is fair to say children are in more danger than ever before from child exploitation," said Drew Oosterbaan, chief of the Justice Department's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.

"We see child pornography escalating, not just in terms of numbers, not just in the amount or frequency of distribution of child pornography we see, but most especially in the nature of the child pornography we see," he said, noting that there are more images of children being violently raped and abused.

Ernie Allen, president and chief executive officer of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, added that one in five girls and one in ten boys are sexually abused by age 18.

"Kids are the most victimized sector of the American public," said Allen. But with only a third of the cases being reported, he added, "This is largely a case of hidden victims."

Oosterbaan said despite the size of the problem, "the response is also unprecedented."

"We're going to make sure every inch of this country is covered to protect against this problem," he said.

Law enforcement will be using abduction teams devoted to finding kidnapped children as quickly as possible; newer technology that will enable them to have a more targeted search area for a child; and increased efforts to crack down on domestic child prostitution, child pornography Internet child predators.

Allen said his group is working to "eradicate child pornography by 2008."

But Daniel Weiss, senior analyst for media and sexuality for Focus on the Family, said the Justice Department isn't doing enough. "Children are not being exploited in a vacuum. They're being exploited in a vast culture of exploitation," said Weiss.

"There are some very positive developments, but I think that we are still disappointed, even dismayed at the almost total inattention to enforcing federal obscenity laws," Weiss told Cybercast News Service. "And the reason that concerns us so much is far more kids are exposed to hard core pornography online than are ever abducted or used for child pornography, as heinous and horrendous as that is.

"We are allowing illegal material that commodifies adults, basically to proliferate. When you allow anyone to become a sexual commodity it isn't too much of a stretch for that to include children. I think that has led to more child exploitation," Weiss added.

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Some 35% of Foster-Parents involved in Molestations are Homosexual

Aug. 10 2006 Christian Newswire

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., new evidence poses problems for those who think homosexuals should be allowed to serve as foster-parents. 35% of foster- parents who sexually abused their foster-children in the last three years engaged in homosexuality.

From 2003 through 2005, a third of foster-parent molestations of foster-children were homosexual. That’s the official tally from two states -- Illinois and Minnesota -- that permit homosexual foster-parents. For the approximately 30,000 children/year in foster- care at some point in the two states:

12 foster mothers sexually abused their charges: 9 (75%) assaulted foster-daughters, 3 (25%) raped foster-sons.

28 foster-fathers sexually abused their charges: 23 (82%) assaulted foster-daughters, 5 (18%) raped foster-sons.

Overall 26 (65%) of foster-parent perpetrators, engaged in heterosexuality and 14 (35%) in homosexuality with their charges. Most molestation by foster-mothers was homosexual; most by foster- fathers heterosexual.

Virtually all studies indicate that homosexuals comprise between 2% to 4% of adults. Thus the figures above indicate a disproportionate amount of homosexual molestation.

Dr. Paul Cameron, Chairman of the Family Research Institute, a Colorado Springs think-tank, co-authored the study. Dr. Cameron noted: “These 40 foster- parent molesters, given the limited official information about molestations of foster children, comprise one of the largest samples in the literature on this issue. And the evidence keeps on accumulating, indicating that those who engage in homosexuality are much more apt to sexually abuse their foster-children. Children are our most important possession, they must be protected form predators. One way to do that is to bar homosexuals from fostering or adopting children.”

The study from data provided by the IL Dept Children & Family Services and MN Dept of Human Services appears in a rebuttal to gay marriage in the August, 2006 issue of Pediatrics on-line http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/eletters/118/ 1/349. About half a million children experience foster care per year, so this is about a 6% sample.

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This Week the 2006 Truth for Youth Bible Campaign Launched

August 09 2006 Agape Press

Yesterday (August 7) marked the launch of an effort to place Bibles in the hands of more than 60,000 Christian public school students. The annual Truth for Youth campaign, a joint project of Revival Fires International and American Family Radio, provides Christian students in public schools across the U.S. with special Bibles to give to their unsaved friends and classmates.

Tim Todd, director of Revival Fires, says the campaign has made a big difference. "We're seeing just literally hundreds of young people give their hearts to Christ as a direct result of getting this Bible," Todd observes. "Over 40 years ago, God's people allowed the devil to take prayer and Bible reading out of school," he says; "but now, 40-plus years later, the young people are taking back what the devil has stolen."

Each Truth for Youth Bible contains the New Testament, along with Christ-centered comics that explain the gospel. Also, Todd points out, "The students' legal rights on public school campuses are displayed on the back cover of this Bible, and they let the young people know that they do have the right to give Bibles away on campus during non-instructional time." Todd sees today's Christian youth as a "Joshua generation," one that he says is being raised up in these last days to "go into the Promised Land and take everything that God has for them."

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Charter School Board Fires Teacher Over Inappropriate Sex-Ed Class

August 8 2006 Liberty Council News Release

Milliken, CO - The board of a charter school has now voted to dismiss a teacher after receiving a letter from Liberty Counsel pointing out that the teacher violated Steve and Deanne Aochi's parental rights by ignoring a request to excuse their daughter from a graphic discussion about sex.

The Aochi's daughter, Haley, attends Knowledge Quest Academy. Mrs. Aochi requested that her daughter be excused from sex education instruction. However, based on a conversation with physical education teacher Joel Chase, Mrs. Aochi believed that the school required her daughter to complete a sex education test. Mrs. Aochi completed the test with her daughter, but they did not answer several questions that Mrs. Aochi believed inappropriate for a 13-year-old seventh grader. Mrs. Aochi also requested that Haley be excused from any discussion of the test. Mr. Chase expressly ignored the request and led the class in a discussion of sexual practices, reproduction, and his personal views on dating. He even tried to convince Haley to change answers on the test she completed with her mother to reflect his own viewpoint.

In a letter to the school on behalf of the Aochi family, Liberty Counsel requested the Board take appropriate and immediate action to ensure no further violations of parental rights. The Board promptly responded by dismissing the teacher.

Parents have an interest protected by the Constitution to direct the education of their children. In addition, when certain educational requirements directly collide with the sincerely-held religious beliefs of parents, schools must demonstrate a compelling justification for refusing to accommodate the parents' desire for an opt-out from sex education classes.

Anita Staver, President of Liberty Counsel, commented: "The right of parents to educate their own children according to their religious and moral objectives is of paramount importance. The Aochis are pleased that the school board took swift and appropriate action by dismissing the teacher who tried to indoctrinate their daughter with his own views on dating and sexual practices. Teachers must understand that they are not de facto parents."

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Government / Legislation

Senator Brownback's Bill could De-Claw Anti-Religion Litigation

August 9 2006 Agape Press

The America Civil Liberties Union could lose its greatest weapon if a proposed bill becomes law. Kansas Republican Senator Sam Brownback has introduced a bill that would prevent the ACLU from threatening communities over display of religious symbols.

"What you see taking place at a local unit of government," Brownback explains, "is that the ACLU in that state will go in and threaten the local unit of government with attorneys' fees if they don't remove such-and-such a symbol, a Nativity scene during Christmastime, [for example]. They will threaten, and their threat is attorneys' fees. And to me, that's just fundamentally wrong."

If passed, Senator Brownback's bill would disallow charging attorneys fees in establishment clause cases, a measure that he feels would not only dry up a big source of income for the ACLU but would also make the organization think twice before suing local governments or public institutions over religious symbol displays.

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New Congressional Bill Would Restrict Drugs Used in Assisted Suicides

August 6 2006 Steven Ertelt LifeNews.com Editor

Washington, DC, a leading pro-life senator has introduced new legislation to restrict the use of federally controlled drugs in assisted suicides. If Congress approves the bill and President Bush signs it into law, it would stop the use of drugs in all of the assisted suicide cases in Oregon, the only state to legalize the practice.

The new legislation, the Assisted Suicie Prevention Act, follows on the heels of a Supreme Court decision in January prohibiting the Bush administration from restricting the use of the drugs.

In a 6-3 decision, the high court ruled that the Bush administration could not use the Controlled Substances Act, which governs illegal narcotics, to stop the use of such drugs in assisted suicides.

However, the decision paved the way for Congressional legislation to accomplish the same purpose and Sen. Sam Brownback hopes to promote a bill to do that.

“When the law permits killing as a medical ‘treatment,’ society’s moral guidelines are blurred, and killing could gain acceptance as a solution for the chronically ill or vulnerable,” Brownback said in a statement LifeNews.com obtained.

“Doctor-assisted suicide could actually create a financial incentive for insurance companies to encourage prematurely ending the lives of those in need of long-term care," Brownback added.

Still, Brownback said the bill would not unfairly punish doctors who are trying to provide patients with legitimate pain relief medication.

"By only penalizing doctors for using a federally-controlled substance for the stated or undisputed purpose of assisted suicide ... the bill does not constrain doctors from offering palliative care that brings pain relief to patients," the Kansas Republican explained.

Last May, Brownback chaired a Judiciary Committee hearing to examine the impact of assisted suicide in places where it has been widely practiced.

Several experts testified that in countries like the Netherlands and Belgium, where assisted suicide is legal, doctors have started experimenting with euthanasia and infanticide.

A September 2005 article in the U.K. medical journal The Lancet reported that half of the newborn babies who died in Flanders, Belgium between August 1999 and July 2000 were “helped” in that regard by their doctors.

“The American Medical Association and disability rights groups are strongly opposed to physician-assisted suicide because it is antithetical to the doctor's role as a healer and it jeopardizes the ability of the infirm and helpless to defend themselves" Brownback said.

"I doubt Americans want the government to decide when life is worth preserving and when life can be destroyed," he concluded.

In 1990, the Supreme Court ruled that patients had a right to refuse lifesaving medical treatment and, in 1997, the court ruled unanimously that there is no constitutional right to assisted suicide but that states may ban or allow the practice.

ACTION: Contact your U.S. senators and ask them to support the Assisted Suicide Prevention Act. You can find complete contact information here.

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Democrats Continue to Block Child Custody Protection Act

August 4 2006 Peter J. Smith LifeSiteNews.com

WASHINGTON, D.C., as of press time, leading US Senate Democrats are continuing to block the Child Custody Protection Act (CCPA) from moving to negotiations with the US House of Representatives. The procedural tactic threatens to kill the bill which makes illegal the transportation of underage girls across state lines to obtain abortions in order to circumvent parental notification laws in the girls’ home states.

Since the House and the Senate passed slightly different versions of the CCPA, a conference committee of Senate and House delegates must hammer out any differences in order to produce a final version of the bill for passage by both houses of Congress.

The Senate’s version of the bill passed last week 65-34 in the Senate, with the support of Senate Minority Leader, Democrat Harry Reid himself. Reid has since been working to block the bill.

Earlier Sen. Durbin, the democratic minority whip, demanded that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist promise any final version of the CCPA would include an amendment submitted by Sen. Boxer (D-CA), which removes the parental rights of incest perpetrators. The Boxer amendment was passed 98-0 by senators, and forbids a father who impregnates his daughter from transporting her to another state for an abortion or from suing a person who takes her across state lines for an abortion.

Frist promised not to support a final version of the bill that did not include the amendment. He then called for a vote to send the bill to the conference committee, a vote that was then obstructed by Sen. Reid.

Pro-lifers fear that if CCPA doesn't leave the Senate for conference today, there will be very little time to get a vote on a version of the bill acceptable to both houses of congress, and the bill may die. The Senate commences a month-long recess on August 7.

By all accounts Senate democrats seem to be pursuing a tactic of “running out the clock.” Once the senate reconvenes on September 5, only a month will remain for both houses to approve a final version of CCPA before they adjourn on October 6.

Frist still has the option to force a vote on the bill by calling for a cloture vote - which requires 60 votes - in order to send CCPA to the congressional negotiators.

President Bush has said he would sign the legislation into law should it be presented to him.

An April 2005 poll by The Polling Co. revealed that 82 percent of Americans objected to a person being able “to take a minor girl across state lines to obtain an abortion without her parents’ knowledge.”

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Civil Union Legal Morass Expected to Climb to Supreme Court

August 7 2006 Allie Martin Agape Press

The Vermont Supreme Court has issued a ruling that pits that state's same-sex "civil union" laws against the law of Virginia. The court case involves former lesbian Lisa Miller, her biological child, and Janet Jenkins, Miller's former partner.

Several years ago, Miller and Jenkins, who resided in Virginia, traveled to Vermont to obtain a civil union. During their relationship Miller gave birth to a daughter through artificial insemination. Jenkins never adopted the child. But when Miller became a Christian -- and Jenkins became abusive, according to a news release from Liberty Counsel -- their relationship ended.

At that time, a lower court in Vermont gave Jenkins parental rights, including visitation -- which required the biological mother to take her child from Virginia to Vermont on a regular basis to visit someone who is unrelated to the child. Liberty Counsel, on behalf of Miller and her child, argued the case on appeal before the Vermont Supreme Court, which last week upheld the lower-court ruling.

Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, says the ruling is completely wrong. "It's contrary to common sense and certainly to federal law known as the Defense of Marriage Act," the attorney says.

As Staver points out, Jenkins should have no parental rights over the child. "Lisa Miller is the biological mother. She once was in a lesbian lifestyle but became a Christian and left Janet Jenkins," he states. Therefore, continues Staver, Jenkins has no parental right or authority over Miller's biological child. "And to say that she does clearly violates Lisa Miller's constitutional rights as a parent to direct the well-being of her own child," he notes.

Complicating the matter is the fact that the Vermont high court's order conflicts directly with a Virginia court that declared Miller to be the sole parent, and ruled that the Virginia Marriage Affirmation Act barred recognition of civil unions. Staver says Miller v. Jenkins is unique because it marks the first time the court of two states have issued conflicting decisions over a same-sex union case -- and that, he says, sets the stage for a Supreme Court battle.

"No doubt, [this case] will go to United States Supreme Court at some point because there is a direct conflict over the same person involving the same federal and state laws," he explains, "and it involves whether or not one state can superimpose its same-sex unions on another state. I don't believe it can."

The case is also pending at the Virginia Court of Appeals. Liberty Counsel expects that case to also make it to the Supreme Court if the appeals court upholds the lower Virginia court rulings.

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Missourians Approve Ballot Initiative to Finance Stem-Cell Research and Human Cloning

August 9 2006 Peter J. Smith LifeSiteNews.com

JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri, - Missouri’s secretary of state has certified a ballot initiative to amend the state’s constitution to shield federally funded stem cell research from pro-life legislation forbidding embryonic research or therapeutic human cloning.

The Stem Cell Initiative will be listed as Amendment 2 on the ballot for November, and will see a fierce battle between opponents and advocates of stem cell research, the latter who are doggedly intent on making a ban on embryonic stem-cell research impossible in Missouri. Many opponents believe the battle will hinge on whether Missourians believe the dignity of an embryo is worth protecting from destructive research or experiments such as human cloning.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, over 90,000 Missouri voters have received pamphlets entitled "Women's voices against cloning" warning that the research supported in the initiative will potentially hurt women lured financially into donating their eggs. The brochures were compiled by Focus on the Family, and are being distributed across the state by opponents of Amendment 2.

The pamphlet urges voters to stand up against "scientific violence," and recounts the deaths of five women who suffered complications after egg extraction for in vitro fertilization, warning that women would undergo the same method to harvest their eggs for stem-cell research.

The pamphlets remind Missourians that "women's bodies are not biological objects for scientific use,” and lists the names of radical feminist groups who are on the record against the human cloning technique known as somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT).

SCNT extracts the DNA out of an unfertilized egg replacing it with complete adult DNA, creating a human embryo known as a blastocyst, which is encouraged to undergo cellular growth by experiencing an electric shock. Pro-life leaders argue against SCNT since it deliberately creates a human being for the express purpose of destroying it for its stem cells.

SCNT it once of the procedures that would be protected if Amendment 2 passes in November.

The success of the putting the Stem Cell Initiative on the November ballot has bolstered the enthusiasm of embryonic stem-cell research supporters, who have put together a powerful coalition in order to defeat any threats to embryonic research in Missouri.

"We're extremely pleased that Missourians will be able to decide for themselves if they want to protect their right to access the same stem cell research and cures as other Americans," said Donn Rubin, Chairman of Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures in a press release. "Some politicians in Jefferson City have repeatedly tried to take away that right, by proposing legislation that would ban and criminalize promising types of stem cell research and cures in Missouri. The Stem Cell Initiative will prevent any such unfair bans. It will protect the right of Missourians to have access to any stem cell research and cures that are allowed in our country and available to other Americans."

The Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures, which is pushing the amendment, claims an impressive array of backers, including 60,000 Missouri citizens, 2000 medical doctors, the Missouri State Medical Association, St. Louis Metropolitan Medical Society, Mound City Medical Forum, Heartland Health, American Diabetes Association, Lance Armstrong Foundation, Christopher Reeve Foundation, National Ovarian Cancer Coalition, National Parkinson Foundation, Society for Women's Health Research, Sickle Cell Disease Association of Kansas City, Buchanan County Medical Society, Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Washington University in St. Louis and Washington University School of Medicine.

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Life issues / Behavior

Blood Evidence at Abortion Clinic Reveals "Shop of Horrors"

August 7 2006 Christian Newswire

In a pro-life movement first, Operation Rescue uses crime scene technology on an empty Wichita abortion mill with shocking results.

WICHITA, Ks., three members of Operation Rescue have become the first pro-lifers to use crime scene technology to conduct blood trace tests at a former abortion mill. Tested were rooms inside the former Central Women’s Services, which was recently purchased by Operation Rescue. The staff members who conducted the testing are saying that the results were stunning and disturbing.

The group decided to test certain surfaces inside the facility, which has remained unchanged since its purchase in June, 2006, after OR refused continuation of tenancy to the abortion business that had occupied that location for 23 years. A substance called luminol was used, which is a reagent that brightly glows in the dark when it comes in contact with even minute traces of human blood.

Brenna Sullenger sprayed the luminol in the areas to be tested while Keith Mason documented the results with a digital still camera and Cheryl Sullenger video- taped the testing and the results.

“The walls looked like there had been a chain saw massacre in there,” said Cheryl Sullenger. “We couldn’t believe our eyes. We were absolutely shocked.”

“It is no wonder abortion mills smell so nasty,” said Cheryl Sullenger. “The blood – and God knows what else – simply flies during an abortion and that stuff all soaks into the dry wall and gets tracked into the carpeting where it putrefies. There is no way to get rid of it aside from major demolition. From what we observed, there can be no such thing as a ‘safe, clean’ abortion clinic.”

Results in what has become known as the “Bone Crusher” room were even more pronounced. The “Bone Crusher” room is a tiny sink area off the clinic’s two abortion rooms that features a massive garbage disposal, a Sinkmaster 850, also known in the disposal industry as the “Bone Crusher 850.” Aborted baby remains were packed for shipment in that room and the sink was used to wash the abortion machine parts.

“It was a shop of horrors,” said Sullenger.

Operation Rescue plans extensive renovations to the abortion mill to make it into a memorial for the pre- born and an office suite for Operation Rescue.

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Pro-Homosexual Push Commonplace in Schools Coast to Coast

August 1 2006 Prophecy News Watch

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto!" was Dorothy's famous line in The Wizard of Oz. It has become a classic, meant to convey the bewilderment of a person who suddenly realizes he's in a strange world and wonders how he got there.

For many parents in Massachusetts, California, and elsewhere in the U.S., the truth is beginning to dawn on them: They aren't living in Kansas anymore. Public education is being used to brainwash thousands of children -- even as young as kindergarten -- into believing that homosexuality is simply a normal and healthy variation of human sexuality.

To be sure, when it comes to the issue of homosexuality, Massachusetts and California have been East Coast-West Coast thoroughbreds that seem to be racing each other for the honor of wackiest state in the country.

Massachusetts got off to an early lead, where activists have had nearly carte blanche since the early 1990s. Thus, at John Glenn Middle School in Bedford, for example, pink triangles adorn classroom doors, and a rainbow flag flies over the school during "gay pride" festivities. In Newton, parents discovered that first-grade teacher David Gaita had "come out" to his students and told them he was homosexual and loved men "the way your mom and dad love each other." And in Brookline, lesbian eighth-grade teacher Deb Allen told National Public Radio that she explicitly teaches her students about lesbian sex, including the use of sex toys.

Meanwhile, in California, activists have been busily trying to turn that state's public school system into a re-education camp that would make Fidel Castro proud. According to the Campaign for Children and Families (CCF), a California-based pro-family group, the state may soon pass and implement three separate bills -- SB 1437, AB 606 and AB 1506 -- which would have a staggering impact on what public schools teach children.

CCF said that the combination of the three measures would force all California public schools to promote homosexuality, bisexuality and transsexuality to schoolchildren as young as kindergarten; require textbooks to promote these lifestyles; prohibit schools from sponsoring traditional school activities, such as school proms that vote for a boy-girl couple as prom "king" and "queen," or sports teams that "discriminate" against transgendered kids; and prohibit public schools from teaching that there is a natural family -- that is, a father, a mother and their children.

Court-Ordered Indoctrination
However, children don't have to live in California or Massachusetts to encounter the indoctrination process. In April, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), a homosexual pressure group, sponsored its 10th annual "Day of Silence," a nationwide school-based protest. Nearly 4,500 schools participated, according to GLSEN. In order to promote the homosexual lifestyle, more than 450,000 kids refused to speak a single word during the school day, often with the approval of school administrators and teachers.

In Wisconsin a group called Students for Unity used the Day of Silence to distribute a questionnaire at Port Washington High School. According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, hundreds of students answered questions,

Two teachers approved of the distribution of the questionnaire in their classes and followed up with discussions, said LifeSiteNews, even though parents were not informed about it beforehand.

Meanwhile, at Boyd County High School in Kentucky, students in Ann Qualls' English class were required to watch the first 15-20 minutes of Brokeback Mountain, a recent film about two homosexual sheepherders. While none of the movie's explicit sex scene was shown, the entire class was spent on the film -- again without the knowledge or approval of parents.

Boyd County is well known by pro-family groups for another reason: All students and faculty in Boyd County schools are under a court order to attend diversity sessions that normalize homosexuality.

The court order stems from an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lawsuit filed against the school district three years ago, after the high school refused to allow the formation of a student homosexual-rights group on campus. Boyd County lost the suit, and in 2004 agreed to a settlement that included mandatory diversity sessions for faculty and students.

Training for students included a video stating that if one student speaks out against homosexuality to a gay student -- that is considered harassment. The offending student would be punished.

Some parents were angered by the agreement, and sued the school, demanding that their children be allowed to opt out of the training. In February, however, U.S. District Judge David Bunning ruled that all students and faculty must undergo the mandatory sensitivity training in order to make the schools safe for homosexual kids.

"Students have no religious or free-speech rights to opt-out of school training aimed at stopping anti-gay harassment in Boyd County schools," Bunning said. The judge added that anti-harassment training that deals with "actual or perceived sexual orientatio