| christian grantham | |||
| Christian Grantham was a student activist in the late 90s and later a consultant to domestic policy forums for the Clinton Administration as well as events for HRC and GLAAD. | |||
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April 06, 2005
In the same 2004 Presidential exit polls now being used by Republicans to claim an increase in support among black and women voters, most of those (corrected by DCRob in comments) the biggest single issue among those who voted for President Bush was "moral issues," more than jobs, the economy, and the war in Iraq.
When Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay sought to deny court protection of Michael Schiavo's marrital rights to honor his wife's medical wishes, America saw the Republican Party's evangelical base in a vulgar act of arrogance.
The controversy over Terri Schiavo has raised concerns among many Americans about the moral agenda of the Republican Party and the political power of conservative Christians, a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll finds.In the survey, most Americans disapprove of the efforts by President Bush and Congress to draw federal courts into the dispute over treatment of the brain-damaged Florida woman. She died last week.
Some old stereotypes about the two parties have been reversed:
•By 55%-40%, respondents say Republicans, traditionally the party of limited government, are “trying to use the federal government to interfere with the private lives of most Americans” on moral values.
•By 53%-40%, they say Democrats, who sharply expanded government since the Depression, aren't trying to interfere on moral issues.
[Many wary of GOP's moral agenda - USAToday - 04-06-05]
But if you think Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and his colleagues are finished meddling with the civil liberties and personal lives of Americans with disgraceful and arrogant legislation, think again. DeLay and the Republican Party's evangelical base have designs on writing discrimination into the United States Constitution to deny equal protections for gay and lesbian families.
Why would the Republican controlled Congress want to waste their time with the economy, education and health care when their party's radical evangelical base would much rather high-jack the business of the American people with divisive issues?
filed under: Equal Marriage Rights
, Moral Majority
April 06, 2005
I don't know how Pat Robertson expects high school teens to "entice" their gay friends to a heterosexual lifestyle.
QUESTION: My high school has all these different programs that support homosexuals. I recently found out that one of my close friends was a homosexual, so I attended some events with him just to show him he’s still my friend. Is this going too far? How do I show him he’s still my friend without making him think I approve of his lifestyle?ANSWER: If you go to those homosexual events, then you are approving of his lifestyle and thinking it’s okay. The Bible says, “Have nothing to do with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” We as Christians always want to be nice to people, “Well, I don’t offend him. It might hurt my witness,” and all this stuff. Well, I’m sorry. The Bible says, “Have nothing to do with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” If you go to these places, the next thing you know, you will be enticed into their lifestyle instead of him being enticed to yours. I would strongly advise against it. If you have to go get another friend or other friends, do so. It’s a pity. I would certainly pray for him, but I just don’t think I’d go into that game.
[Bring It On: Moral, Social, and Ethical Issues - CBN - 04-06-05]
If Pat Robertson had enough spiritual honesty and integrity to apply this answer to the lifestyle of divorce, the world would be a lonely place.
QUESTION: Dear Pat, my best friend's parents live a heterosexual lifestyle of divorce. I went to his house the other day just to let him know he's still my friend. Is this going too far?
ANSWER: You should run away from them people as fast as you can. Jesus says divorce is adultery plain as day in the Bible. In Mathew 19:9, Jesus says, "And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery." Listen, boy, don't go a covorting with the Devil at that boy's house again. We'll send someone over right away to burn these witches out of life and home.
filed under: Moral Majority
March 31, 2005
Even one of the most conservative jurists on the federal bench has had it with the Republican Party's disgraceful threats of imprisonment against the judiciary, attack on Michael Schiavo's marital rights, and a continued assault on the balance of power by their radical evangelical base.
Birch authored opinions upholding Alabama's right to ban the sale of sex toys and Florida's ability to prohibit adoptions by gay couples. Both rulings drew the ire of liberal activists and the elation of traditional and social conservatives.Yet, in Wednesday's 11th Circuit Court of Appeals decision to deny a rehearing to Schiavo's parents, Birch went out of his way to castigate Bush and Congress for acting "in a manner demonstrably at odds with our Founding Fathers' blueprint for governance of a free people our Constitution."
Birch said he couldn't countenance Congress' attempt to "rob" federal courts of the discretion they're given in the Constitution. Noting that it had become popular among "some members of society, including some members of Congress," to denounce "activist judges," or those who substitute their personal opinions for constitutional imperatives, Birch said lawmakers embarked on their own form of unconstitutional activism.
[Conservative judge slaps Congress, Bush over case - Grand Forks Herald - 03-31-05]
filed under: Moral Majority
March 29, 2005
Only Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay would call the House Ethics Committee partisan. Republicans and Democrats on the committee voted unanimously to admonish him several times for lapses in ethics and judgment. Now he is the target of multiple investigations into corruption.
A liberal advocacy group has called a Wednesday press conference to unveil its new anti-Tom-DeLay advertisement. The Campaign for America's Future said the new ad, which will run in DeLay's home district, will urge Congress to "wash its hands" of the House majority leader.The ad accuses DeLay of using the "personal tragedy of Terri Schiavo to divert attention from corruption charges against him," the group said.
DeLay, a Texas Republican, says the corruption allegations against him are baseless, and he has accused congressional Democrats and their allies of using the House Ethics Committee "as a partisan tool for partisan ends."
[Political Ad Targets Tom DeLay - CNSnews - 03-29-05]
While Tom DeLay was busy leading his party's use of Terri Schiavo as a lifeless shield, threatening the judiciary with prison and attacking the "sacred institution of marriage," the rest of America saw an act of political desperation. Let's hope the Republican Party has finally had enough of this man misrepresenting the party's better senses.
IT seems most people, no matter their political affiliation or even the intensity of their religious convictions, think that Terri Schiavo should not have a feeding tube reinserted and that President Bush, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Republicans in Congress shouldn't have intervened in the matter. That's what a variety of polls are telling us, anyway.Has the public finally lost patience with the socially conservative convictions of the present-day Republican Party? Has the GOP become so moralistic that the American people simply can't take it any longer?
[Too Public A Death - NY POST - 03-29-05]
filed under: Moral Majority
March 27, 2005
The Republican House Majority Leader knows a thing or two about acts of barbarism. He and his family erred on the side of death when they pulled the plug on their 65 year old father. It's a decision made by hundreds of families without cameras, judges and politicians every day in America.
But when it comes to your family's lawful right to make these private and difficult life decisions, Republicans and their chosen leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, Tom DeLay, would rather play God.
And DeLay is among the strongest advocates of keeping the woman, who doctors say has been in a persistent vegetative state for 15 years, connected to her feeding tube. DeLay has denounced Schiavo's husband, as well as judges, for committing what he calls "an act of barbarism" in removing the tube.In 1988, however, there was no such fiery rhetoric as the congressman quietly joined the sad family consensus to let his father die.
"There was no point to even really talking about it," Maxine DeLay, the congressman's 81-year-old widowed mother, recalled in an interview last week. "There was no way [Charles] wanted to live like that. Tom knew — we all knew — his father wouldn't have wanted to live that way."
[DeLay's Own Tragic Crossroads - L.A. Times - 03-27-05]
filed under: Moral Majority
, Scandal
March 26, 2005
When agendas collide: In the same exit polls the Republican Party is fond of using lately to suggest increased support among black and women voters, most of those voting for President Bush cited "moral issues" over the economy, the war in Iraq and terrorism as their top issue.
Now Republicans that would prefer taking care of the American people's business are finding out who is really in control of their party as their radical evangelical base lurches against the balance of power with arrogant threats against the judiciary and the rule of law.
Is it any wonder that the man at the center of Congress's egregious breach of trust with the American people is a man who was unanimously admonished by Democrats and Republicans for problems with ethics and currently at the center of multiple investigations? House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has a vision for the Republican Party: take it down in a conflagration of moral indignation.
It is time for Tom DeLay to step down.
A week after their unprecedented intervention in the Terri Schiavo case, Republican congressional leaders find themselves in a moral and political thicket, having advanced the cause as a right-to-life issue -- only to confront polls showing that the public does not see it that way."How deep is this Congress going to reach into the personal lives of each and every one of us?" asked Rep. Christopher Shays (Conn.), one of only five Republicans in the House to vote against the Schiavo bill.
Republican lawmakers and others engaged in the debate say an internal party dispute over the Schiavo case has ruptured, at least temporarily, the uneasy alliance between economic and social conservatives that twice helped President Bush get elected.
[Schiavo Case Tests Priorities Of GOP - Washington Post - 03-26-05]
filed under: Moral Majority
March 25, 2005
I'm not sure who to feel more sorry for: the Schiavo family or the Republican Party and their radical evangelical base. Both seem to be fighting for my sympathies over Terri Schiavo. The sacred institution of marriage provided Michael Schiavo the right to honor his wife's medical wishes, and now Republican evangelicals are bemoaning the tyranny of this sacred institution and the Republicans in control who refuse to do anything about it.
Should I send flowers to the Schiavo family, or to Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay?
Terri's husband, Michael, made a very tough decision to honor his wife's medical wishes. This tragedy happens every day in America. Like the 19 judges who reviewed Terri's case and upheld the law, I trust Michael knows what Terri wanted better than Governor Jeb Bush, Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and President George Bush.
Terri's wishes and the law protecting her wishes are of absolutely no consequence to grandstanding anti-abortion rights advocate Terry Randall, speaking for the Schiavo family, and the Republican Party pandering to their radical evangelical base. They don't care what the law says or what Terri wants. All they care about is using this poor woman and her family to threaten the judiciary with prison in an ongoing assault on America's democratic balance of power.
Anti-Marriage Evangelicals
The latest threats of prison for judges are just one aspect of the new lows to which the Republican Party has stooped in pushing a misguided "moral agenda" that is neither moral nor legal and that actively seeks to strip American families of basic legal protections. Here are some other lows.
President Bush's approval rating has fallen to 45%, the lowest point of his presidency, according to a new USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll.The finding, in a poll of 1,001 adults Monday through Wednesday, is a dip from 52% in a poll taken last week. Bush's previous lowest rating, 46%, was recorded last May.
The White House declined to comment. Republican National Committee spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt said that Bush is taking on “tough issues, whether it's to reform Social Security, promoting the spread of democracy or making a renewed pitch to Congress to pass comprehensive energy reform.”
Independent political analysts said the drop may reflect opposition to the White House and Congress intervening in the Terri Schiavo matter.
[Bush approval slips to 45%, lowest of his presidency - USAToday - 03-25-05]
filed under: Moral Majority
March 23, 2005
Outrageous. Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) pledged to ask the House Government Reform Committee to throw Florida judges in prison for upholding the law in the case of Terri Schiavo. In an arrogant assault on the Judicial branch of government, McHenry said he will ask Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA) to seek the charge of "contempt of Congress" for Florida judges in the case.
But you'll have to wait until their two week vacation is over and Terri Schiavo is dead.
Republicans didn't like the fact that the "sacred institution of marriage" protected Michael's right to honor his wife Terri's medical wishes. President George Bush passed a law as Texas Governor that protected that very right. Now that federal courts upheld the "sacred institution of marriage," the Republican controlled Congress is threatening the judiciary with prison.
SCARBOROUGH: Tell me something Patrick. All you all, I mean, you all subpoenaed Terri, you all subpoenaed her husband. The judge ignored you. Are you going to find him in contempt of Congress?MCHENRY: Well here's an issue. I said this Friday night that I think that judge in Florida should be held in contempt of Congress Because...
SCARBOUROUGH: Will it happen?
MCHENRY: ...he stepped in, he stepped in, and thwarted the will of Congress, and furthermore, we passed a law that specifically , uh, is worded for this case yet those judges aren't even talking about original intent from Congress. What we have here is an out of control...
SCARBOUROUGH: Will it happen, though?
MCHENRY: ...judiciary.
SCARBOUROUGH: I want to know is he going to be held in contempt of Congress. Yes or no.
MCHENRY: Well, I'm going to talk to Chairman Tom Davis about this and make sure on the Government Reform Committee that we bring this up when we get back into session.
[Scarborough Country - MSNBC - 03-23-05]
filed under: Moral Majority
March 23, 2005
In siding with Mrs. Schiavo's parents, who have been in a prolonged battle with her husband about removing the feeding tube that has kept her alive for 15 years, Mr. Bush ran counter to a measure he signed into law in Texas in 1999.The state law says that in cases in which a patient has not signed a directive about life-prolonging care, the patient's spouse -- unless there is a court-appointed guardian -- makes the call. The patient's parents are listed third, behind "reasonably available adult children" and ahead of "the patient's nearest living relative."
[Bush signed caregiver bill favoring spouse - Washington Times - 03-22-05]
filed under: Moral Majority
March 22, 2005
I think it's great the Diocese of San Diego has apologized for his outrageous refusal to hold a funeral for a man because of the Diocese's distaste for his "lifestyle." My hope is the Catholic Church will consider treating the living as kindly as they do the dead.
The head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego apologized yesterday to the family of gay nightclub owner John McCusker, less than a week after denying McCusker a Catholic funeral because of his "business activities," according to a statement released by McCusker's family. In a stunning twist to a controversy that has created an uproar in San Diego's gay and Catholic communities, Bishop Robert Brom also promised to preside at a Mass in memory of McCusker at he Immaculata Catholic Church at the University of San Diego, according to the statement.McCusker, 31, died March 13 while vacationing in Mammoth.
In the statement released by McCusker's family, Brom said, "I deeply regret that denying a Catholic funeral for John McCusker at the Immaculata has resulted in his unjust condemnation, and I apologize to the family for the anguish this has caused them. To help rectify this situation, insofar as it can be, I will preside at a Mass for the family, in memory of John, at the Immaculata. In consideration for the family, I will not be available for any further public statements on this matter."
[Catholic leader vows to hold Mass in memory of gay nightclub owner - Union Tribune - 03-22-05]
filed under: Moral Majority
March 22, 2005
QUESTION: If Republicans don't like the fact that the sacred institution of marriage grants spouses the right to make medical decisions for each other, why are they not busy changing the law to save hundreds of Terri Schiavos languishing in similar fates?
ANSWER: The cameras aren't rolling on anyone else.
A federal judge in Tampa early this morning denied a request from the parents of Terri Schiavo to reinsert a feeding tube into the brain damaged woman.U.S. District Judge James Whittemore, noting that he "appreciates the gravity of the consequences" of his action, found that Schiavo's "life and liberty interests" had been protected by Florida courts, news services reported. "Even under these difficult and time-strained circumstances, however, and not withstanding Congress's expressed interest in the welfare of Terri Schiavo," he wrote, "this court is constrained to apply the law to the issues before it."
[Judge Refuses to Intervene on Schiavo Case - Washington Post - 03-22-05]
QUESTION: Where is the Republican controlled Congress for the next two weeks starting today while Terri Schiavo is dying?
ANSWER: On vacation. Two days of dealing with this at the very last minute was enough.
filed under: Moral Majority
March 21, 2005
Why won't Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Republican Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Republican President George W. Bush come down from their pious high horses and take Michael Schiavo up on his offer to visit he and his wife?
The answer is simple and revealing.
Terri Schiavo has been made into nothing more than a cause for Republicans and their evangelical base's spiritually bankrupt political agenda. Republicans have said they no longer trust the marriage laws of every state that allow spouses to make medical decisions for one another. Republicans have said they reject the courts that upheld the law and reaffirmed these "sacred" marital rights. Republicans have said Terri Schiavo's wishes are best determined by a federal judge.
Angered by the latest political developments in Washington, Michael Schiavo said Saturday that it isn't just the Florida governor who should visit his wife to learn about the case.Jeb Bush's brother, President Bush, should visit Terri Schiavo, too, he said.
"Come down, President Bush," Schiavo said in a telephone interview. "Come talk to me. Meet my wife. Talk to my wife and see if you get an answer. Ask her to lift her arm to shake your hand. She won't do it."
She won't, Schiavo said, because she can't.
He made a similar offer to the governor last week, saying lawmakers interferring in his wife's life know nothing about the case. So far, Gov. Bush hasn't responded to the offer.
[Schiavo: 'Come down, President Bush' - St Petersberg Times - 03-20-05]
filed under: Moral Majority
March 19, 2005
Poll after poll says Republicans are out of step with a majority of Americans who believe the government has no buisness intruding on the rights granted spouses through the sacred institution of marriage on medical decisions.
FOXnews Dynamic Poll
1. If a patient has been in what doctors call a “persistent vegetative” or a coma-like state with no higher brain activity for a significant amount of time, who do you think should make the decision whether the patient should be kept alive or not?1. The person’s parents or other family members 31%
2. The person’s spouse 50%
3. The government 2%
4. (The person’s doctor) 4%
5. (Not sure) 13%
[Majority Would Remove Schiavo's Feeding Tube - FOXnews - 06-14-04]
FOXnews Dynamic Poll
As Terri Schiavo's (search) parents continue their fight to extend her life, a FOX News poll finds a majority of Americans agree with a Florida judge's ruling that her feeding tube can be removed. Additionally, in the same situation, most would not want to be kept alive artificially.Nearly six in ten Americans (59 percent) say that as Schiavo's guardian they would remove her feeding tube, while 24 percent would keep the tube inserted and 17 percent are uncertain which action they would take. These numbers remain virtually unchanged from a previous FOX poll in which 61 percent of Americans said they would remove the tube and 22 percent said they would not, with 17 percent unsure (October 2003).
[3/4/05 FOX Poll: Right-to-Die: Who Should Decide? - FOXnews - 03-04-05]
ABC/Washington Post
But others, including Democrats and outside congressional scholars, said Republicans had overstepped their authority and could risk political backlash. In an ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted March 10-13, an overwhelming majority of the 1,001 adults polled — 87 percent — said they would not want to be kept alive if they were in Schiavo's condition.
[GOP maneuver in Schiavo case stirs controversy - Seattle Times - 03-19-05]
Survey USA
When a married person is on life support, and that patient's family can not agree on whether life support should be continued or whether life support should be stopped, who do you think should have the final say in the matter? The patient's parents? The patient's spouse? Or someone else?1. Parents 24%
2. Spouse 60%
3. Someone Else 9%
4. Not Sure 7%
[Survey USA Survey: Terri Schiavo Case - WJXX - 03-17-05]
Despite this, why is Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and other right-wing conservatives seeking to intrude on the marriage rights of Michael and Terri Schiavo? The answer is clear: Republicans want to use Terri Schiavo's life as a cheap pawn in vulgar pandering to the Republican Party's evangelical base.
ABC News obtained talking points circulated among Senate Republicans explaining why they should vote to intervene in the Schiavo case. Among them, that it is an important moral issue and the "pro-life base will be excited," and that it is a "great political issue — this is a tough issue for Democrats."
[DeLay Says He's Not Giving Up Schiavo Fight - ABCNews - 03-19-05]
filed under: Moral Majority
March 19, 2005
Of course Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay won't give up on Terri Schiavo. Issueing a subpeona for her lifeless body to be displayed before the United States Congress is just his latest desperate attempt to suck the oxygen out of increasing media focus on multiple investigations into his ethically admonished felonious activities. Who else among Congressional Republican leadership needs a dying woman's body as a foil to take the heat for the party's ethical lapses more than the Republican Party's chosen House leader?
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said that he and other Republican members of Congress would continue to work through the weekend to come up with a bill to force doctors to reinsert Terri Schiavo's feeding tube.After a heated legal and political battle, the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube was removed Friday afternoon, despite a last-ditch effort by Congress to prevent it.
On Friday, House Republicans took the extraordinary step of subpoenaing Terri Schiavo to testify before a Congressional committee, but a Florida judge refused that order. Then late Friday, a House committee filed an emergency request with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking justices to reinsert Schiavo's feeding tube while the committee files appeals.
The Supreme Court denied that appeal without comment, and in a statement issued Saturday, DeLay called the court's decision a "moral and legal tragedy."
[DeLay Says He's Not Giving Up Schiavo Fight - ABCNews - 03-19-05]
Terri Schiavo and her husband's right within what Tom DeLay calls the "sacred institution of marriage" is of no consequence when a scurrilous politician like DeLay needs cover. The arrogance with which the Republican controlled Congress is handling this deeply personal issue is a clear sign of the entire party's disdain for the law, the judicial system sworn to uphold it, and the democratic balance of power.
filed under: Moral Majority
, Scandal
March 19, 2005
From the perspective of the religious right, Republicans were busy fiddling on the Hill with major league baseball players and grandstanding over steroids while Terri Schiavo approached the day of reckoning.
Observe the strangle-hold radical evangelicals increasingly have on the Republican Party, thanks to the party's relentless pandering in 2004. It wasn't until their party's evangelical base swarmed Republican offices on the Hill last week with threats over Schiavo that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and other Republican leaders stopped dealing with the nation's real priorities. And what a convenient distraction from the debate over President Bush's disgraceful budget proposals and the wholesale auction of America to the highest corporate bidder.
The ever wacky will of the Republican Party's fanatical religious base continues to set aside the nation's priorities for a circus side show. The American people can expect much more to come from the Republican controlled Congress. According to the same 2004 exit polls the Republican Party continues to use to suggest an increase of support from black voters, the highest percentage of voters for President Bush cited "moral issues" over the economy, terrorism and the war in Iraq as their top priority. The Republican Party continues to deliver.
Republican Mandate
The demands of the Republican Party's evangelical base are now grinding our nation's Republican controlled Congress to a halt with demands the federal government intrude in "the most sacred institution and building block of this nation," the private life decisions between a husband and wife. On Monday, precious little of the American people's business will be done as Congress is high-jacked and obstructed by the agenda of the Republican Party's evangelical base.
Republican Schism
Thanks to the party's incessant pandering to the right, Terri Schiavo's case has now become a pivotal moment for the party's base. If the Republican controlled House of Representatives, Republican controlled Senate and Republican controlled White House won't stand for life, who will lead the party's wandering base from the wilderness in 2008? The Republican Party's base will never forget how the Republican controlled federal government let Terri Schiavo die.
filed under: Moral Majority
March 19, 2005
A recent study of 12,000 adolescents shows young boys who took "abstinence pledges" were four times more likely to engage in anal sex.
The Republican Party's evangelical base, desparate to justify their faith at the expense of children, doesn't want to hear the facts about "abstinence-only" sex education. In the midst of proposed cuts in his 2006 budget, President Bush has proposed increasing funding for abstinence by $39 million to $206 million. Another $64 million will be added over the next two years. Now, that's a mandate.
The latest study, published in the April issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health, found that teens pledging virginity until marriage are more likely to have oral and anal sex than other teens who have not had intercourse. That behavior, however, "puts you at risk," said Hannah Brueckner, assistant professor of sociology at Yale and one of the study's authors.Among virgins, boys who have pledged abstinence were four times more likely to have had anal sex, according to the study. Overall, pledgers were six times more likely to have oral sex than teens who have remained abstinent but not as part of a pledge.
The pledging group was also less likely to use condoms during their first sexual experience or get tested for STDs, the researchers found.
[Study: Abstinence Pledgers May Risk STDs - AP - 03-18-05]
filed under: Moral Majority
March 18, 2005
Leave it to the gays and their shameful agenda to demand funeral rites. What's next, funerals for adulterers?
In a statement released Thursday, Rodrigo Valdivia, chancellor for the Diocese of San Diego, said that no parish in the diocese would hold the funeral because McCusker had owned two gay nightclubs."The facts regarding the business activity of John McCusker were not known by church officials when arrangements were requested for his funeral," the statement said. "When these facts became known the bishop of San Diego concluded that to avoid public scandal Mr. McCusker can't be granted a funeral in a Catholic church or chapel in the Diocese of San Diego."
[Calif. Gay Man Denied Catholic Funeral - 365gay.com - 03-18-05]
filed under: Moral Majority
March 18, 2005
Starting today, those damn Democrats are starving Terri Schiavo to death. If God didn't want us to selfishly defy his will for years on end in vegetative states, he wouldn't have invented feeding tubes, machined food pumps and health insurance.
Liberals continue to arrogantly believe these miracle machines were their ideas. Yeah, and Al Gore invented the Internets!
The fact is, these wonders in technology were manufactured in fluffy clouds to keep angels like Terri around to remind us how precious life is. We need reminders because our value for life isn't strong enough without forcing Terri to live vegetatively on machines as the living reminder our agenda is sorely missing.
It's just wrong to push the off buttons which were clearly invented by Satan, his evil "activist judge" helpers and the one world government! What a very sad day for our life-affirming agenda... oh, and Terri.
Democrats are more united, largely opposing government involvement."I think one of the few things that makes this terrible situation worse is for politicians to get involved," said Jim Davis, congressman from Tampa who is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor.
"I believe very strongly in the will of God, and I don't think government should interfere," said state Democratic Party Chairman Scott Maddox, who is considering the race. "The politicians in Tallahassee shouldn't make that decision."
[Schiavo debate has GOP juggling issues of 'sanctity of life', less government - Sun Sentinel - 03-18-05]
Note: My family has had to make this very difficult decision for my brother, who ultimately passed away in the 1980s. It's a difficult enough decision for a family to make without the government taking away the rights of the family to make these decisions themselves. None of us would take that decision back for Joshua. I strongly believe people who try to take away lawful rights or insert the government into such deeply personal decisions for their own selfish agendas ultimately mock and trivialize life in the a manner satirically presented here.
UPDATE 5:21PM ET: If you need an example of the truely selfish nature of those seeking to intercede on the wishes of Michael and Terri Schiavo, take a look at conservative writer Peggy Noonan's vulgar blathering imploring Republicans to not think about what's best for Terri, but what's best for their careers.
So let me write a sentence I never thought I'd write: Politicians, please, think of yourselves! Move to help Terri Schiavo, and no one will be mad at you, and you'll keep a human being alive. Do nothing and you reap bitterness and help someone die.
['Don't Kick It' - Opinion Journal - 03-18-05]
Still more, Republicans have now stooped to new lows, pandering to their radical evangelical base by issuing a subpeona for Terri Schiavo's lifeless body to be displayed before the United States Congress. This outrageous grandstanding is just the latest example of vulgar misuse of power by the Republican controlled Congress and the White House.
Committees in the Republican-controlled Congress issued subpoenas for Schiavo, her husband, and her caregivers demanding that they appear at hearings in the coming weeks.But the judge presiding over the case refused a request from House attorneys to delay the removal, which he had previously ordered to take place at noon CST.
Michael Schaivo's attorney, George Felos, called the congressional subpoeans "nothing short of thuggery."
"It was odious, it was shocking, it was disgusting and i think all Americans should be very alarmed about that," he said at a news conference.
[Brain-damaged woman's feeding tube removed despite protests - Houston Chronicle - 03-18-05]
also read: CONGRESS SUBPOENAS A HUMAN VEGETABLE--THE SCHIAVO CASE
filed under: Moral Majority
March 18, 2005
Now come's True Images, a Bible with filthy liberal sex talk scrawled across the word of God, cloaking the liberal's attempt to sexualize our children.
Oral Sex:
"The story is that she had oral sex with a guy friend of ours last week. Just for fun. They're not dating, although they've always flirted with each other a lot. Emma took one look at my face this morning, and she knew I knew."The Root Of All Lesbians:
Says Trish: "All my friends are wondering if this guy or that guy likes them. I don't like any guys right now. Instead, I wonder if I have a crush on Sierra. She's one of my best friends."Trish goes on to explain that her uncle tried to rape her when she was 12 and that ever since, "I haven't wanted any guy to touch me – not even my dad."
[Teen girls' Bible talks of oral sex, lesbianism - WorldNetDaily - 03-18-05]
Thank goodness Mrs. McDonald didn't let her 20 year old virgin daughter read this dirty liberal Bible.
"Having seven daughters myself, I am deeply grieved that parents would encourage their young daughters to read such graphic narratives. I would not give this 'Bible' to my 20-year-old virgin daughter to read – much less a 13-year-old. Why should she have images of oral sex, lesbianism and rape in her mind?"
[Teen girls' Bible talks of oral sex, lesbianism - WorldNetDaily - 03-18-05]
filed under: Moral Majority
March 17, 2005
Amid ballooning deficits, irresponsible tax cuts and deep cuts in funding in his 2006 budget, Bush proposes dramatically increasing spending on unproven abstinence-only sex education.
Reports commissioned by the Texas Department of State Health Services on abstinence only education in 29 Texas schools showed an increase in sexual activity among teens exposed to abstinence materials. Another report showed 80% of the materials used contained "false, misleading or distorted information."
But what do these people care about science and facts? The Bible is very clear on the subject of fornication and keeping kids in the dark about life-saving discoveries after the resurrection of our Lord Jesus. The Bible is also clear on how spending more tax dollars can help failed parents convince the rest of us to save it for marriage.
In the past five years, President Bush has more than doubled funding for such programs, which teach that abstinence from sexual activity until marriage is the only sure way to avoid out-of-wedlock pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and other health problems.In his fiscal year 2006 budget unveiled last month which drastically slashed spending on hundreds of other social programs, Bush proposed increasing funding for abstinence by $39 million to $206 million, rising to $270 million by 2008.
Yet critics say there is no evidence these programs have any effect on reducing teen-age sexual activity and often offer misleading or outrightly false information about reproductive health that increases the risks of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
"Bush may be sincere but he is also pandering to his political base and paying more attention to the ideology than the facts," said Michael McGee, vice president for education for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, which calls abstinence-only education "one of the religious right's greatest challenges to the nation's sexual health."
[Bush Pushes Sexual Abstinence for Teens Despite Data - Reuters - 03-17-05]
filed under: Moral Majority
March 05, 2005
Militant Ties That Span The Globe: The church that inspired Atlanta's Rev. Eddie Long to dress up his flock in militant fatigues and march against equal rights for gays in December is marching today through the streets of Auckland in New Zealand.
Are large public displays of "pentecostal militancy" – think black shirts and one-fist salutes outside Parliament – an embarrassment to the faith? Even dangerous?
"There are occasions when pastoral care of the flock includes protection from harmful wolves. In my mind this is such an occasion," says Brian Winslade, the national leader of Baptist Churches, who wrote an open letter last week telling Christians not to support public demonstrations and, in particular, the fledging political movement of the Destiny Church.
Destiny Church, along with the Christian Life Centre Auckland and City Impact Church, organised the march.
The march website says the Government has an agenda that is anti-family and anti-Christian. It calls the Civil Union Bill – passed last year – "the single most devastating piece of legislation ever".
"Now children will be taught homosexuality is normal and even a desirable lifestyle choice. It's only a matter of time before expressing a biblical position on homosexuality will be a criminal offence," the website says.
[Getting ready for a walk with Destiny - STUFF - 03-05-05]
In August of last year, Destiny Church Maori black shirts marched with fists in the air, intimidating those who had gathered to support equal rights.
Just after midday, thousands of men dressed in black T-shirts marched down Wellington's Lambton Quay shouting "Enough is enough" and punching the air with their fists.
[Destiny Church black shirts spark anger - STUFF - 08-24-04]The Destiny demonstrators were accused of trying to intimidate their rivals, a 2000-strong group of gay protesters, but church leader Brian Tamaki, a gleaming-toothed Maori man wearing large gold rings, said his group was supported by "all commonsense New Zealanders".
[Maori church's war dance on gay marriage - The Australian - 08-24-04]
Take a look at the words of Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki below, whose political designs under the Destiny Party calls for "a nation under the governance of God."
"There has always been, up until now, rights, privileges and entitlements that have only been available to marriage. Before that there wouldn't have been any relationship that equals marriage. So the agenda from the spirit of perversion - THE LYING SPIRIT - was to empower the homosexual spirit on the ground to lead a Satanic strategy... oh boy... a Satanic strategy to actually take out and pervert a whole nation!"
[The Words of Brian - GayNZ]
Later, the Destiny Church recounted how they inspired Atlanta's anti-gay march that included the daughter of Martin Luther King. But don't count on the mainstream media getting their hands dirty with this part of the real story.
The Destiny Church says self-styled American "Bishop" Eddie L Long got the idea for his anti-gay marriage rally when he was in New Zealand. Long, who heads the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, one of the biggest black churches in the US, spoke with Tamaki about how to replicate the marches and then took the concept home, last weekend mobilising about 15,000 church members for a "stop the silence" rally.
In a mirror of the New Zealand marches, supporters wore black T-shirts, chanted "enough is enough" and called for a new moral agenda for the US. And as in New Zealand, they ran into angry counter-demonstrators.
[Destiny Church march duplicated in US - STUFF - 12-19-04]
filed under: Moral Majority
March 03, 2005
Here we go again. Yesterday, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 27, the Workforce Investment Act, which allows religious groups accepting federal funds to discriminate in hiring.
The Workforce Investment Act would repeal workplace protections in job training programs signed into law by President Reagan and written by then-Senator Dan Quayle. Specifically, it would allow religious organizations, which receive federal funding to operate job training programs, to discriminate in employment based on religious grounds - including objections to an individual's sexual orientation. [Bill Allows Faith Based Groups To Discriminate Against Gay Workers - 365gay.com - 03-03-05]
On December 12, 2002, President Bush authorized executive branch offices to establish Centers for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives through an Executive Order. These centers were charged with developing a strategy providing special exemptions to allow religious-based organizations to apply for federal grants through Executive Order: Equal Protection of the Laws for Faith-based and Community Organizations. Curiously, the nation's largest gay and lesbian civil rights group, the Human Rights Camapign (HRC), responded to this with a statement of praise for the Bush Administration.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest lgbt civil rights groups, issued a press release praising Bush for requiring religious groups applying for federal grants to honor some 150 state and local civil rights laws."We are pleased that the administration has proactively acknowledged that religious organizations receiving federal funds must comply with state and local civil rights laws," said HRC Political Director Winnie Stachelberg. "We hope that the administration's position in these areas will be reflected in any future legislative efforts to expand charitable choice programs."
The only problem is Executive Order: Equal Protection of the Laws for Faith-based and Community Organizations not only doesn't proactively address compliance with state and local laws, it never mentions state or local law. Removing federal roadblocks to funds for groups that discriminate will inevitably fuel state and local battles over rights to enforce state and local law over religious-based organizational use of taxpayer funds. As HRC points out, the U.S. Supreme court has yet to rule on whether it's Constitutional for state and local laws to be applied to religious groups who use state or federal funds. HRC does argue the use of taxpayer funds should not be used to discriminate.
[President Bush and Faith-Based Initiatives - Christian Grantham - 12-16-02]
HRC Political Director Winnie Stachelberg responded to me in a widely circulated letter regarding the White House's stance on funding faith-based initiatives. In the letter, Stachelberg citied a pamphlet, not the Executive Order issued days prior, as the source of HRC's praise and claimed the White House heard them loud and clear.
Contrary to what was written in your message, HRC cited the White House document "Guidance to Faith-Based and Community Organizations on Partnering with the Federal Government" in our statement not the text of the Executive Order, as cited by your article. This document specifically recognizes that "state or local law may prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or require certain organizations to provide benefits to employees' unmarried domestic partners." HRC has reached out to the Administration asking that laws and ordinances that protect the GLBT community on the state and local levels not be disregarded as the Faith-Based Initiative moved forward - clearly, the Administration heard us.
[Winnie Stachelberg - 12-17-05]
The Administration "heard us?" Republican intentions couldn't have been clearer then as they are today in the language of H.R. 27. President Bush's record in Texas couldn't have been any clearer. Just six months after Stachelberg's letter, HRC issued a statement expressing their disbelief that they had been lied to.
The Human Rights Campaign today condemned the administration's renewed effort to make it easier for religious groups using federal funding to discriminate and make employment decisions based on religion. HRC welcomed, however, language within the policy position that reaffirms the President's commitment to ensuring that service providers receiving direct federal funds will not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation in providing services.
[HRC CONDEMNS EFFORT TO DISCRIMINATE WITH FEDERAL DOLLARS - HRC - 06-23-03]
filed under: Moral Majority
March 03, 2005
In response to this weekend's State of the Black Union, the Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, founder of the Brotherhood Organization of A New Destiny (BOND), charged black liberals as lacking moral values. Where is the love, Rev. Peterson?
Peterson indicated that he was particularly offended by the closing remarks of Michael Eric Dyson, a University of Pennsylvania professor, who --- according to Peterson -- "went on an unstoppable tirade about being proud of his 'Niggerdom.'"According to Peterson, Dyron screamed, "I'm a victim of Democracy!" and "I embrace my Niggerdom -- I'm a Nigga! I'm a Nigga! And all you Niggas out there get down with me." According to Peterson, Dyson received a standing ovation from the audience.
"It's time-out for Jesse Jackson, Louis Farrakhan and Al Sharpton," Peterson said in a press release. "Most blacks," he said -- not all, he stressed -- "are suffering, not because of racism but because of a lack of moral values."
[No Separate Agenda for Black Americans, Conservative Says - CNSnews - 03-03-05]
filed under: Moral Majority
February 22, 2005
When Republicans begin tossing gays and lesbians into the whole "Axis of Evil" threat to America's homeland, don't blame them. They were just regurgitating what passes in today's Catholic Church as "morality."
In one section about the role of lawmakers, the Pope takes another swipe at gay marriages when he refers to "pressures" on the European Parliament to allow them."It is legitimate and necessary to ask oneself if this is not perhaps part of a new ideology of evil, perhaps more insidious and hidden, which attempts to pit human rights against the family and against man," he writes.
[Pope Calls Gay Marriage Part of 'Ideology of Evil' - AP - 02-22-05]
filed under: Moral Majority
February 19, 2005
In secretly recorded tapes, George Bush is revealed as a Christian whose values challenge the misguided divisiveness of his party's evangelical base on the issue of equal rights for gays. The revelation, recorded by a close friend in 1998, adds context to President Bush's struggle between pandering to the Republican party's radical evangelical base and the future of the Republican party.
Early on, though, Mr. Bush appeared most worried that Christian conservatives would object to his determination not to criticize gays. "I think he wants me to attack homosexuals," Mr. Bush said after meeting James Robison, a prominent evangelical minister in Texas.But Mr. Bush said he did not intend to change his position. He said he told Mr. Robison: "Look, James, I got to tell you two things right off the bat. One, I'm not going to kick gays, because I'm a sinner. How can I differentiate sin?"
Later, he read aloud an aide's report from a convention of the Christian Coalition, a conservative political group: "This crowd uses gays as the enemy. It's hard to distinguish between fear of the homosexual political agenda and fear of homosexuality, however."
"This is an issue I have been trying to downplay," Mr. Bush said. "I think it is bad for Republicans to be kicking gays."
Told that one conservative supporter was saying Mr. Bush had pledged not to hire gays, Mr. Bush said sharply: "No, what I said was, I wouldn't fire gays."
As early as 1998, however, Mr. Bush had already identified one gay-rights issue where he found common ground with conservative Christians: same-sex marriage. "Gay marriage, I am against that. Special rights, I am against that," Mr. Bush told Mr. Wead, five years before a Massachusetts court brought the issue to national attention.
[In Secretly Taped Conversations, Glimpses of the Future President - New York Times - 02-20-05]
filed under: Equal Marriage Rights
, Moral Majority
February 19, 2005
Dear Jesus, please forgive the filthy homosexual for our nation's disgraceful divorce rate, all the abortions they've been having and the flood of unwanted children they poor into the foster care system. Amen!
In her prayer, Peevey took note of legislation the House has embraced this year to ban same-sex marriage and make it difficult for gays to adopt children."Holy One, convict those who are using their power not to lead or to guide but to harm the gay and lesbian citizens, a small minority in this commonwealth," Peevey said.
That didn't sit well with conservatives in the House. The usual amen chorus at the end of the prayer was noticeably muted.
[Opening House session with a prayer for gays annoys some delegates - Times Dispatch - 02-19-05]
filed under: Equal Marriage Rights
, Moral Majority
February 18, 2005
If politicians are looking for a few good allies in advancing discrimination against gay and lesbian American families, the Ku Klux Klan is able and willing.
She was one of many residents in the central part of town who were disturbed when they found the pamphlet on their property Thursday. A few called police about the incident, prompting officers to respond.Police said they found Christopher Gearhart, 25, of Torrington, Conn., distributing the fliers around 2 p.m. He was issued a civil traffic ticket for littering.
"Basically he was charged for littering because it's not illegal to hand out pamphlets," said Lt. Chuck Aleck of the Brattleboro Police Department, adding Gearhart was dropping the pamphlets on the sidewalk as well as the street.
The pamphlet is titled "Is Homosexual Activity Normal?" and it includes a warning that its material is explicit and not appropriate for children. It was produced by a group affiliated with a newsletter called The Truth At Last, a known Ku Klux Klan publication. A mailing address on the pamphlet is in Marietta, Ga.
[Residents irked by anti-gay pamphlets - Battleboro Reformer - 02-18-05]
filed under: Moral Majority
February 15, 2005
Say what you will about the Republican Party's evangelical base. No one can deny their level of conviction for self-righteous politics, even when it requires holding senior citizens hostage or flushing their own family down the toilet.
Her father, who was on the West Coast giving speeches this week, issued only a terse statement about his daughter's coming out. "My daughter is an adult, and she is responsible for her own actions," it read. "What she chooses to do has nothing to do with my work or political activities."Keyes drew national attention during the Republican National Convention last year when he called homosexuality an act of "sexual hedonism." Asked later if Vice President Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter, Mary, is a selfish hedonist, Keyes answered that she is.
A day after that interview, Keyes defended his statements, saying he would feel the same about his own daughter, although he wasn't questioned about her at the time.
Marcel-Keyes said yesterday that she was forced last week to move out of Keyes' Chicago apartment because of her sexual orientation and left-wing political activism.
Nevertheless, she said, "I love my parents very much, and they love me."
[Alan Keyes' daughter reveals she is a lesbian - Seattle Times - 02-15-05]
Conservative Family Values in Action
- Alan Keyes (Republican Presidential Candidate) - Maya Marcel-Keyes
- Charles Socarides (President of the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality ) - Richard Socarides
- Randall Terry (Operation Rescue) - Jamiel Terry
- Sonny Bono (Republican Congressman) - Chastity Bono