Posted on 10/19/2001 5:11:14 AM PDT by AppyPappy
///// CITIZENLINK /////
October 18, 2001
SCHOOLS HAND OUT 'MORNING AFTER' PILL:
Pro-lifers are trying to stop schools from giving students
the drug, often without their parents' knowledge.
http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0018198.html
LAWMAKER CALLS REUTERS ON 'T' WORD:
High-ranking congressman dogs a global news service
for deciding to bar use of the word "terrorist."
http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0018196.html
MTV AIRS 'TOLERANCE' ADS:
A major ad campaign is targeting America's youth with
pro-homosexual messages.
http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0018195.html
JUDGE: TOWN CAN'T CENSOR CONSTITUTION
HISTORY:
A judge has said a Pennsylvania borough acted unjustly
in handling a public display on the Constitution.
http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0018194.html
IT DIDN'T START WITH BIN LADEN:
Religiously motivated terrorism against America isn't
new -- in fact, it dates back hundreds of years.
http://www.family.org/cforum/citizenmag/webonly/A0017918.html
Encourage a friend to sign up for this e-mail:
http://www.family.org/cforum/clinksignup.cfm
To visit our Web site:
http://www.citizenlink.org
To contact your congressman or senators:
http://www.family.org/citizenaction
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
EDITOR'S PICKS: Tools for Engaging Your World
"Jesus Among Other Gods"
By Ravi Zacharias
http://www.family.org/resources/itempg.cfm?itemid=1844&refcd=CE01JCZL&tvar=no
No such thing as absolute truth? Christian apologist Ravi
Zacharias' latest work is a brilliant defense of the unique
truth of the Christian message. Exposing the futility of
Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, he also highlights his
own journey from despair and meaninglessness to the
discovery that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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FAMILY NEWS IN FOCUS STORIES
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Schools Hand Out 'Morning After' Pill
By Charles R. MiVille, Washington, D.C., correspondent
SUMMARY: For over a year, public schools have been
using tax dollars to distribute the so-called "morning-
after" pill to teens. Now, pro-lifers in and out of Congress
are working to ban the practice by hitting abortionists
where it hurts the most -- in the pocketbook.
The abortion industry calls it "emergency contraception,"
but Carrie Gordon Earll, bioethics analyst for Focus on
the Family, says it's more than that.
"Once a pregnancy has occurred and you take this high
dose of birth control pills, it is a chemical abortion," Earll
said.
Many public schools now distribute this so-called
"morning after" pill to teens, but some members of
Congress are trying to stop the practice with legislation
that would block federal funding to any school that gives
out the pill.
"If you're going to do that, you can't have federal
dollars," Earll said. "We are not going to give federal
dollars to schools that distribute abortion pills to teen-
age girls."
Rep. Melissa Hart, R-Pa., had planned to offer the
amendment to an appropriations bill last week, but
withdrew it from consideration at the last minute at
House Speaker Dennis Hastert's request.
John Cusey, executive director of the congressional Pro-
Life Caucus, said most parents don't know this is
happening.
"One of the most shocking things is people don't think
that this is going on in schools," Cusey said.
He noted that out of the 1,200 schools with clinics, 15
percent are giving out the drug.
"At least 180 schools do this right now," he said.
Earll added: "Schools have absolutely no business
handing out morning after pills to teenage girls,
especially without parental notification. . . . Schools are
there to educate our children they are not there to
encourage promiscuity and the types of behavior that
are going to lead girls into risky behavior."
Some schools give out the drug without a prescription.
Earll and Cusey say one of the dangers of the morning
after pill is that it creates a false sense of security. They
say teens need to be warned of the severe health risks
from the drugs as well as the danger of catching sexually
transmitted diseases.
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Lawmaker Calls Reuters on 'T' Word
By Charles R. MiVille, Washington, D.C., correspondent
SUMMARY: A high-ranking congressman is dogging a
global news service for deciding to bar use of the word
"terrorist."
The Reuters news service is refusing to call the people
who carried out the attacks on Sept. 11 "terrorists."
A memo issued last month by Stephen Jukes, Reuters'
global head of news, issued a memo in the wake of the
attacks, explaining that "one man's terrorist is another
man's freedom fighter."
But Rep. J.C. Watts, R-Okla., the fourth highest-ranking
Republican in the House of Representatives, is pressing
Reuters to stop trying to be politically correct and get the
story right.
"If their actions on September 11th don't meet the
definition of 'terrorist,' I simply don't know what does,"
said Kevin Schweers, spokesman for Congressman
Watts.
Explaining Watts' position, Schweers said: "By no means
is he calling on (Reuters) to be 'Radio Free Afghanistan'
or propaganda arm for of the United States, but he does
feel it's quite fair and necessary to label terrorist acts
what they are -- terrorist acts."
Watts wrote a letter to the Reuters chief in London
disputing the news service's refusal to name as terrorists
the "aggressors who committed acts of violence
witnessed by the world last month." The Washington
Times reported that Watts also sent out a letter to every
member of the House, urging fellow congressmen to
write to Reuters to complain about its position.
Roger Aaronoff, of Accuracy In Media, said the Reuters
ruse is another example of mainstream media's left-wing
bias.
"Even when there's not this issue of the word 'terrorism,'
(at) the New York Times and CBS and ABC we see on a
daily basis the left-wing ideas that are presented as just
factual and mainstream on a regular basis," Aaronoff
said.
Focus on the Family's Jeff Marchant agrees that some
liberal journalists have a double standard.
"I bet they don't shrink at all from using the word
'terrorist' for people in the pro-life cause who happen to
go to wild extremes in what they do -- people whose
actions I don't approve of, either," Marchant said.
Reuters did issue an apology "for the insensitive manner
which we characterized this policy." However, The St.
Petersburg (Fla.) Times reported that Reuters stuck by
the policy itself, contending that the news service doesn't
use "emotive or emotional words."
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MTV Airs 'Tolerance' Ads
By Stuart Shepard, correspondent
SUMMARY: A major ad campaign is targeting America's
youth with pro-homosexual messages. Couched in terms
of tolerance, pro-family experts say it's just a cover for
acceptance of homosexuality.
A new campaign of 10-second spots premiered during
an MTV program ostensibly about tolerance.
One of the spots said it this way: "Gender, ability,
religion, race, ethnicity, sexuality. Own, educate, act.
Fight for your rights. Take a stand against
discrimination."
But according to Steve Isaac, a youth culture expert for
Focus on the Family, it all comes down to one
misinterpreted word.
"Interpreted properly, tolerance is a wonderful word, and
Scripture teaches it," Isaac said. "(But) interpreted as the
world interprets that word now, it means embracing
everything, and agreeing with everything."
The campaign is a partnership effort of MTV and the
Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, which
calls it the "largest ever" series of announcements on the
subject. The messages claim homosexual acceptance is
a "safety" issue -- a common theme for homosexual
activists.
The spots are tied to a Web page that seeks to pass
along pro-gay information, as well as inviting teens to
participate in activism. For instance, there's an online
petition favoring so-called "hate crimes legislation."
Peter LaBarbera, with the Culture and Family Institute,
said teens are bombarded with only one side of this
issue.
"We have to teach them and tell them why the natural
order, as God created it, is good, and these other forms
of sexuality are sinful," LaBarbera said.
He said the real objective of the spots is to normalize
homosexuality in the minds of young people.
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Judge: Town Can't Censor Constitution History
By Dave Clark, correspondent
SUMMARY: A federal judge has said a Pennsylvania
borough acted unjustly in its handling of a public display
on the Constitution.
When Michael Juzwick wanted to celebrate Constitution
Week last year, the borough of Dormont, at first, gave
him a community room for free.
"When they saw that there were Christian materials
involved, (officials) decided that they were going to
cancel the waiver," Juzwick said.
And they did, billing Juzwick $2,100 on the basis that the
display's religious theme "did not benefit the entire
community." Matters of religion, it would later tell the
court, don't qualify for public accommodation.
"But we're promoting the history of the Constitution,
which is forbidden to be spoken!" Juzwick contended.
The exhibit included a video entitled "America's Godly
Heritage," by historian David Barton. Barton, who heads
an organization called WallBuilders, argues that to
separate religion from history is dishonest.
"Look at the requirements the Founding Fathers put in
those state constitutions to hold public office," Barton
says in the video. "It did not require you to be from one
denomination to hold public office. It did say you have to
understand God's principles. You have to understand
the Word of God to hold office here."
Juzwick said that notion is now ironic.
"The very people that censored, or attempted to censor,
our display of constitutional materials -- they all go to
church!"
Mat Staver, with Liberty Counsel, a religious-liberties
legal group, pursued the case in court.
"The judge clearly saw through the absolute blatant . . .
discrimination through all of this practice and through the
polices and found that the Christian religion, Christian
heritage of this country is, indeed, compatible with the
Constitution and it must receive equal treatment," Staver
said.
However, in response to the decision, borough officials
decided earlier this month to charge all groups using its
facilities, rather than continue its previous policy of
granting waivers to certain groups.
Staver said the case should be a wake-up call to
municipalities nationwide.
==================================
RECOMMENDED READING
--------------------------------------------------------------------
"It Didn't Start With bin Laden" (Oct. '01 Citizen
magazine)
By Chris Jeub
http://www.family.org/cforum/citizenmag/webonly/A0017918.html
Religiously motivated terrorism against America isn't
new -- in fact, it dates back hundreds of years.
CE01JCZL
Click for The Christian Conservative Website
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