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AFA/ACTIVISM
Spencer Gifts tagged for selling
sex toys in mall
The Tupelo Police Department in northeast
Mississippi recently charged a Spencer Gifts clerk with the distribution
of unlawful sexual devices. AFA initiated the efforts that led to
the police action.
Spencer Gifts is a novelty store that caters
to a younger clientele and specializes in the sale of gothic clothing,
posters, toys and gag gifts for teens and adults, as well as items
of a sexual nature.
While the majority of these items are legal
to sell, the state of Mississippi forbids a person to knowingly
sell, advertise, publish, or exhibit "to any person any three-dimensional
device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation
of human genital organs…."
After sending an undercover agent into the mall
store to purchase one of the sexual devices, local law enforcement
officers found the clerk in violation of the state law. Following
the sale, officers went into the store and seized approximately
$2,000 worth of illegal merchandise. According to a police department
spokesman, the merchandise was in public view.
Joe Murray of the AFA Center for Law and Policy
said the maximum penalty for violating the law is a fine of $5,000
and six months imprisonment.
He also noted that Mississippi is not the only
state with laws that regulate the sale of sexual devices —
Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas
have similar laws.
Spencer Gifts, which is owned by Gordon Brothers
Group, is located in all of those states — and has a total
of 660 stores throughout the U.S. and 27 in Canada. Spencer’s
also has a partnership with Playboy magazine, according to
www.wordIQ.com.
"We encourage citizens who live in any
communities with Spencer stores to check their state and local laws,
and then check to see if the stores are selling these products,"
Murray said. "A lot of children, preteens and teenagers wander
through the malls. This is garbage these kids don’t need to
see, let alone purchase."
Contact:
President/CEO Steven Silverstein
Spencer Gifts, LLC
6826 Black Horse Pike
Egg Harbor Township, NJ 08234-4132
Phone: 609-645-3300 (corporate offices)
E-mail: steven.silverstein@spencergifts.com
Shoemaker advertising
campaign degrades women
Popular shoemaker Skechers backed
off its plans to run an offensive ad campaign in the U.S., but will
persist in running the advertisements elsewhere.
Skechers released a three-part series of magazine
ads featuring pop star Christina Aguilera as a "naughty and
nice" nurse, schoolteacher and traffic cop. Each ad showed
dual images of Aguilera, including a suggestive version: a nurse
in a dominatrix outfit confronting a patient in a hospital bed;
a teacher and student with an open blouse; and a skimpily-clad policewoman
getting ready to handcuff herself to the hood of a police car.
Apparently in response to the resulting protests
from AFA and others, Skechers’ public relations department
announced that the ads would not be run in the U.S. However, the
shoemaker will continue the campaign in European magazines.
"We are pleased that Skechers is demonstrating
respect for U.S. sensibilities, but the company should understand
that the degradation of women should not be promoted in any country,"
said Randy Sharp, AFA director of special projects.
Contact:
Chrm/CEO Robert Greenberg
Skechers USA, Inc.
228 Manhattan Beach Blvd.
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Phone: 310-318-3100
E-mail: RobertG@skechers.com
Clergy to be honored
during October
October is designated Clergy Appreciation
Month — a time set aside to honor pastors and their families
for their hard work and sacrificial dedication to their parishioners.
It is important for congregations to be aware
of the pressure under which pastors and their families live. Without
proper nurturing, certain pressures can cause pastors to become
ineffective. The ineffectiveness of pastors can be an endangerment
to the souls of their parishioners, thus affecting eternity.
Therefore, God instructs His children to recognize
His God-ordained servants in I Timothy 5:17: "The elders who
direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor,
especially those whose work is preaching and teaching."
In accordance with Scripture, Layton Howerton
of Focus on the Family believes it is important to celebrate pastors
because they need physical support (Exodus 17:10-13), spiritual
support (Luke 22:46) and family support.
As a means of providing such support, Focus
on the Family makes the following celebration suggestions:
• Provide
a testimony time during a worship service.
• Submit
an open letter to your local newspaper.
•
Plan a special banquet in honor of your
pastor(s).
These suggestions and others are available in
a Clergy Appreciation Month Planning Guide with step-by-step instructions
for organizing an exciting celebration. The guide is available as
an Adobe Acrobat file, along with other valuable resources and helpful
articles found at www.family.org/pastor/cam.
www.family.org/pastor/cam;
www.family.org/fofmag/cl/a0023958/cfm
CULTURE
Dating violence linked
to sexually-active adolescent females
Results of a study recently released
by colleagues of the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and
the Boston School of Public Health indicate that sexually active
adolescent girls are five times more likely to be victimized by
dating violence than girls who are not sexually active.
As a basis for the study, researchers claim
that "one-half of high school students in the United States
have engaged in sexual intercourse and [approximately] 900,000 U.S.
adolescents become pregnant each year."
With this in mind, the researchers decided
to find the prevalence of dating violence in the lives of sexually-active
adolescent females.
As summarized by WebMD, "Researchers found
nearly one in five sexually active adolescent girls was intentionally
hurt by a date in the previous year compared with less than one
in 25 girls without any sexual experience."
HSPH’s Jay Silverman, Ph.D., and colleagues
found that the same girls who experience dating violence "are
at a significantly increased risk for multiple high-risk behaviors
related to sex, including having greater numbers of sexual partners,
not consistently using condoms, and using substances before sexual
intercourse."
Therefore, they believe dating violence should
be incorporated into health and pregnancy prevention programs as
a means of providing sexual and reproductive health care for adolescents.
www.webmd.com, 8/2/04;
Pediatrics, 8/04
Teens’ sex, substance
abuse related
A new survey of American teenagers
revealed that sexual activity and substance abuse are linked.
The annual survey, which was conducted by Columbia
University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse
(CASA), found that those teens who say most of their friends are
having sex are themselves more likely to have tried marijuana, alcohol,
and cigarettes.
CASA’s report also noted that the more
time adolescents spend with their boyfriends or girlfriends, the
more likely they are to smoke, drink, and use drugs.
CASA president Joseph Califano says this year’s
results showed a "tight connection" between sexual behavior
and substance abuse. He warned that parents whose children are dating
or sexually active should be on alert for signs of substance abuse.
Califano also said the survey revealed that
teen involvement with sexual content on the Internet is another
warning sign of other types of risky behavior. "We found that
45% of 12- to 17-year-olds have friends who regularly download Internet
pornography," he said, "and if [a teen has] a lot of friends
like that, [that teen is] also much likelier to smoke, drink, and
use drugs."
On the other hand, Califano said teens whose
families eat dinner together are more likely to avoid drinking,
smoking, and sexual activity. He believed this suggests the importance
of family conversation and the need for parents to connect and talk
over issues of concern with their teen children.
AgapePress, 8/24/04
EDUCATION
Home schooling up
The United States is experiencing
a rise in home schooling as evident from the 1.1 million students
home schooled last year. According to the National Center for Education
Statistics, the estimated figure reveals a 29% growth since 1999.
As reported by CBS News, parents who were surveyed
offered two main reasons for deciding to home school their children:
31% cited concerns about the environment of regular schools; and
30% wanted the flexibility to teach religious and moral lessons.
In addition, parents’ dissatisfaction with academic instruction
surveyed in at 16%.
Such findings indicate to Ian Slatter, spokesman
for the National Center for Home Education, that there is potential
for massive growth.
"Home schooling is just getting started,"
Slatter said. "We’ve gotten through the barriers of questioning
the academic ability of home schools, now that we have a sizable
number of graduates who are not socially isolated or awkward —
they’re good, high-quality citizens."
However, there are still many who question the
social and academic effectiveness of home schooling.
Ted Feinberg, assistant executive director of
the National Association of School Psychologists, believes more
federal research is needed to answer such questions. In addition,
he sees terrorism warnings, high-profile school shootings, and the
desire of parents to protect their children as fueling the recent
home schooling growth.
In comparison, CBS News reported that "the
1.1 million home-schooled students account for a small-part —
2.2% — of the school- age population in the United States,
young people aged five through 17."
www.cbsnews.com, 8/3/04
ENTERTAINMENT
Polygamy
is theme of new HBO drama
It started with the normalization of
sex outside marriage in the 1970s, and was followed by the celebration
of homosexuality in the mid-1990s. Will polygamy be the next taboo
to get a Hollywood makeover?
HBO will be the first to give it a shot. The
premium cable channel has green-lighted Big Love, a drama
about a Utah man — who is not a Mormon — with three wives.
It is expected to air next summer.
Big Love is about "examining the
institution of marriage and relationships, and what better way to
do that than in triplicate?" said HBO entertainment president
Carolyn Strauss.
The drama, which will star Bill Paxton, Jeanne
Tripplehorn and Chloe Sevigny, will be produced by Tom Hanks’
production company.
USA Today, 8/13/04
DeGeneres to play
God
Apparently it wasn’t enough for
actress and comedian Ellen DeGeneres to push the homosexual lifestyle
on her sitcom Ellen. Now the out-loud-and-proud lesbian will
play the Almighty in a remake of the blasphemous 1977 movie comedy
Oh, God!
The original film starred the now-deceased George
Burns as a cigar-chomping version of God, who offered New Agey platitudes
to actor John Denver’s character.
DeGeneres will reprise Burns’ role when
filming starts next summer.
"Ellen is a strong comedian and she has
always done material about God and questions about God," said
Jerry Weintraub, who produced the 1977 version and will also be
connected to the remake, according to CNN.com.
www.cnn.com, 8/24/04
FAMILY
Infidelity finds
niche on the Internet
The thought of infidelity becoming
an Internet industry is not just an abstract notion. It’s a
concrete reality as evident from the online companies that cater
to a clientele seeking extramarital affairs.
The demands of such clientele are met through
Web sites which act as typical online dating services by offering
matches and dates. (AFA Journal decided not to publish the addresses
of these sites.) Additional resources include, but are not limited
to, tips on how to cover one’s tracks as well as tips on how
to arrange a sexual encounter in a quick and economical fashion.
According to Fox News, one such Web site "is
the biggest cheating site in town," claiming 160,000 members
who are able to plan romantic rendezvous through photos, profiles,
and instant messaging. It also seeks to entice the unfaithful with
the slogan, "When Monogamy Becomes Monotony."
In addition, another Web site attempts to lure
people with the following invitation: "Studies indicate up
to 30% of those people using on-line dating services are married.
Why not join a site specifically designed for you?"
Such sites are of concern to family counselors,
such as Brett Williams, who view the sites as aiding the breakdown
of families.
"They’re basically destroying the
fabric of our society," Williams said. "Our society is
built on family units. Once that decays, we’re not going to
have much of a society."
www.foxnews.com, 8/4/04
HOMOSEXUALITY
Another lesbian
faces UMC church trial
For the second time in 2004, the United
Methodist Church (UMC) is facing the controversy surrounding a lesbian
minister who is in defiance of the denomination’s clear prohibition
against open and practicing homosexuals serving as pastors.
The self-proclaimed lesbianism of the Rev. Irene
Elizabeth Stroud is the basis of the charges that will result in
an ecclesiastical trial, although a date for the proceedings has
not yet been set. Stroud could be defrocked if convicted.
According to the United Methodist News Service,
Stroud publicly talked about being a lesbian in a sermon in April
2003, when she revealed that she and her lesbian partner "have
lived in a covenant relationship for two-and-a-half years."
Stroud is an associate pastor of a UMC church
in Philadelphia, a part of the denomination’s Eastern Pennsylvania
Annual Conference. "I love the United Methodist Church,"
Stroud said. "I’m also called to tell the truth about
who I am."
Last March, the UMC’s Pacific Northwest
Annual Conference refused to convict the Rev. Karen Dammann, who
had also revealed publicly that she was a lesbian living in a same-sex
relationship.
www.umc.org, 8/2/04
Papers print ‘inclusive’
announcements
The battle over same-sex marriage
is not being fought only in legislatures and the courts — it’s
also being fought in newspapers across the country.
According to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation (GLAAD), about one-third of the nation’s approximately
1,500 daily newspapers now include same-sex "wedding"
or civil union announcements alongside those of heterosexual weddings.
GLAAD said its two-year campaign has increased
the number of what it called "inclusive newspapers" sevenfold.
The organization’s Web site (www.glaad.org) contains
a list of the papers that carry the same-sex announcements.
"An estimated one-half of all newspaper
readers read a paper that accepts same-sex union announcements,"
a GLAAD press release said.
AFA President Tim Wildmon encouraged supporters
of traditional marriage to check the policy of their own newspapers.
"If they include same-sex announcements, express your concerns,
write letters to the editor, or even drop your subscription and
encourage others to do likewise," Wildmon said. "Wedding
announcements are for actual weddings. Don’t allow homosexuals
to hijack the institution of marriage."
PRO-LIFE
Pro-lifers’
rights tossed by troopers
Two pro-life activists were allegedly
detained and harassed by Connecticut state troopers while driving
a truck with pictures of aborted babies attached to it.
The activists, Pastor Dennis Green and Michael
Marcavage, claim the officers violated their civil rights by stopping
their vehicle and arresting Marcavage.
The troopers claim the slow-moving vehicle was
creating a traffic hazard due to the graphic nature of the pictures.
After Green was pulled over and asked to step out of the vehicle
by police, Marcavage also got out, stepped onto the highway, and
began videotaping the alleged police harassment. The troopers justified
Marcavage’s arrest on the grounds of interference with police
and reckless use of the highway by a pedestrian.
The troopers said there was no political motivation
behind the stop and arrest. However, the activists believe differently
and are receiving help from the AFA Center for Law and Policy (CLP).
Brain Fahling, senior trial attorney and policy
advisor for the CLP, "contended troopers violated the activists’
civil rights by halting their truck, making derogatory remarks to
the men, arresting Marcavage and ordering the men to remove the
fetus pictures or leave the state," as told to the Connecticut
Post.
Marcavage and his attorneys say trooper David
Febbraio called Marcavage a "Jesus-freak", a "wing-nut,"
"brainwashed," and an "extremist."
Febbraio, who was arrested last year for harassing
a dispatcher and making fun of her physical disability, did not
return media calls seeking comment.
Fahling described the situation as a "picture
perfect example of how to mishandle First Amendment issues,"
while adding that the "reckless and lawless manner of the troopers
has opened the door to a federal lawsuit."
www.cnn.com, 8/3/04;
AgapePress, 8/4/04; www.connpost.com, 8/4/04
Court nixes partial-birth
abortion ban
The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban was recently ruled unconstitutional
by a federal judge who based the decision on the ban’s exclusion
of a health exception clause.
According to U. S. District Judge Richard C.
Casey in Manhattan, the Supreme Court has clearly voiced that a
law intended to prevent the performance of a specific abortion procedure
must include an exception for preserving a woman’s life and
health.
The partial-birth abortion procedure is controversial
because of its gruesome nature: it requires the partial delivery
of a fetus prior to the puncturing of the skull and removal of the
brain, often by suction. Ruling the ban as unconstitutional allows
the procedures to continue without legal sanction.
www.newsday.com, 8/26/04
‘Parental
consent’ law struck down
A liberal-leaning panel of the 9th
U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco recently struck
down Idaho’s "Parental Consent" law, which prevented
underage girls from receiving an abortion without approval from
their parents.
However, pro-lifers are refocusing their efforts
in an appeal to the Supreme Court with expectations of the ruling
being overturned.
Unfortunately, an appeal will take time and
in the process organizations such as Planned Parenthood will continue
to seduce young girls as their prey, according to David Ripley,
executive director of Idaho Chooses Life. He is urging people to
pray for the protection of these young girls.
"[The ruling] was not unexpected, but
it certainly is heartbreaking," Ripley said. "When you
think about two or three years [for an appeal], in a best-case scenario,
of teenagers — 12, 13, 14 [years of age] — making this
decision by themselves without the support and protection of their
parents, it just makes a man weep."
AgapePress, 7/23/04
Monthly journal of
Christian evidences worth reading
A scientific examination of homosexuality
and genetics was recently published in Reason & Revelation:
A Monthly Journal of Christian Evidences.
The article in the August 2004 issue, details
the results of the Human Genome Project conducted by the International
Human Genome Consortium. The project’s findings confirm "neither
the map for the X nor the Y chromosome contains any ‘gay gene.’"
In other words, it negates a genetic connection to homosexual behavior.
Informative articles such as this one are published
each month by Apologetics Press in Reason & Revelation
and have been since 1981. The monthly journal contains "articles
on biblical inspiration, God’s existence, creation/evolution,
the deity of Christ, and other topics in the field of modern apologetics."
Most of the material is written in a reader-friendly
manner with an occasional focus on more challenging scientific,
social and religious controversies.
Reason & Revelation is the main teaching
tool of Apologetics Press, a nonprofit organization founded to publish
and disseminate spiritually sound and scientific materials in apologetics
to the churches of Christ for self-study, group study, and evangelistic
purposes.
The organization also publishes Discovery,
a monthly paper based on Scripture and focused on children’s
science.
More information can be found on the organization’s
Web site at: www.apologeticspress.org.
Reason & Revelation,
8/04; www.apologeticspress.org.
RELIGIOUS
FREEDOM
No
question: Nativity displays constitutional
The display of Nativity scenes to
celebrate Christmas will soon cause questions of constitutionality
to surface as the holiday season approaches.
For Bruce Barilla, of White Sulphur Springs,
West Virginia, the controversy is not surprising. Barilla, founder
of a ministry designed to encourage national, state, and local governments
to recognize a Christian Heritage Week (www.achw.org),
came face to face with such a struggle last Christmas as he made
preparations for a public display of a Nativity scene in his hometown.
"The owner of the car dealership which
let me display the Nativity scene in 2002 changed his mind for 2003,"
Barilla said in a letter to the AFA Journal.
Although his initial efforts were thwarted,
Barilla was determined to find a place for the scene’s display
and was prayerful in asking specifically for another location on
Main Street.
"I went into the local cleaners and explained
my purpose. The lady [Rosa Holliday] working there said she had
been praying about what to do about decorating for Christmas. Needless
to say, both our prayers were answered," Barilla explained
in the letter.
In a phone interview, Barilla said Holliday
played a big part in providing a new location to display his Nativity
scene. However, he recognizes it as a divine intervention.
"It was the perfect spot to display it
and plug it in. It was protected from the weather and nobody could
steal it. It was a blessing," Barilla said of the situation.
For those in a similar situation as Barilla,
it is important to know the legalities surrounding the display of
Nativity scenes. Such information can be found in the October 2003
issue of the AFA Journal available at www.afajournal.org.
Additional assistance in legal matters concerning
the display of Nativity scenes is available from the AFA Center
for Law and Policy by calling 662-680-3886.
Barilla also offers his assistance and suggestions
about purchasing and displaying Nativity scenes and can be reached
by calling 304-536-9029.
Barilla intends to send informational flyers
about purchasing Nativity scenes to about 230 mayors around the
state of West Virginia like he did last year.
"If nothing comes out of it, at least we’re
trying," Barilla said.
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