AFA/ACTIVISM
E-mails
impress elected officials
When it comes to communicating to members of Congress,
e-mail has become one of AFA’s primary methods. And according
to a recent study, AFA is not alone.
Over the period from 2000 to 2004, the number of electronic messages
(mostly e-mails but also the use of fax machines) sent by citizens
to the House of Representatives doubled to 99 million and tripled
to 83 million in the Senate, according to an article in the Washington
Post.
"This is why we encourage our supporters to take the time to e-mail
members of Congress when we give them an opportunity to do so,"
said AFA Director of Special Projects Randy Sharp. "And it is even
better if the voter will add a personal note or two before hitting
the ‘send’ button on the e-mail message. That really gets
the attention of those in Congress."
The study was conducted by the Congressional Management Foundation,
which noted that the skyrocketing numbers of electronic communications
to Congress is often frustrating to congressional staffers. Nevertheless,
congressional aides say they believe the increasing use of technology
is positive. The Post story said 80% of staffers believe that the
Internet has made it easier for constituents to get involved in
the political process, and 48% say they believe that increase in
communication has made members of Congress more responsive.
While congressional aides rarely read each e-mail, they do take
note of them, usually counting the number of communications to get
a sense of where constituents stand on a particular issue.
B.R. McConnon, president of Democracy Data and Communications,
a company which helps interest groups communicate with Congress,
told the Post that e-mail is here to stay. "The use of e-mails to
Congress is going to continue to grow significantly. There isn’t
a more efficient way to get messages to Congress these days and
that’s just the way it is."
Tylenol
ad promotes gay sex
It wasn’t exactly the kind of advertisement one would expect
from a supposedly family-friendly company like Johnson & Johnson.
In July, the company placed an ad for its Tylenol PM product in
The Advocate, the nation’s leading homosexual magazine.
The ad shows two shirtless men in bed side by side. The text over
one reads: "His backache is keeping him up." Over the other: "His
boyfriend’s backache is keeping him up."
AFA Director of Special Projects Randy Sharp said the Tylenol PM
advertisement is a blatant promotion of homosexual activity. "Two
half-naked men shown in bed together, described as being a homosexual
couple, absolutely places the company’s stamp of approval on
sex that is unnatural and immoral," he said. "If Johnson & Johnson
had used an ad that applauded adultery, it could not have been more
offensive than this."
Contact Johnson & Johnson, Chairman William C. Weldon, One
Johnson & Johnson Plaza, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08933, Phone:
732-524-0400; online contact form at: www.jnj.com.
Cohabitation
becomes norm
Cohabitation is becoming more common and losing its stigma in
today’s society. USA Today recently reported that "more than
two-thirds of married couples in the U.S. now say they lived together
before marriage. And the number of unmarried opposite-sex households
overall is rising dramatically. …"
According to the U.S. Census, from 1996 to 2000 there was a tenfold
increase in unmarried couples living together – meaning about
10 million people, or 8% of U. S. coupled households, are living
with a partner of the opposite sex.
"In some sense, cohabitation is replacing dating," said Pamela
Smock, an associate professor of sociology at the University of
Michigan.
High housing costs and tight budgets are often motives for cohabitation.
However, Marshall Miller, co-founder of the Alternative to Marriage
Project – a national nonprofit that advocates for the rights
of the unmarried – believes that couples should not cohabit
just because their leases are up.
"If one sees it as a way to save on rent and the other sees this
as an engagement of sorts, then you’re going to be headed for
trouble," Miller explained.
Scott Stanley, co-director of the Center for Marital and Family
Studies at the University of Denver, said, "People who are cohabiting
might end up marrying somebody they might not otherwise have married."
In other words, they’re "sliding not deciding."
"People want what marriage signifies: that sense of ‘us with
a future,’ " Stanley added. "But because of the high rates
of divorce for the past few decades and many other circumstances,
including decreased rates of marriage, there is really a crisis
in confidence about the institution of marriage."
This crisis is reflected in the more recent decline of divorces
in the United States – not because married couples are staying
together but because they are never getting married in the first
place, according to an annual report released by the National Marriage
Project at Rutgers University. It found that both the marriage and
divorce rates are on a steady decline in the U.S.
"Cohabitation is here to stay," said David Popenoe, a Rutgers sociology
professor and report co-author. "As society shifts from marriage
to cohabitation – which is what’s happening – you
have an increase in family instability."
www.usatoday.com, 7/17/05, 7/18/05
CULTURE
Fast
food campaigns stir controversy
Apparently Burger King thinks vulgarity sells hamburgers. At
least that’s the message that visitors to its "Coq Roq" Web
site would assume.
"Coq Roq" is a fictional heavy metal band created by Burger King
as an advertising gimmick to reach young people. The Web site has
sample music – with lyrics that promote Burger King’s
new chicken fries – and brief biographies for the band’s
members.
As of July 26, according to AdAge.com, the site also contained
photographs with captions that were obviously meant to be taken
as sexual double entendres. One photo, for example, showed a group
of young ladies who are apparently enthusiasts for Coq Roq, with
the caption: "Groupies love Coq."
As word got out, the company removed the sexually-themed captions,
although it claimed the changes were not made because of complaints.
The vulgar campaign follows on the heels of a similarly sexed-up
ad push by CK Enterprises, which owns the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s
hamburger chains. That company ran a TV ad containing "a bump-and-grind
car wash by bad-girl heiress Paris Hilton," said USA Today. "In
a sexy black swimsuit, she seductively washes down a Bentley and
herself, working up an appetite for a Spicy BBQ sandwich."
"What is it with these hamburger chains? Are they so desperate
to pump up lagging sales that they’re resorting to vulgarity
and strip teases to gain attention?" complained AFA Director of
Special Projects Randy Sharp, who has followed both ad campaigns.
"It’s like Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s and Burger King have
perverted seventh-grade boys running their ad campaigns."
Carl’s Jr. spokesman Brad Haley defended the Hilton ad against
criticism, claiming, "This is exactly what [young guys] respond
to."
Not so, according to Advertising Age. It said sales figures
demonstrated that "[d]espite the whirlwind of publicity generated
by its Paris Hilton ad, the controversial spot does not appear to
have significantly increased Carl’s Jr. restaurant sales."
www.adage.com, 7/26/05, 7/4/05; USA
Today, 6/1/05
Liberal
bias may have skewed virginity stats
Researchers at the Heritage Foundation are questioning the findings
of a Yale University study, which concluded that virginity pledges
do not aid young people in avoiding sexually transmitted diseases
(STDs) or unplanned pregnancies.
Yale professors Peter Bearman and Hanna Bruckner published their
findings in the April 2005 issue of the Journal of Adolescent
Health, claiming that youth who took virginity pledges were
just as likely to have STDs as non-pledgers. In addition, the article
suggested that those who make commitments to virginity are more
likely to engage in unhealthy anal and oral sex.
However, a study led by Heritage Foundation researcher Robert Rector
looked at the exact same database used in the Yale study and concluded
that the liberal academics distorted the information.
"A re-examination of the data … reveals that Bearman and Bruckner’s
conclusions were inaccurate," the Heritage Foundation said. "Moreover,
in crucial respects they misled the press and public."
"Adolescents who took a virginity pledge were about 25% less likely
to get an STD," Rector said of his team’s findings after studying
the data.
"They’re also less likely to have a child out of wedlock;
they’re less likely to engage in nonmarital sexual activity;
and they’re less likely to engage in sex while in high school,"
he added.
www.heritage.org, 6/14/05; AgapePress,
6/21/05
‘New
face of drugs’ frightening
These are not your hippie father’s drugs. That’s the
harrowing message of a new DVD/video and reference guide that should
stun parents, grandparents, clergy and teachers out of complacency
when it comes to the threat of drugs in their kids’ lives.
Titled The New Face of Drugs, the DVD makes the case that
dangerous substances – being regularly abused by many
of the nation’s youth – are often right in the home already.
Also frightening is the fact that drug dealers are finding new,
enticing ways to put illegal drugs into pill form. Often, those
pills look like candy or children’s vitamins, and are branded
with popular icons like smiley faces, cartoon characters and popular
logos – Nike, MTV, and Motorola among them.
"It’s not what you think! The threat of drugs isn’t some
guy in the back alley," the New Face of Drugs Web site says,
"it’s the local convenience store, your own medicine cabinet,
or your child’s best friend. They’re not something you
have to smoke, or shoot, or snort … they’re candy-flavored
pills. Drugs are everywhere and they’re hidden in plain sight!"
The DVD contains heart-rending interviews with kids who were seduced
into the drug scene, and candid moments with befuddled parents who
were staggered to discover that drugs had entered the lives of even
their "good kids." Drug enforcement agents, doctors and mental health
professionals are also interviewed.
However, the DVD and accompanying guide do not leave concerned
adults without help. Both provide strategies for prevention and
intervention that should arm them with the information and encouragement
they need to make a difference in children’s lives.
For more information, visit www.DrugTalk.org
or call 1-866-427-8286.
Choking
game puts kids’ lives at risk
Parents should be aware that some U.S. children are choking
themselves for fun, and sometimes the fun turns fatal.
This increasing trend of activity is generally known as "suffocation
games," but has a variety of specific names such as "blackout,"
"funky chicken," "space monkey," "flatliner," "tingling," and "suffocation
roulette." All of these games are designed to induce a drug-like
high, while some youth also play them to increase sexual pleasure.
The games involve young people acting in groups or even alone to
choke themselves as a means of experiencing what Ashraf Attalla
refers to as "a mild to moderate state of euphoria" lasting 5 to
10 seconds. Attalla is a child psychiatrist at the Ridgeview Institute
in Atlanta.
"When they strangle themselves and then release the pressure, it
creates a tingling sensation in their upper body, especially their
arms and head. And they think it’s cool," said Ralph Davis,
sheriff of Fremont County, Idaho, where the death of a 10-year-old
boy occurred due to a suffocation game. Such games have caused death
or serious injuries among youth in at least nine states over the
past few years.
www.usatoday.com, 7/19/05
EDUCATION
Educators
confirm pro-gay position
The National Education Association (NEA) has adopted a new strategy
to counter opposition to the formation of Gay-Straight Alliance
clubs in public schools, and has condemned opponents of those clubs.
At its recent convention in Los Angeles, the 9,000 delegates representing
the 2.7-million-member NEA voted overwhelmingly to develop a comprehensive
strategy to deal with "the new and more sophisticated attacks" against
policies that create a safe environment for gay, lesbian, bisexual,
and transgender (GLBT) students in schools.
The Washington Times quoted the chairman of the GLBT Caucus of
the NEA, who asserted that "extremist groups are using increasingly
sophisticated and aggressive tactics to attack school districts
with affirming GLBT policies, curriculum, and practices."
Jeralee Smith, founder of the NEA’s Conservative Educators
Caucus, said she was not surprised by the vote, considering the
NEA’s pro-homosexual leanings.
According to the Times report, a delegate from Pennsylvania stood
to ask the delegates to consider giving equal weight in schools
to the ex-gay position. However, the delegate was interrupted by
booing from the convention floor, causing NEA president Reg Weaver
to bring debate on the matter to a close.
www.washtimes, 7/5/05; AgapePress,
7/11/05
New
resources offer balance in gay issues
In order to redress the one-sidedness of sexual orientation
materials being funneled into the nation’s public schools,
a college professor has created resources meant to balance the views
presented to youth.
Dr. Warren Throckmorton, associate professor of psychology at Grove
City College in Pennsylvania, has produced a teacher’s guide
titled Sexual Orientation and the Public Schools: A Balanced
Approach. It also contains lesson plans and teacher resources,
and can be downloaded at no cost at www.respectandthefacts.com.
In addition, Throckmorton has produced a nonreligious video/DVD
called Sexual Orientation: Is Change Possible? which presents
a case that some homosexuals can change. The newer video was taken
from the more religiously oriented but equally powerful I Do
Exist. The new video can be ordered at www.ischangepossible.com.
"We have become quite comfortable recommending Dr. Throckmorton’s
resources to AFA supporters," said AFA Chairman Don Wildmon. "His
materials are always poignant, compelling, and well-documented."
ENTERTAINMENT
Popular
video game crosses line
The controversial video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
got nabbed in July for explicit sexual content, adding to concerns
about the game that already included sex, criminal conduct and nihilistic
violence.
The explicit content had been secretly included in the game by
designers. It could be accessed through a "patch," downloaded off
the Internet, which made women in the game nude and also showed
male and female characters engaged in various sex acts, according
to SiliconValley.com. The person playing the game controls his character
in the sexual act.
David Walsh, founder of The National Institute on the Media and
the Family, said, "This is about kids. Can you imagine the impact
of 13- 14- and 15-year-old boys literally enacting this scene?"
Initially, when news leaked out about the explicit sex included
in San Andreas, the game’s publisher, Take-Two Interactive,
claimed the material was the result of an outsider, and was not
included in the original game.
However, while the Internet patch that unlocked the sexual content
was produced by an outsider the company finally admitted
that the game itself originally contained the material.
The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), which rates video
and computer games to help parents monitor what their kids are playing,
was not happy about the sexual content. The ESRB took the unprecedented
step of changing the rating of San Andreas from "M," which
stands for "Mature: may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older,"
to "AO," for "Adults Only," meaning 18 and older.
That AO tag tainted the game for many retailers like Wal-Mart,
Best Buy and GameStop, which refuse to carry games with the tougher
rating. While San Andreas has sold more than 12 million copies
since its release last fall, retailer reaction could cost Take-Two
some $40 million in lost sales, according to the Los Angeles Times.
USA Today, 7/20/05; www.latimes.com,
7/21/05; www.siliconvalley.com, 7/8/05
PORNOGRAPHY
Christians
subject to pornography’s lure
Another pastor’s ministry is lost and his family stripped
away – all because of an addiction to pornography. As sad as
it is, Christians are not immune to the evil forces of perversion,
as evident from a growing body of research.
According to World magazine, a 2003 survey found that 47%
of Christians admitted pornography is a serious problem at home.
In addition, 37% of pastors have viewed Internet porn, according
to a 2001 Christianity Today leadership survey.
"Intense availability has largely contributed to such numbers,"
Mark Bergin wrote in World. "The Internet’s offer of
complete anonymity and instant accessibility has changed everything."
Bergin reported that pornographic Web sites account for 12% of
all Web sites and function as links to 372 million pages of porn
and service some 68 million daily search engine requests for such
images.
Although advanced technology is aiding the sinful habit of porn
addiction, there are also a number of programs focused on helping
addicts break free. Such organizations include Dynamic Living for
Men (DLM); Faithful and True Ministries; Harvest USA; Christians
for Sexual Integrity; and Pure Life Ministries.
World, 4/23/05
Porn
common among child molesters
The possession of child pornography by child molesters is becoming
a common phenomenon, according to a study released by the New Hampshire
Crimes Against Children Research Center.
After interviewing police investigators regarding a possible link
between possessing child pornography and acting on it, researchers
found 40% of porn users to be molesters. Once again, this trend
of perversion is connected to the Internet.
"We have never found one case of child sexual abuse where the predator
did not use or have in his possession pornography," said Phil Burress,
president of Citizens for Community Values, who works with law enforcement
to end pornography.
Burress points out how important it is for parents to know that
predators use the Internet to seduce their children. Therefore,
parents need to monitor what their children do online. For example,
he advises parents to prohibit Internet access in their children’s
bedrooms.
In addition, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is working to
combat the rise in possession and distribution of child pornography
– acts deemed illegal under federal laws.
The DOJ has responded by funding the CyberTipline, found at
www.cybertipline.com, and operated by the National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children. It allows citizens to report
suspected possession of child pornography.
The department has also created regional Internet Crimes Against
Children Task Forces to assist state and local law enforcement in
the effort to protect kids from sexual exploitation.
www.family.org, 6/9/05; www.unh.edu/ccrc/,
6/2005
PRO-LIFE
Study
finds abortion-premie link
Premature births and abortion are linked once again, this time
through a French study of 2,837 births published by England’s
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
The study, found in the April issue of BJOG: An International
Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, revealed that women who
had abortions were one-and-one-half times more likely to birth a
premature baby in subsequent pregnancies than women who had not
had a prior abortion. In addition, the link was especially significant
among women who had had multiple abortions.
The findings revealed that, of the women who delivered at 22 to
27 weeks (considered extremely premature), 18% had previously induced
abortions. Among those delivering at 28 to 32 weeks, 14.6 % had
prior abortions, while 15.6% of women delivering at 33 to 34 weeks
had aborted an earlier pregnancy. As a means of comparison, only
10% of women carrying their babies full term had had an abortion.
In addition, women having more than one abortion are 2.6 times
more likely to have a premature subsequent birth than are non-abortive
mothers.
Culture and Cosmos, 5/31/05
Abortion-drug
abuse link, study claims
Abortions and drug abuse once again have been linked, according
to a study co-sponsored by the U. S. Department of Health and Human
Services and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and reported
by Christian Wire Service.
Drug abuse is three times more common during a subsequent pregnancy
among women who have had abortions in the past than among those
who have never ended a pregnancy. However, there is no evidence
of the trend among women who experienced miscarriages or stillbirths.
Research suggests that subsequent pregnancies may cause women to
experience unresolved grief about past abortions. To mask such feelings,
these women depend on drugs.
"Whatever the individual experience," said Dr. David Reardon, "it
is clear that pregnant women with a history of abortion are at a
greater risk of trying to suppress their turbulent emotions by relying
on more alcohol, cigarettes or illegal drugs." Reardon, director
of the Elliot Institute, helped collect data along with researchers
from Bowling State University and the University of Texas.
The findings of the study paralleled those of 21 other studies
that connect abortions to an increased rate of substance abuse.
www.family.org, 7/05
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