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AFA
ACTIVISM
AFA lawyers help church in Henry County, Georgia,
dispute
A federal district court in Atlanta sided with a church which
had been denied a building permit to build a facility in Henry County,
Georgia.
The AFA Center for Law & Policy (CLP) represented Victory Tabernacle
Missionary Baptist Church (Victory) in the litigation. Officials
of the Church claimed they had been denied a conditional use permit
to build in Henry County because it is an African-American church,
arguing that numerous predominantly white churches in the area had
received conditional use permits from the county.
The lawsuit also alleged that the county had violated the Religious
Land Use and Institutionalized Person’s Act (RLUIPA), a powerful
federal law that protects churches against discrimination.
Brian Fahling, senior trial attorney for the CLP, said, "At
last, the leadership and congregation of Victory can go forward
with their plans to build in Henry County and serve the community
there. It is important that churches are informed of their rights."
Fahling said the CLP is happy to represent free of charge any church
that is discriminated against by the government.
Attorney Ted Echols, who served as local counsel in the case, said
he was very pleased with the outcome. In addition to ordering the
county to issue Victory the permit to build its church facility,
Echols said "the county has been ordered to pay our client’s
significant damages and attorney’s fees."
Walgreens backtracks on photo policy
The Walgreens drug store chain heard the collective voice of
AFA Journal readers and has now altered its previously controversial
policy regarding its photo development department.
As a result of a meeting with Walgreens officials earlier this year
and an article in the September issue of AFA Journal –
which prompted phone calls and letters to Walgreens president Jeffrey
Rein – the retailer now prohibits one-hour developing of any
photos containing pornographic content.
Randy Sharp, Director of Special Projects for AFA, said that when
his organization met with Walgreens in February, the company’s
policy allowed one-hour developing of all photos containing "nudity
and sex acts, with the exception of those containing children."
Following the initial meeting, Walgreens revised its policy in June
to allow employees some flexibility in whether or not they developed
pornographic photos. However, the company maintained that it still
would not intervene in cases of "adult nudity or acts between
consenting adults."
The AFA Journal story was critical of the company’s
insistence on developing porn.
Walgreens has now revised its policy to prohibit printing photos
containing any pornographic content.
ENTERTAINMENT
Disney/Miramax releases ‘bloodiest
feature film ever’
AFA boycott update – The Walt Disney Company continues
to churn out objectionable material in contrast to the family-friendly
image it likes to portray, leading AFA to continue to promote its
boycott of the Mouse House.
The latest assault on decency is Kill Bill, which opened
in October and was directed by Quentin Tarantino. The film, distributed
by Disney subsidiary Miramax, was being widely described as "the
bloodiest feature film ever released by a major studio," according
to movie critic Michael Medved.
In the movie, Medved wrote in a USA Today review, more than 100
characters are "slaughtered on screen – not just killed,
but also horribly mutilated."
Those connected with Kill Bill seemed to glory in its violence.
Actress Lucy Liu, who plays a villain in the film, gloated to reporters,
"It’s so violent. People will leave the movie theater
or get sick in the movie theater. But there’s so much violence
that it becomes not numbing, but almost comedic."
Tarantino, whose big break in film-making came with the controversial
hit Pulp Fiction – another extremely violent and bloody Miramax
movie – was proud of the female heroine’s vengeful murders
as she gets even with those who’ve wronged her.
"I actually want 13-year-old girls to see this movie,"
Tarantino said. "I think this will be very empowering for them."
"Isn’t there enough violence in our culture? Do we really
need Disney distributing such gore – and the film’s director
recommending that our children watch it?" complained AFA President
Tim Wildmon. "Kill Bill is the most recent proof of
the fact that Disney, a supposedly family-friendly company, has
no business being in business with Miramax."
ABC pushes ‘gay TV’
As another fall season opened, Disney/ABC continued to unabashedly
push the homosexual agenda with its prime-time programs.
It’s All Relative, a new ABC sitcom, focuses on the
disparate families of a young couple, Bobby and Liz, who are cohabiting.
It’s a fairly familiar story line for network comedies, except
that in this case Liz’s "parents" are two homosexual
men, Simon and Phil, while Bobby’s folks are a blue-collar
couple who own a bar.
The show is a half-hour advertisement each week for the pro-homosexual
viewpoint. For example, when Bobby’s dad asks what two homosexual
men could have possibly been thinking about when they adopted a
child, Phil answers: "Maybe, just maybe, they were thinking
that they were two normal human beings who had as much capacity
to love and care for a child as anyone else."
The homosexual pair are portrayed as witty and progressive, but
their sense of humor will offend most Christians. At one point in
the debut episode, for example, Phil exclaims, "Oh, my gay
god!"
YWCA fires feminist chief executive
The Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) fired lesbian
activist and feminist Patricia Ireland after only six months in
its top spot as chief executive officer.
A YWCA press release stated that Ireland was let go because "the
YWCA has proved to be the wrong platform for her to advocate on"
women’s issues and social justice. No specific explanation
was provided by the organization.
Ireland served for 10 years as president of the National Organization
for Women, a radical feminist group that promotes lesbian rights,
abortion and a host of other leftist causes. When she accepted the
new position at YWCA, she promised to give the youth organization
"a stronger and more effective voice for change" regarding
feminist issues.
As might have been expected, pro-family groups were aghast at Ireland’s
hire. An AFA E-mail campaign, through its members in OneMillionMoms.com
(OMM) and OneMillionDads.com (OMD), logged over 125,000 messages
from concerned parents to the YWCA Board of Directors.
"Patricia Ireland is a lightning rod for controversy,"
said AFA Chairman Don Wildmon. "We believe the YWCA has made
the right decision by removing her radical ideology from the organization."
Quiznos aids TV pollution problem
Quiznos is quickly becoming one of television’s most reckless
advertisers. In September, the sub sandwich chain began airing an
ad in which a grown man literally nurses himself on a female wolf.
The man appears next to a puppy, both suckling on the mother canine.
Numerous viewers were offended by the commercial, and contacted
AFA’s OneMillionMoms.com (OMM) and OneMillionDads.com (OMD)
to complain. Executives from the company, however, called it "unique
humor," claiming that the ad is "simply a fun and memorable
way to demonstrate the taste and quality of a Quiznos sub."
"It’s obvious to a lot of parents that Quiznos Chairman
Richard Schaden and his executive team have a very twisted sense
of humor," said Randy Sharp, Director of Special Projects for
AFA. "What’s tasteful and qualitative about a man sucking
on the underside of a wolf? Most people would probably find the
thought repulsive."
According to the Florida Family Association, Quiznos is also a major
sponsor of shows whose dominant theme is centered on sex. The company
has placed ads on 103 episodes of Comedy Central’s The Man
Show and 10 episodes of the foul FX drama Nip/Tuck, and
is also a recurring sponsor of shows like Porn N’ Chicken
(Comedy Central) and Stripperella (Spike TV).
"It’s obvious that the Quiznos corporate hierarchy doesn’t
care about offending customers or damaging the business reputation
of their local franchise owners," Sharp said. "The local
franchise owner should be speaking up when corporate is hurting
their business."
CONTACT
Chairman Richard E. Schaden
1475 Lawrence Street, Suite 400
Denver, Colorado 80202
Phone: 720-359-3300
Fax: 720-359-3399
1-800-335-4782
CULTURE
AIDS hitting youth hard
The rate of young people ages 15-24 contracting HIV/AIDS worldwide
is alarming, according to the United Nations (UN).
A recent report from the UN’s Population Fund estimates that
a young person somewhere in the world contracts HIV every 14 seconds,
and that half of all new cases of HIV/AIDS are in that age group.
In sub-Saharan Africa alone, 8.6 million young people are infected
with the disease.
The UN, however, continues to emphasize the use of condoms as the
primary weapon against the spread of AIDS, even though an "abstinence-only"
approach has proved effective in places like Africa.
In Uganda, for example, health officials in the mid-1990s changed
the "safer-sex" emphasis to one in which abstinence until
marriage was strongly encouraged. That nation had one of the worst
AIDS problems in the world in the early part of that decade –
with 30% of its population infected. Following the change in priority,
however, Uganda’s AIDS infection rate has fallen to its current
10% level.
"Abstinence remains the best strategy, especially for the risk
group aged 15-25 years," Kenyan HIV/AIDS activist Dorothy Kwenze
told the Cybercast News Service earlier this year. "The concept
has worked well for Uganda and can work equally well for other African
countries."
A study by epidemiologist Rand Stoneburner also determined that
Uganda’s AIDS strategy, if implemented across the continent,
could reduce Africa’s AIDS cases by 80% – even in the
nations with the worst infection rates.
Seattle Times, 10/9/03; CNSNews.com, 1/13/03
GOVERNMENT
FCC green lights F-word on networks
Network television no doubt will become even more vulgar after
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruled that the use of
the F-word on network television earlier this year did not violate
decency rules.
The FCC rejected complaints by the Parents Television Council (PTC)
and more than 200 other people who accused dozens of television
stations of violating obscenity statutes in January when the word
was used during the Golden Globe Awards. Bono, a singer with
the rock group U2, uttered the word during the ceremony. Upon accepting
an award, the artist said, "[T]his is really, really, [expletive]
brilliant."
The FCC said that since the word was a fleeting and isolated remark,
it didn’t violate the obscenity rules. The agency said the
word as Bono used it, "did not describe sexual or excretory
organs or activities," the distinction the agency uses as a
measuring stick.
"It’s not shocking to us on the FCC decision because they
are a toothless lion," Lara Mahaney, director of corporate
and entertainment affairs with PTC, told The Associated Press. "They
don’t take indecency seriously and that’s why you see
it proliferating on the broadcast airwaves."
Foxnews.com, 10/7/03
HOMOSEXUALITY
New study: 1 in 7 homosexuals have
AIDS
A recent report revealed that one in every seven sexually active
homosexual men in Seattle is infected with HIV/AIDS, causing great
concern among the city’s health officials.
While those figures are startling, they are in line with what is
happening in other "gay" enclaves throughout the nation.
The number of HIV infections in the homosexual community has been
increasing for the last half decade.
Chief among the causes of the rise: numerous sexual partners, anonymous
sex, and the increasingly risky sexual activity of homosexual men
– both those who are already infected and those who aren’t
– who have sex without condoms. Some HIV-positive "gay"
men are even having sex without revealing their disease status to
their partners.
"Transmitting HIV knowingly is an act of violence," said
a document issued by a Seattle-King County homosexual health task
force. "We are accountable for our behavior – to ourselves,
our sex partners and our community."
The task force recommendations, however, are nothing new: using
condoms, avoiding the use of drugs prior to having sex, and honesty
between potential sex partners about HIV status.
According to one homosexual news source, health officials in other
cities will be watching Seattle to see if, this time, "gay"
men heed the warnings.
PlanetOut.com, 10/14/03
Researcher says ‘gays’ can
change
A controversial study has demonstrated that homosexuality is
not necessarily a fixed sexual orientation, but that "gay"
men and lesbians can change.
The research was conducted by Dr. Robert L. Spitzer, who in 1973
was one of the driving forces behind the psychiatric community’s
removal of homosexuality from its manual of mental disorders. The
study was published in the October Archives of Sexual Behavior.
"Although examples of ‘complete’ change in orientation
were not common, the majority of participants did report change
from a predominantly or exclusively homosexual orientation before
therapy to a predominantly or exclusively heterosexual orientation
in the past year as a result of reparative therapy," said a
statement from the National Association of Research and Therapy
of Homosexuality, which examined the Spitzer data.
While the mental health community is opposed to "reparative
therapy," by which a patient attempts to change his sexual
orientation away from homosexuality, Spitzer said his colleagues
need to take another look.
"Many patients, provided with informed consent about the possibility
that they will be disappointed if the therapy does not succeed,
can make a rational choice to work toward developing their heterosexual
potential and minimizing their unwanted homosexual attractions,"
he said.
NARTH, 10/8/03
PORNOGRAPHY
Child porn bust nets thousands,
but number of ’Net sites up
German authorities have cracked one of the biggest global child
pornography rings involving some 26,500 users in 166 countries.
More busts like this might become the norm, though, as the number
of Web sites for child pornography has doubled in the last year.
More than half the child porn sites are hosted in the United States,
according to the United Kingdom’s National Criminal Intelligence
Service (NCIS). And, the number of such sites in Russia doubled
in the last year. The number of Web sites containing images of child
abuse rose by 64% in 2002, according to NCIS’ intelligence
from around the world.
The raid in Germany, code-named Operation Marcy, is one of the largest
busts to date. In the sweep, hundreds of raids were conducted and
police seized 745 computers, at least 35,500 CDs, 8,300 diskettes
and 5,800 videos. One photograph seized showed a baby of four months
being abused.
Child pornography sites may be hosted on Internet servers in one
country and managed from somewhere else, making it difficult for
police to trace offenders, most of whom are male, and to identify
victims.
"One thing the Internet has done is to internationalize the
child pornography business," an NCIS representative said. "This
has made it easier for offenders to escape law enforcement agencies
across borders."
CNet/Reuters, 8/21/03; Reuters, 9/29/03
Justice promises more obscenity scrutiny
After earlier this year initiating the first obscenity probe
in a decade, the Department of Justice (DOJ) appears to be sending
the message that it is serious about pursuing and prosecuting those
involved in the production and distribution of pornography.
Andrew Oosterbann, head of the DOJ Child Exploitation and Obscenity
Section, has acknowledged the agency is pursuing several obscenity
cases. He said "some of the Department’s biggest cases
involve producers and distributors involved in more so-called ‘mainstream’
material."
Though Justice has presented some hard-core obscenity indictments,
the only prosecutions so far have involved more extreme elements
of the porn industry. One such case involves Extreme Associates,
a California-based outfit that has openly touted the material it
produces, including rape and other extreme story lines.
Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice believes
in the next year the DOJ "will put [the porn industry] on notice"
when more obscenity indictments are handed down.
AgapePress, 9/19/03
Spam, child safety prompt Microsoft to close
chat rooms
Computer software giant Microsoft has shut down free, unmoderated
chat rooms in nearly 30 countries and begun forcing users in the
remaining countries to give a credit card number in order to gain
access to chat rooms. The move comes as the company said spammers,
pedophiles and pornographers had been abusing the system.
Geoff Sutton, Microsoft Network general manager for Europe, said
it had become clear that unmoderated chat was not safe.
"The two big issues we have been dealing with have been adults
‘grooming’ children in chat rooms and spam getting in
that is pornographic in some way," he said. "So we have
come to consider that this is not a good experience for our users
and we have tried to do the right thing by showing our responsible
leadership position.
The company will keep open chat room sites in several countries,
including the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan. The chat
room closing does not affect MSN’s instant-messaging service,
which allows for private conversations between computer users.
CNSNews.com, 9/24/03; Financial Times
(UK), 9/24/03
Poll says women also susceptible to online
pornography addiction
Addictions to Internet pornography have long been known to be
a problem among Christian and non-Christian men, but the lure has
also drawn in many women as well.
A poll of readers of Today’s Christian Women magazine
found 34% of respondents admitted to intentionally accessing Internet
pornography. Some said they had gone to porn Web sites to understand
what was drawing in their husbands, but many others admitted to
accessing online porn to feed their desires.
One woman, Maggie (not her real name), was quoted as saying she
got into online porn through reading erotic or suggestive stories
online that also included photographs with couples in various stages
of intimacy. Many women hooked on online porn have gotten into it
as a way to fill a void in their lives, such as loneliness, lack
of attention from their spouses or to escape problems in their marriages.
Women desiring to find companionship often prefer "cybersex"
and online chat rooms to porn sites, but often find themselves surfing
both. That also leads to other problems.
"More than 80% of women who have this addiction take it offline,"
said Marnie Ferree, a licensed marriage and family therapist and
clinician in Nashville, Tennessee.
As the problem with women’s addiction to pornography is an
emerging problem, not many organizations are set up to help them.
A few, though, such as Pure
Life Ministries (800-635-1866) and Setting
Captives Free, are working to tackle the problem with women’s
addictions and help others understand the problem.
Today’s Christian Woman, 9-10/03;
ChristianityToday.com, 9/24/03
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