In a huge win for thousands of Christian families in California and nationwide, a California appeals court Aug. 8 reversed itself and ruled that parents do in fact have a right to homeschool their children

In a huge win for thousands of Christian families in California and nationwide, a California appeals court Aug. 8 reversed itself and ruled that parents do in fact have a right to homeschool their children even if they lack teaching credentials.

The three-judge panel received nationwide attention and criticism in February when it ruled that “parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children.” It based its ruling on a nearly 80-year-old law by the California legislature. But in the decades since that law was implemented, the panel ruled Aug. 8, the legislature has implicitly accepted homeschooling as legal.

“We … conclude that California statutes permit home schooling as a species of private school education,” the justices wrote in their unanimous decision.

The February ruling said parents could homeschool their children only if they had a “valid state teaching credential for the grade being taught” — something that many if not most homeschooling parents don’t have. The panel announced in March it would rehear the case. The original decision drew criticism from California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who pledged legislation if it wasn’t overturned, as well as from State Schools Superintendent Jack O’Connell, who said he supported the rights of homeschoolers.

There are an estimated 166,000 homeschool students in California. More than a dozen organizations filed friend-of-the-court briefs urging the court to reconsider its ruling. Technically, the court case involved alleged abuse within a family who had homeschooled their children. But instead of simply ruling on that particular case, the court issued a broad ruling that covered all homeschool families in the state.

The latest ruling drew wide praise from homeschool organizations.

“This is a great victory for homeschool freedom,” Michael Farris, chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association, said in a statement. “I have never seen such an impressive array of people and organizations coming to the defense of homeschooling. The team effort was remarkable.”

The original ruling was viewed as particularly troubling to Christian families because California’s public schools have some of the more liberal laws in the nation regarding teaching about sexuality and homosexuality. Many of those families see homeschooling as the only viable alternative.

The Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal organization, was among the groups involved in the case seeking a reversal.

“Parents have a constitutional right to make educational choices for their children,” Alliance Defense Fund attorney Gary McCaleb said in a statement. “Thousands of California families have educated their children successfully through homeschooling. We’re pleased with the court’s decision, which protects the rights of families and protects an avenue of education that has proven to benefit children time and time again.”

The court Aug. 8 said that home schooling was amended out of state law in 1929, and that court rulings in 1953 and 1961 “confirmed” that children could be homeschooled only by a credentialed tutor. But since then, the panel ruled, the legislature has passed statutes which assume that homeschooling is legal.

“Under these circumstances, it is our view that the proper course of action is to interpret the earlier statutes in light of the later ones, and to recognize, as controlling, the Legislature’s apparent acceptance of the proposition that home schools are permissible in California when conducted as private schools,” the decision said.

Michael Foust is an assistant editor of Baptist Press.

Massachussetts Abortion Doctor Indicted for Manslaughter, Pleas Not Guilty

By Tom Strode, Baptist Press

Massachusetts abortion doctor Rapin Osathanondh, charged with manslaughter in the death of a 22-year-old woman last year, has pleaded not guilty.

Laura Smith’s death in September became noteworthy not only because it occurred while she was in the presence of a doctor who had just performed an abortion on her but because she was a member of a pro-life, evangelical Christian family. Smith was pronounced dead Sept. 13 at Cape Cod Hospital after being taken there from Osathanondh’s Hyannis, Mass., clinic by ambulance, according to the Cape Cod Times.

A pro-life organization has attached the victim’s name to an informed consent law it is pressing the state legislature to adopt. The board of directors of Massachusetts Citizens for Life voted to name the proposal Laura’s Law, LifeNews.com reported Aug. 11. The bill would require information on abortion’s risks, its alternatives and the unborn child’s development be provided before a woman undergoes an abortion, according to the report.

Osathanondh, 65, entered his plea July 24, eight days after being indicted by a Barnstable County Grand Jury, according to The Boston Globe. “Suffice it to say, there was an inattention to the kinds of procedures of a life-saving nature that one would expect in a place where an operation with anesthesia is being performed,” said District Attorney Michael O’Keefe, The Globe reported.

Osathanondh resigned his medical license in February after he apparently learned the state’s Board of Registration in Medicine had voted to suspend him. The resignation is permanent.

Eileen Smith, Laura’s mother, did not know her engaged daughter was pregnant. Laura was pro-life and was reared in a Christian home with three other children by Eileen and her husband Tom. Laura had made a profession of faith in Christ and been baptized at the age of 12, her mother said.

Since Laura’s death, Eileen Smith has become outspoken in her support for the pro-life cause.

“As I travel around the country speaking about Laura’s story, I am encouraged that word is getting out and people are being helped and lives are being saved,” she said. “My goal is to also be a catalyst in the laws changing in [Massachusetts] and maybe even beyond.”

Obama Opposes California Marriage Amendment While McCain Supports It

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski

As the California Marriage Amendment debate heats up Barack Obama and John McCain have made clear their respective positions on the issue.

Two weeks after the California Supreme Court announced its decision to allow same-sex couples to “marry”, opponents of same-sex marriage succeeded in placing on the November ballot a proposed constitutional amendment which states: “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” If passed, the measure would reverse the recent court decision.

Mr. Obama recently made his position public in a letter sent to a San Francisco homosexual activist group.

“I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution or those of other states,” wrote Mr. Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

At the same time John McCain has announced his support for the California Protection of Marriage initiative in an email received by the ProtectMarriage.com campaign.

“I support the efforts of the people of California to recognize marriage as a unique institution between a man and a woman, just as we did in my home state of Arizona. I do not believe judges should be making these decisions,” Mr. McCain stated.

In a press release commenting on the endorsement of Senator McCain, ProtectMarriage.com Chairman Ron Prentice said, “We are honored to have the support of Senator McCain. As a leader in the United States Senate and the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Senator McCain’s position will be an important factor to millions of Californians.”

“Senator McCain has articulated a key feature of the initiative campaign, which is that voters and not judges should be determining this issue.”

“Over 61% of the electorate has already voted to reaffirm marriage as between a man and a woman. Four activist judges on the California Supreme Court in San Francisco wrongly substituted their own narrow views for the opinion of over 4 million California voters. Fortunately, voters will be able to correct that mistake in November and restore the definition of marriage to our constitution.”

“We look forward to working with Senator McCain and many other elected leaders to accomplish this. We hope that U.S Senator Barack Obama will join Senator McCain in endorsing the initiative, and would welcome his support as well.”

Source: LifeSite News

Critical Primary Campaign of Kansas Prosecutor Phill Kline

Re-Election Necessary to Keep Planned Parenthood Case Alive – Asks Pro-Life Movement For Support

Kansas district attorney Phill Kline is fighting a critical primary challenge on August 5 that threatens his efforts to prosecute the only criminal case ever filed against the abortion giant Planned Parenthood in the United States and is asking pro-life advocates to join in his re-election fight.

Phill Kline’s case against Planned Parenthood has the potential of causing the billion dollar abortion giant to lose the $350 million dollars it receives from the federal government under Title X funds.

“He is up for reelection, and if he does not get past this August 5th primary, the candidate he is running against will not carry forward this criminal case,” said Jenn Giroux, Kline’s campaign manager.

Kline faces a stiff challenge from moderate Republican Steve Howe, who with other establishment party figures attempted to dissuade Kline from running for re-election.

Giroux spoke with LifeSiteNews and explained that Planned Parenthood has managed to delay trial for nine months since Kline charged them with 107 criminal counts – 23 felonies and 84 misdemeanors – for unlawful late-term abortions and other abortion-related crimes on October 16, 2007.

Kline’s evidence comes from subpoenaed medical records that indicate that Planned Parenthood in Johnson County willfully neglected to report instances of child rape, forged viability reports, and performed illegal late-term abortions.

The abortion giant has been hoping to wait out the clock on Kline’s term as District Attorney, just as they did when he was the Attorney General. However, if Kline defeats his primary opponent, and then goes on to win the general election, Planned Parenthood will have to face trial.

“If he does not win on August 5, this only criminal case in the country will go away forever,” Giroux stated.

Giroux said Kline’s battle for reelection is entering a critical phase and the campaign is trying to recruit 6,000 individuals or families to donate $50 each to raise $300,000 by July 22 – two weeks from the August 5 primary showdown. Giroux said the money is needed so the campaign can pay for and produce advertising on television, radio, and mail, and get maximum exposure time with the voters. The advertising will help Kline overcome the bias of the Kansas City Star, which is a fierce opponent of the Johnson County DA.

The Kline campaign has set up a website for this purpose called “StandWithPhill,” featuring a video explaining why Kline’s reelection is pivotal to the success of the pro-life movement and such an incredible threat to the abortion hegemon Planned Parenthood. (see http://www.standwithphill.com/)

“More importantly than anything Planned Parenthood is not going to be rewarded for their delay tactics that they hoped would get Phil Kline to leave office and the next prosecutor to drop this case and then they would be off scot-free.”

Giroux stated that Kline’s recent straw poll victory in a conservative part of the county has the campaign feeling very good about the primary; but the fight will be close as they make the final push to get out the word.

“It’s very close, but Phill Kline has 98% name recognition,” Giroux said. “The primary we feel very good about. It’s all about turning out his base.”

Early this July, Kline garnered the endorsement of Focus on the Family founder James Dobson. Dobson said he was speaking as an individual and rarely gave out endorsements, but said, “It is imperative that he win this contest.”

He continued, “Defeating Mr. Kline has become a national priority for the abortion industry, which funneled millions of dollars to Kansas for the purpose of demonizing him in the liberal media and ending his term as Attorney General.”

“If he is to successfully uphold the moral values that you and I and millions of Americans hold dear, particularly with respect to his battle against late-term abortion in Kansas, we must support his re-election campaign.”

To visit the StandWithPhill website:
http://www.standwithphill.com/

To visit Phill Kline’s website for reelection:
http://klineforda.com/

New Youth Convention Threatens to Promote Homosexuality, Abortion

By Piero A. Tozzi

(C-FAM June 19. 2008) With the recent addition of Bolivia, seven counties have now ratified a treaty called the Ibero-American Convention on the Rights of Youth (ICRY), a document that worries Latin American social conservatives for its not-so-veiled promotion of radical social policies. The document includes references to “sexual and reproductive health” as well as “sexual orientation.”

Representatives from 14 Latin countries and the two major Iberian nations, Spain and Portugal, signed the Convention in Badajoz, Spain, in October 2005. The Organización Iberoamericana de Juventud (OIJ) spearheaded the drafting of the ICRY, with backing from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and Spain’s socialist government.

In accordance with its provisions, the treaty went into effect on March 1 after Costa Rica became the fifth country to adopt the document. In addition to Costa Rica, the other countries that have formally ratified the ICRY are Bolivia, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Spain, and Uruguay.

The Convention has met some resistance, however. The Peruvian Congress rejected the treaty over concerns that “sexual orientation” language was a backdoor attempt to soften resistance to homosexual “marriage.” Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador and Andorra have thus far refrained from signing ICRY, and Mexican pro-family groups are running a campaign urging Mexican President Felipe Calderón that the government not ratify it.

The Madrid Declaration, a separate document issued in November 2005 to promote “sexual and reproductive health rights” signed by the OIJ, specifically referenced implementing ICRY’s sexual education provision. Article 23 of the ICRY states that sex education will be imparted at “all educational levels,” oriented “to full acceptance and identity [of sexuality], as well as the prevention of sexually-transmitted diseases.”

Latin American pro-lifers are wary of inclusion of a right to “sexual and reproductive health.” The term has been used by UN agencies and powerful non-governmental organizations as a stalking horse for promoting abortion, even though no international treaty has defined reproductive health synonymously with abortion.

Under the ICRY, countries are required to report every two years to OIJ’s Secretary General. There is, however, no formal compliance monitoring mechanism, and ICRY’s juridical scope is not clearly defined. Supporters nevertheless see it as a “legal tool” for young people whose rights under the Convention have been breached. On the eve of the Convention’s entry into force, Costa Rica’s ambassador to Spain, Melvin Alfredo Saenz, reportedly told OIJ’s Secretary General Eugenio Ravinet Muñoz that his nation was fulfilling both an “ethical obligation” and a “juridical duty” in ratifying the ICRY.

An upcoming July Andean region youth and human rights gathering in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, sponsored by the Comisión Andina de Juristas and the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional, is expected to focus on how to utilize ICRY as a juridical instrument. According to the Inter-American Development Bank, representatives from government, civil society and academia will obtain specialized training in human rights implementation using the ICRY.

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It’s true–the United Nations doesn’t promote abortion on demand. They just mandated it. Their many followers are leading the unborn lambs of their people to the slaughter. Seeing that Jesus died and rose again. I still suspect He will soon answer those that hate Him and love so much convenience killing. When he does, the nations, if not the world, will never be the same.

The underlying problem of many religious people wooed into believing the secular lies and lifestyles is the lack of understanding the rule of law. Jesus death was not about grace as much as it was the complete satisfaction of God legal justice. God grace cannot exist without the total satisfaction of the divine moral law. Just as the penalty for crime is never forgiveness, so too the penalty for sin or moral crime is always and everywhere capital punishment. Murders are never acquitted until tried and found not guilty. Moral crime is never acquitted without the death of the criminal or a willing sinless substitute–Jesus is the one and only. Secularists mock God and his law, but God will mock them with legal fairness and equality of justice by the truth.

It may not seem that God’s judgment is beginning to be executed but I believe it is. Consider what the gospels record about the times before the final judgment: it will be like in the days of Noah and of Lot.
Noah’s day was on of violence and indifference to God. Lot lived in a multicultural and tolerant culture where homosexuality and heterosexuality coexisted as normative. Yet, the gays attempted to defile holy angels that visited it, which means the end-game of sexual politics–justification of all immorality– seeks to destroy all morality and moral purity. That is what U.N. and all other secularists are all about.

If Latin American youth want freedom, a good and healthy life, and freedom, they will eliminate the sexual politics of immorality from their law and culture.

State-based drug abuse of foster care children

Although based on a 2006 CBS report, Dr. Mercola article is still worth a reading.

How can state officials and physicians justify giving children as young as 2 years old psychotropic drugs in order to control their behavior? It is difficult to image any good reason. For one argument against it is that psychotropic drugs are not approved for children. Another is diet is more likely nature cause of problem behaviors. Still another reason not mentioned by Dr. Mercola is the fact that the problem involves children taken away from parents. Wouldn’t that disorient you? Wouldn’t it make you fearful or cause dread? Could you sleep at night after experiencing the trauma of being separated from your primary care-giver–the most significant other? Is it possible that it might make you angry too? I think my emotions and behavior would be all screwed up.

So, the all-knowing and wise state (FL, OH, TX. etc.) thinks doping children into passivity is the answer. They helped the drug companies pacify kids in school with Ritalin and Prozac. They have ripped kids from their homes because some parents would not let their kids take such drugs.

I think we Americans ought to collectively force the totalitarian welfare state to get out of the business of trying to control our lives and help drug companies to destroy them. Don’t get me wrong here. Some people are helped by manufactured drugs. The modern corporate welfare state is foreign to the founder’s view of government and freedom. Its increasing abusive and destructive practices and policies are proving this fact.

I think a reasonable solution to the problem for Americans to encourage people capable of holding public office who would actually represent their interests rather than special interest groups and their lobbies. We need electible people who actually will produce change. If you believe Obama’s rhetoric, I would like to interest you in some snake oil to help make your life and our world a better place. A vote for Obama is a vote for Soros and other tycoons who careless about any of us peons.

We need people who will take on the power and moneyed interest for all of our good. We need representatives who will correct corporate near-monopoly capitalism to a real just capitalism. Notice I didn’t say socialism or welfare or global capitalism, or democratic egalitarian capitalism (if anyone would even dare to call socialist-fascist welfare by that phrase). No reason exist for most poverty in America except for greed and power lust.

You don’t believe it? Then consider this: society tends to think of the typical poor person as black. Right? Yet, statistics show a much higher percentage of blacks are long-term employed compared to whites. It stands to reason that blacks who have less income than whites though more are employed are systemically impoverished. An explanation for this phenomenon is that liberal welfare politics uses the poor for corporate wealth discrimination and for justifying the socialist-fascist totalitarian cause. How much independence or freedom is there distributed to welfare recipients? Is it the self-governing kind? Does it depend on the moral strength of discipline and doing right? Does it empower recipients to contribute to the common good? Or does help the corrupting politics corrupt society?

This much is certain it empower evil people to drug innocent because of a vampire-like political and economic system domineered by the Left who populate it.

Read Dr. Mercola’s article Drugging Children to Keep Them Quiet and/or watch the video by the same title.

Lots of pornography found on computer of Judge in LA obscenity case

From Aaron Leichman’s the Christian Post news report on June 13, 2008.

In one of the nation’s most high profile cases involving the prosecution of obscenity, pro-family groups and other commentators believed that they had a solid case against a Los Angeles advertizing agency owner who produced and sold thousands of what one attorney described as “the most extreme [pornographic videos] ever been put on trial.”

That is, until the case was temporarily suspended this week after the presiding judge was revealed to have a mountain of obscene pornographic videos on his personal web page.

Although state prosecutors spoke of a significant “conflict of interest” as they requested a 48-hour stay, pro-family groups have called for nothing less than the removal of Ninth Circuit Court Chief Justice Alex Kozinski from the case.

“As of this morning, he [has] yet to recuse himself from the current case involving sexual fetish videos,” the Family Research Council said in a statement.

“[Americans], like FRC, believe that Kozinski is ill-equipped to try an obscenity case when he clearly does not understand the definition of obscene. We call for his recusal in this case and a reexamination of his fitness as chief of one of the most important courts in the entire nation,” the group added.

But perhaps the most incredulous aspect of the recent case, according to pro-family groups, is Kozinki’s apparent indifference to the controversy of having a web page containing obscene pornographic images.

“Is it prurient?” Kozinski asked, according to the Los Angeles Times, which revealed the existence of the images and videos on the judge’s Web site. “I don’t know what to tell you… It’s part of life. This is a funny joke.”

A joke, however, that few Americans find funny, the FRC said.

The case, which involves Ira Isaacs, who is charged with obscenity for selling movies depicting bestiality and fetishes involving feces and urination, could prove challenging for prosecutors to effectively put on trial.

Kozinski called Thursday for an ethics panel to investigate his own conduct and said he would fully cooperate in any investigation, according to The Associated Press . He has acknowledged the sexual content on his personal Web site and claimed the images were not obscene. The California judge, however, also told the legal Web site abovethelaw.com that he doesn’t remember “putting some of that stuff” there.

“The problem with obscenity is no one really knows what it is. It’s relatively simple to paint something as an artistic effort even if it’s offensive,” said Jean Rosenbluth, a former federal prosecutor and law professor at University of Southern California, as reported by AP.

In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that work cannot be considered obscene if it is deemed to have “literary, artistic, political or scientific value.”

The case will be relegated to a temporary pause until prosecutors decide how to further proceed.

Louisiana defeats a fascist bill that would make gays a protected class

The Louisiana legislature defeated bill HB 981 Homosexual Privileges Bill on May 30. Rep. LaFonta’s bill would have forced government agencies to add homosexuality as a protected class under hiring practices.

Fascist gay activists and politicians are seeking to convince local, state, and federal government to pass this type of bill. The bill is sometimes called Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). ENDA was defeated in Congress earlier this year. Whether as legislation or local ordinance, this type of law will force communities and individuals businesses and landlords to violate their First Amendment rights.

Gay rights law is the end game of liberal politics. As explained by Jonah Goldberg, the history of American liberalism is the development of fascist socialism similar to Italy’s Mussolini, Russia’s Marixist-Lennonism, Germany’s Nazism, and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal carried forward by Lyndon B, Johnson’s Great Society. All of them shared the same basic ideals. The sexual politics of liberals has long been a direct effort to replace western biblically-based moral values with those usually defined as humanism. An all encompassing term for all of these political, social, and value systems is secularism.

The oft-repeated slander of the Left that the religious view, moral values, and political principles of America’s founding are somehow antiquated is the lie of propagandists. The political ideals and the moral values on which they were justified are common to human nature. The natural law basis of the Constitution is not rooted in modern secular ideals. The two are conflicting opposites. Natural law is reasoned from human nature and moral law. Human nature doesn’t change and consequently neither does moral law. The Left opposes this in order to foist upon all their immorality. Homosexuality is unnatural behavior and it is immoral. Not discriminating against it is a crime against nature.

All states should follow Louisiana’s lead.

DC Planned Parenthood butcher shop attempting to dodge malpractice suit by a now infertile 13 year old

Tim Waggoner of LifeSite News reported that a women on February 12, 2008, filed a lawsuit against Planned Parenthood Metropolitan located in Washington, D.C. for damages suffered during an abortion procedure at a Planned Parenthood centre.

Emma Jean Butler, mother of Shantese Butler, is suing Planned Parenthood for $50 million dollars in damages. Butler took her daughter to the D.C. Planned Parenthood on September 7, 2006 to abort a child conceived in rape. During the abortion, Shantese sustained severe abdominal bleeding, severe vaginal injury, severe injury to the cervix, significant uterine perforation, and a small bowel tear. In addition, parts of the child were found inside Shantese’s abdomen on September 8, 2006. Because of these injuries, Shantese will be infertile for the rest of her life.

Planned Parenthood Metropolitan has denied the injuries suffered and the infertility of Shantese Butler. In addition, they state in their answer that Butler’s claims are barred by the doctrines of informed consent and assumption of risk.

Kristan Hawkins, Students for Life of America’s Executive Director, remarked, “This is a horrible situation. Our thoughts go out to Shantese and her family as she recovers from her injuries both from the rape and abortion. Further, it is outrageous that Planned Parenthood thinks they are excused from being held liable because Shantese was informed of possible risks associated with abortion. In no other medical profession would this be acceptable. How ironic is it that the pro-abortion movement claims they want abortions to be ‘safe, legal, and rare,’ when in this poster case for abortion, Shantese was permanently injured, resulting in infertility for the rest of her life, making abortion harmful and almost deadly to the young girl.”

We should not allow federal or state governments to pass laws undermining the rights of patients or consumers who have been harmed, lied to, or defrauded by any industry, whether medical or any other.
People do not exist for the benefit of profit or government. The American ideal was that they exist for the benefit of the people in communities, states, and nations where they serve at the people’s will.

Life is priceless and so is wholeness. Planned Planned will be getting off too easy if all they have to do is pay $50 million for Shantese Butler’s medical expenses, legal expenses, and maybe a little left over for her future. Maybe that future will include some sort of new medical restorative technology or for future adoptions.

See Students For Life for more information about this case.

Court Agrees: Wisconsin Marriage Amendment is Constitutional

Earlier today, Dane County Circuit Judge Richard G. Niess ruled that Wisconsin’s Marriage Amendment is constitutional. Judge Niess said the amendment clearly dealt with a single purpose: defining and protecting marriage.

Wisconsin Family Council, represented by Alliance Defense Fund, submitted a friend of the court brief in this case, which the judge referred to several times during the arguments.

At issue was whether or not the amendment violated the Wisconsin Constitution by dealing with more than one subject.

The case was initiated by William McConkey, a UW-Oshkosh professor, who alleged that the amendment violated the equal protection clause of the US Constitution. Judge Niess dismissed that portion of the case last year ruling that McConkey did not have standing as a heterosexual married man. However, the judge said that McConkey did have standing to challenge the amendment based on the “single subject” clause of the Wisconsin Constitution.

“The marriage amendment demonstrated a comprehensive legislative scheme to define marriage as the union between one man and one woman and to prevent indirect abrogation of this special legal status,” said Amy Salberg, Allied Attorney with Alliance Defense Fund. “Judge Niess recognized this in ruling that the marriage amendment represented a single subject in accordance with the Wisconsin Constitution.”

Thomas Balistreri, Assistant Attorney General, represented Attorney General J. B. Van Hollen. Attorney Balistreri correctly noted that the two provisions in the amendment were “flip sides of one coin,” both relating to the general purpose of preserving marriage.

In his ruling, Judge Niess noted that the single purpose of the amendment was “the preservation of the unique and historical status of marriage.”

“We couldn’t agree more,” said Julaine Appling, CEO of Wisconsin Family Council. “Marriage is unique among all other institutions and must be preserved in both number and gender, exactly as this amendment does.”

“Today’s ruling affirms the judgment of nearly 60% of Wisconsin voters who approved this amendment on November 7, 2006. These voters knew they were voting for one thing: the definition and preservation of marriage in our state,” noted Appling.

Source: Wisconsin Family Council

Colorado law signals end of gender-specific restrooms

Yesterday – May 29, 2008 – Colorado’s Governor Bill Ritter signed into law a bill that makes it illegal in that state to discriminate against homosexuals, bisexuals, and transgendered people when buying a home, renting an apartment or using public accommodations.

There are many laws already in place or under consideration – including the one currently under consideration by Ohio’s Legislature – that establish sexual orientation, gender identity and/or transgendered status as a protected class under civil rights laws. Any such law is inherently discriminatory and is a threat to some of our most fundamental freedoms.

But the Colorado law is particularly egregious.

It is the section of the law that addresses public accommodations that makes it so. This aspect of the law would make it legal for those who identify themselves as transgendered – i.e., those who were born one gender but identify themselves with the other, even temporarily – to use any public restrooms in which they feel most comfortable.

Read the statement of Dr. James Dobson, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family:

“Who would have believed that the Colorado state Legislature and its governor would have made it fully legal for men to enter and use women’s restrooms and locker-room facilities without notice or explanation?

“Henceforth, every woman and little girl will have to fear that a predator, bisexual, cross-dresser or even a homosexual or heterosexual male might walk in and relieve himself in their presence. The legislation lists every conceivable type of organization to which this law applies, including restaurants, bathhouses, massage parlors, mortuaries, theaters and ‘public facilities of any kind.’ Those who would attempt to protect females from this intrusion are subject to a fine of up to $5,000 and up to one year behind bars.

“This is your government in action. It represents a payback to Tim Gill and two other billionaires who have essentially ‘bought’ state legislators with enormous campaign contributions. Coloradans deserve better!

“And by the way, because of the way this bill is written, it is not subject to the initiative process. There is no recourse.”

This is beyond belief! Pray for our country.

Source: Center for Community Values, Citizens’ E-Courier, May 30, 2008.

California Clerks Urged to Follow Marriage Laws Despite Refusal by California Supreme Court and Governor Schwarzenegger

With both the California Supreme Court and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger refusing to abide by constitutional separation of powers and the California statutes recognizing only man-woman marriages, a leading California pro-family organization has contacted county clerks to urge them to be the last and best defense for man-woman marriage licenses.

On May 27, Campaign for Children and Families (CCF) faxed letters and documentation to 38 of 58 county clerks, where the man-woman marriage ethic is its strongest in California. Already several clerks have responded, telling CCF they intend NOT to issue any same-sex “marriage” licenses.

CCF’s letter and legal documentation reached clerks on Wednesday, the same day that the Schwarzenegger administration sent clerks altered marriage license application forms, replacing the statutory “bride”/“groom” requirement with unlawful “Party A” and “Party B” designations.

“We’re encouraging the clerks to abide by the express will of the written California Constitution and the man-woman marriage statutes, and to respect the democratic process which will be decided at the ballot box in November, by not issuing marriage licenses to anyone but a man and woman,” said CCF President Randy Thomasson. “The judges and the Governor are violating the Constitution and the statutes, but county clerks know they have a duty follow the statutes, which haven’t been changed yet. Clerks don’t have to issue homosexual ‘marriage’ licenses, and they shouldn’t.”

Gary Kreep, executive director of the San Diego-based United States Justice Foundation, is offering pro bono legal counsel to clerks who resist the Supreme Court’s unconstitutional ruling:

“We’re asking that you please decline to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples unless and until the Legislature changes the marriage statutes, the People change the Constitution, and/or all legal options have been exhausted,” Kreep wrote the clerks. “By doing so, you will follow California law, respect the democratic process, and avoid being drawn into what dissenting California Supreme Court Justice Marvin Baxter called the ‘majority’s foreclosure of this ordinary democratic process.’”

Source: Campaign for Children and Families, May 29, 2008.

NY Governor’s Executive Order a Move Toward Nazism

New York’s governor, David A. Paterson, is following the path of pre-Hilter Reich led by the Kaiser. He was notorious for bypassing the processes of a Democratic government. In order to accomplish what he wanted often in opposition of the duly elected legislator, he employed the dictatorial tool of the executive order. It is only dictatorial tool available to the executive provided by a democratic form of government. Hitler was democratically elected. Once elected, Hitler took the common use of the executive order for making public law to its final purpose.

The move toward totalitarianism is already blatantly practiced by gays and their supportive politicians. Gov. Patterson has taken the next step toward a totalitarian state. When people with a moral conscience are no longer permitted to freely criticize the behavioral politics of sexual immorality, their Constitutional rights have been usurped. When moral or religious people are fired for the same reasons, the supposed liberal right to employment becomes non-existent. More importantly, so does their right to assembly in term of economics. When employers are forced to hire those whose behavior offend their religious or moral beliefs, business owner have lost their 1st amendment rights. When ex-gays cannot freely speak at churches, college campuses, or in other public without fascist gays disrupting their meeting to an extent that riot police must be involved, American of opposing views have in-effect lost their free speech rights. That is especially so because typically police do not forceful remove radical and violent gays from the premises of those public forums.

For public officials to abolish the moral bases of social law is to violate the very principle of our Republican form of constitutional government rooted in natural law and religion. Consent of the many does not make constitutional law when it violates the other part of Declaration of Independence that speaks of appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions and ith a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence.

Besides, gay politics claim civil rights to justify their politics. Yet, civil rights law founded on the 14th and 15 amendments are directly linked to the Declaration of Independence. The equality spoken of in the Declaration is part of natural law as given by the Creator, Providence, and Supreme Judge– in other words, God. God did not create homosexuals. It is obvious to both Reason and Revelation that God make male and female for sexual relations, which is the a major reason for marriage. Natural law states that any practice contrary to nature is evil. That what gay politics is all about.

Leading the totalitarian charge is gay organizations like Amnesty International, Gay Straight Alliance Network International, GLAAD, GLSEN, Human Rights Campaign, International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, Lambda Legal, Marriage Equality, Stonewall Democrats. They are supported mostly by those of the liberal, humanist, and socialist persuasion including organizations like Democratic party, United Nations, Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, many corporations, American Civil Liberties Union, and the like. Senators Obama and Clinton officially support the gay agenda.

Marriage Protection Amendment as Response to NY Governor’s Forced “Gay Marriage” Rulings of CA and MA Judges

The Alliance for Marriage called upon Congress to pass AFM’s Marriage Protection Amendment in response to New York Governor David Patterson’s stunning directive ordering New York State to recognize “same-sex marriages” performed in California, Massachusetts, and Canada.

“By executive fiat, New York has become the second state in two weeks to overturn both common sense and the Will of the People on the definition of marriage,” said Matt Daniels, president and founder of the Alliance for Marriage. “Today’s directive from Governor Patterson illustrates the need for the Marriage Protection Amendment drafted by AFM.”

“The anti-democratic fallout of the California Supreme Court decision striking down marriage is not unexpected, and will only continue to crash down upon other states nationwide,” said Daniels. “AFM has led the charge in Congress for federal protection of marriage as the only way to prevent the decisions of judges in California and elsewhere being forced on residents of other states.”

“Most Americans – and most New Yorkers – want our laws to send a positive message to kids about marriage, family and their future. Today is a sad day for the people of New York who have lost the right to choose the course that is best for them, their families and their children,” continued Daniels.

“Americans believe that gays and lesbians are free to live as they choose, but they don’t believe they have a right to redefine marriage for our entire society,” said Daniels. “But the common-sense definition of marriage – and the values of most Americans – cannot be protected apart from AFM’s Marriage Protection Amendment.”

The Alliance for Marriage and Alliance for Marriage Foundation are multicultural coalitions whose Board of Advisors includes Rev. Walter Fauntroy – the D.C. Coordinator of the March on Washington for Martin Luther King Jr. – as well as other civil rights and religious leaders, and national legal experts.

Source: Emailed press release from http://www.afmusa.org.

Pinellas County Florida Commissioner Pander to Gay Special Interest

Florida’s Pinellas County Commissioners approved a proposal by homosexual activists to add “sexual orientation” to their county’s human rights law on April 22nd. They also are considering adding gender identity to the new ordinance.

The whole purpose of this proposal is to establish government approval of the homosexual lifestyle, empower gay activism and advance secular progression.

The “gay community” fails miserably to prove that they meet the top two criteria for inclusion in discrimination laws. The overwhelming evidence clearly indicates they do not (1) suffer a widespread pattern of discrimination evidenced by (2) demonstrable economic hardship.

During the culmination of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, African Americans produced enough affidavits and documents proving their need for legal protection to fill up six government warehouses.

This is not the case with the gay community who boasts an average household income of over $85,000. They also boast their 26 million gays and lesbians in the US have a disposable income of $450 billion which is larger than the combined disposable incomes of Latino and African Americans. Source: Gaymarriagelawyers.com

Additionally, there is no better evidence to disprove the allegation that widespread discrimination exists against gays and lesbians than what is found in the City of Tampa’s 17 year history of enforcing their ordinance. Florida Family Association’s review of the cases filed under Tampa’s “sexual orientation” ordinance found that after 17 years there has not been one complaint filed that has resulted in a court affirming that a person was actually discriminated against on the basis of their sexual orientation. Instead of legitimate complaints,, gays and lesbians filed complaints that sought to protect irresponsible behavior on the job. Some examples include:

1. A lesbian filed a complaint against The Tampa Tribune after being fired for repeatedly stalking a female co-worker.
2. A homosexual filed a complaint against Holiday Inn after being fired for using derogatory racist comments against a black co-worker.
3. A homosexual filed a law suit against Waffle House for $2 million after being fired for violating company policy against dating co-workers which also applied to heterosexuals.
4. A transvestite filed a complaint against Blimpie’s Subs after being fired for soliciting sub shop patrons for prostitution.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a branch of the United States government, typically is charged with investigating and prosecuting discrimination complaints involving race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, handicap, or marital status. City, county and state agencies typically refer discrimination complaints involving these categories to the EEOC. However, the responsibility to investigate and prosecute complaints involving discrimination on the basis of “sexual orientation” and other categories falls on the enacting municipality. This means that Pinellas County will have to spend additional tax payer dollars to cover the additional costs of investigating and prosecuting complaints for discrimination allegations based upon categories which fall outside of the jurisdiction of the EEOC.

Defending against discrimination complaints places a financial burden on businesses. A business owner typically hires an attorney to represent their interest when a discrimination complaint is filed against them. The average cost of legal fees to defend against a discrimination complaint can exceed $100,000 per complaint.

In conclusion, the “sexual orientation” ordinance will:

1. Give a special status to an undeserving, affluent class, empower gay activism and give government approval to the homosexual lifestyle.
2. Change the public policy image of the Suncoast community.
3. Result in numerous frivolous complaints which seek to protect irresponsible behavior
4. Cost additional taxpayer dollars to investigate and prosecute frivolous complaints.
5. Cost businesses valuable resources to defend against frivolous complaints.

Pinellas County citizens could stop their government’s irresponsible and illegal actions. Yes, there is no legitimate law sanctioning feelings (sexual orientation) or unnatural behaviors (homosexuality). Sexual orientation or marriage ordinances violate not uphold equality law. Founders who promoted maximal individual freedom also opposed the harmful behavior of sodomy. Public officials hold the responsibility for promoting the general welfare of all constituency. They violate that trust by pandering to well-financed special interest, diminish the family values and social morality, and fail or refuse to vigorously pursue actually rehabilitative justice for those gays whose behaviors reciprocate childhood sexual abuse or formative influences now prevalent in society. Worse yet is the evidence that gay rights leads to the suppression of all First Amendment rights. Totalitarianism is the end result of multiculturalism and its moral relativity and tolerance. Its evident in Massachusetts, California, Canada, and in Europe.

If I lived in Pinellas County, I would demand the reversal of the new ordinance or I would be wanting those commissioners out of office now.

Source: Florida Family Association and Tampa Bay Times

Tennessee Abortion Bill SJR 127 To Fix Planned Parenthood Supported Judical Tyranny

In 2000, in the case of Planned Parenthood v. Sundquist, Tennessee’s Supreme Court “found” a right to abortion in the state Constitution. As a consequence of this decision, Tennessee’s informed consent law was struck down as well as the law that required women to wait 48 hours from the time they were informed to the time they had the abortion. In addition, the Court struck down the requirement that more risky third term abortions be performed in a hospital for the safety to women.

Because of the strong language of the Supreme Court’s opinion, Tennessee’s Attorney General recently issued an official opinion saying that a ban on partial birth abortion would be “constitutionally suspect.” Even though the United States Supreme Court has made it very clear that partial birth can be banned under the U.S. Constitution, the same cannot be said of Tennessee’s constitution. Tennessee needs to pass SJR 127 so it is clear that Tennessee’s constitution does not protect partial birth abortion and prevent our legislature from making it illegal.

SJR 127 simply states:

“Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion. The people retain the right through their elected state representatives and state senators to enact, amend, or repeal statutes regarding abortion, including circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest or when necessary to save the life of the mother.”

I’m looking at the Constitution of Tennessee. Like the most other Constitutions, the right to privacy is not mentioned as a right. The protection of property and unwarranted search or seizure extend does not even hint at an extension to killing the unborn. This one of many reasons judges and legal professionals see Roe v Wade as an erroneous opinion. The point is it is merely an opinion. The opinion is not law. All state legislators have to do is pass as bill like SJR 127 stating what the citizens want abortion laws to be.

Contrary to what many believe, Supreme Court opinions are not supreme law and neither is the opinions of Attorney Generals. American law is made by legislatures appointed a majority of the people. The people through their representatives make law. The opinions of judges do not overrule the will and laws of the people. It is because legislators have allowed this usurpation of power that laws by judicial fiat have succeeded. I suspect legislators have used it as a means of furthering their legislative person or special interest group agendas without appearing to be the bad guys. Nevertheless, statutory law and opinions of the legislature overrule Supreme Court and executive branch opinions. People make laws not the judiciary or executive branches. When judges, executives officers, or representatives of the people act otherwise, it is the duty of the people replace them with those who will abide by their will. That is why legislators have limited terms, why the people vote, and why impeachment law exists.

In January, Iowa citizens began pursuing to impeach a district judge who attempted to overturn a recently passed anti-gay marriage law. That is an appropriate response to judicial tyranny.

For more information, visit Support SJR 127.

Why Would Elementary Kids Plot To Kill Their School Teacher?

On April 2, the Mercury News reported on the plot to kill a teacher by a group 8-10 year old children. The following are excerpts from the story:

A group of children ages 8 to 10 apparently were mad at their teacher because she had scolded one of them for standing on a chair, authorities say.

That led the third-graders, as many as nine boys and girls, to plot an attack on the teacher at Center Elementary School in Waycross, Georgia…. The students apparently planned to knock the teacher unconscious with a glass paperweight, bind her with handcuffs and duct tape and then stab her with a broken steak knife. The scheme involved a division of roles…. One child’s job was to cover windows so no one could see outside, and another was supposed to clean up after the attack.

School officials had alerted police Friday after a pupil tipped off a teacher that a girl had taken a weapon to school.

District Attorney Rick Currie said he decided to seek juvenile charges against two girls, ages 9 and 10, who brought the knife and paperweight and an 8-year-old boy who brought tape. He said they face charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, and both girls are being charged with taking weapons to school.

The teacher told police that the kids were not known as troublemakers. That makes their actions all the more puzzling.

Bill Keller has an idea about why these otherwise good kids could conceive a plot to kill their teacher only because their were criticized for misbehaving in class. The following excerpts are from his excellent commentary originally aired at Liveprayer.com and transcripted by A New Tone.

I am dealing with this sad story today because it is simply another classic example of what I have been talking about these last 9 years. This nation is in spiritual freefall. We are in a spiritual abyss. This story of 3rd graders plotting to brutally attack and most likely kill their teacher is a clear symptom of a society that is out of control. Kids see acts of violence as a form of expression. No longer do the vast majority of people have any sort of moral or ethical compass to guide their lives. Right and wrong are now determined by each individual.

I have had the sad experience of seeing our society and culture literally disintegrating over my 5 decades of life. This is NOT the same world, the same culture, I was born into and grew up in as a child. We legally slaughter 4,000 innocent babies EVERY 24 HOURS and nobody says a word. The sin of homosexuality is now accepted as a mainstream lifestyle. Sex is no longer viewed as a gift from God for a man and woman in the bonds of marriage, but a sport to be played by anyone, of any age, at any time, with anyone, in any way. The proliferation of porn and gambling have destroyed any stigma they used to carry and have helped to further erode the moral and ethical choices people make.

The daily avenue of escape most people choose are drugs and alcohol, which further deadens a person’s ability to make wise choices. Living together outside of marriage is considered perfectly acceptable and God’s holy institution of marriage has been turned into little more than a legal date by most. Most children no longer grow up in a loving, nurturing home with their mother and father, but in every kind of unstable and unhealthy situation you can imagine. THE BETTER PERCENTAGE OF TWO FULL GENERATIONS HAVE NEVER EVEN BEEN TO CHURCH AND HAVE NO FAITH OR CONNECTION TO GOD!

So why are we really shocked when a bunch of third graders decide they want to attack their teacher? If you haven’t read the Bible and the various passages that describe the signs of the last days, we are living in them right now. Time is very short and Jesus is coming soon. These children in Georgia are just further evidence of that. Look at the recent news regarding kids. Gangs of teen girls brutalizing people and involved in serious crimes like robbery, stealing cars, dealing drugs, and even murder. An 8-year-old who raped an elderly woman. 12-year-old girls who were suspended for having a contest on the school bus to see how many boys they could give oral sex to on the way to school. Those are just a few, there are many more.

The legitimate question is where are children of this age learning this type of behavior. First, at home. So many are growing up in Godless, faithless, broken and blended homes where the only modeling they see by adults is negative. Second, is the media and technology kids are exposed to and have today. Please don’t for a second underestimate the power of television, movies, music, advertising, video games, and the internet has on shaping the thoughts, ideals, and values of kids today. With very little positive influence at home, without any spiritual influence in their lives, the minds of our kids today are being shaped by our Godless culture that promotes every kind of sin and debauchery you can imagine. Understanding this, why are we shocked when we see the type of behavior we see from children today?

Liberals seem blind to this reality. By liberals I mean those who views encompass secularism, humanism, anarchism, socialism. They also tend to be affiliated with the Democratic Party. While they promote hate crime laws, three strikes law and tougher laws on youth crime, they vehemently defend and promote all of the problems addressed by Keller. Because Liberals define freedom as the uninhibited pursuit of personal autonomy and happiness on humanist and socialist terms, their hedonistic views and behavior is seen as desirable as much so as those who regard religion and morality or wealth and power as means to personal happiness. Therefore, groups like the ACLU, American Way, Americans United, NARAL, LGBT, Planned Parenthood defend the right to public access to porn and other obscenities, to any sexual behavior, to no public influence of religious morality, to the free market and profits of any kind related behavior including abortion. Sensuality and violence is big business is America. Changing it would hurt the bottom line. Restoring moral based law would bankrupt Planned Parenthood’s billion dollar enterprise as it would the ACLU, the porn industry, and many other vice-based commerce.

As Keller indicated, kids are simply acting out what American society is actually teaching them. No crime law will stop it only religiously-oriented moral laws and subsequent acculturation of their underlying moral view can. Liberal activists know this well.

April 17, Prayer Vigil Over Virginia Supreme Court Hearing

The Family Foundation and a pro-family partner, Concerned Women of America (CWA) are asking Virginians to make next Thursday, April 17, 2008 a Day of Prayer for Isabella! The state Supreme Court may be the last hope for Isabella. While individual prayer is necessary, there is power in corporate prayer. Please join us at 8 a.m. that morning for a prayer vigil directly across the street from the courthouse, at the Old Bell Tower near the corner of Bank and 9th Streets, Capitol Square, Richmond, Virginia. At 10 a.m. we will co-host a press conference with CWA to address the merits of the case.

The story may be familiar to you. Janet Jenkins and Lisa Miller began living together in Virginia in the late 1990s and traveled to Vermont on December 19, 2000 in order to enter into a civil union. They continued to reside in Virginia through April 2002, when Lisa gave birth to Isabella, whose father is an anonymous sperm donor. They moved to Vermont in August 2002, where they lived until they broke up in September 2003. Lisa then converted to Christianity and decided to leave the homosexual lifestyle. She took Isabella with her back to Virginia, leaving Janet in Vermont. Lisa then filed in a Vermont court for dissolution of the civil union and for custody of Isabella.

The case worked its way through both Vermont and Virginia courts, pitting Vermont’s “civil unions” against Virginia’s ban on such arrangements and now, the Marriage Amendment to the state Constitution. The Virginia Court of Appeals based its decision to give Vermont courts jurisdiction on the federal Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act (PKPA). PKPA was written to prevent a parent who loses a custody battle in one state from taking a child to another state in an attempt to gain a more favorable ruling. According to the U.S. Supreme Court, PKPA grants jurisdiction to the first state that exercises jurisdiction, which in this case was Vermont. However, in this case, PKPA should not have been the ruling statute.

Lisa’s attorney’s argued that the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) preempts PKPA and returns to each state the authority to determine what constitutes marriage and parental rights. Virginia has made this public policy decision time and again with a ban on same sex marriage, a ban on civil unions and most recently an amendment to the Virginia Constitution defining marriage. Because Virginia gives no legal recognition to civil union and thus does not recognize the relationship between Lisa and Janet, the PKPA shouldn’t apply.

The Court of Appeals avoided conflict by dismissing DOMA’s relevance in the case. This case, according to the Court, is not about one state recognizing another state’s civil unions, but only deals with “whether, considering the PKPA, Virginia can deny full faith and credit to the orders of the Vermont court regarding [Isabella’s] custody and visitation.” For the Court to use the PKPA as binding law in cases where Virginia does not legally recognize the relationship between the two parties is legal precedent that attempts to trump the will of the people of Virginia and flies in the face of the purpose of the federal DOMA.

On August 29, 2007, we asked you to pray for Lisa Miller’s attorneys at the VA Supreme Court. Your prayers were answered and her attorneys were granted an additional opportunity to defend Isabella this coming Thursday!

Over the past several years, we have been sharing with you the various court decisions and legal steps taken in a case involving a child named Isabella, who was born into a civil union. Given the complexity and the conflict that exists between Virginia law and Vermont law, this case has been heard in courts up and down the east coast. Later this week Lisa Miller, Isabella’s biological mother, and her attorneys have plead their case in front of the Virginia state Supreme Court, asking the court to reverse lower court decisions.

Should the Virginia Supreme Court fail to reverse, the Virginia Court of Appeals decision issued in November 2006 will stand as the last word on visitation rights. That decision yielded jurisdiction to the Vermont courts, which then ruled that Lisa’s former partner could have visitation rights. The court-forced visitation began last in August and has continued since then, requiring 5 year-old Isabella to visit a woman she has not seen since the age of 2.

Consequently, you are invited join with the Family Foundation and CWA on Thursday, April 17 at 8 a.m. to pray for Isabella, her attorneys, and the state Supreme Court as this case proceeds. The prayer vigil will be held across the street from the courthouse at the Old Bell Tower, Capital Square, Richmond, Virginia near the corner of Bank and 9th Streets.

By Victoria Cobb, President of the Family Foundation of Virginia.