S.C. Johnson Wax policy supports television sex, violence, profanity

May 1993
Attention Pastors
Christians & Society TODAY, pages 3 and 4, can be
reproduced locally on a photocopier for use as a supplement or insert with bulletins
or newsletters.
ABORTION
Freedom of
Choice Act ............... 21
Test for political
correctness ............... 22
ANTI-CHRISTIAN
BIAS
Christianity
vs. fanaticism ........... 17
Christians
are target .................. 18
FATHERHOOD
Living for
your children ............ 14
MEDIA BIAS
Media violence ........ 15
NBC and ethics ........ 16
POLITICS
Surgeon General’s
policies fail .............. 13
SEX EDUCATION
Gift of self ................ 19
TELEVISION
Hollywood sees
no problem ................. 5
VALUES
False hope
for the poor .............. 20
ALL-MEMBERSHIP
PLAN
Use All-Membership Plan to
subscribe for members or
leaders of your church. $4 per
year per subscription (minimum--10). Send check, name
of church and legible mailing
list: AFA Journal, P.O.
Drawer 2440, Tupelo, MS
38803. Single subscription-$15/year.
Copies of this issue are available at $12.50 for 50 copies.
Enclose check with order.
of the American Family Association
S.C. Johnson Wax policy supports
television sex, violence, profanity
S.C. Johnson Wax continues
to defend its sponsorship of TV
sex, violence and profanity.
Christian
Leaders
for
Responsible Television (CLeaRTV) has called for a boycott of
the company’s products.
Monitoring showed S.C. Johnson
Wax as a leading sponsor of TV
sex, violence and profanity.
CLeaR-TV tried several times to
get the company to change their
practice, but they refused.
Dr. Billy Melvin, chairman of
CLeaR-TV, last fall informed
S.C. Johnson Wax of the
possibility of a boycott and
invited the company to meet and
discuss the situation and try to
work the problem out without a
boycott. S.C. Johnson Wax
refused the invitation and ignored
the possibility of a boycott.
In refusing to make any
changes, S.C. Johnson Wax is
sending a form letter to those
who inquire saying, “We feel
our existing guidelines for buying advertising programming
are very responsible and live up
to our high ethical standards.”
Continued on page 24
United Methodists pull investment
after Kmart refuses to pull porn
The Board of Pensions of the
United Methodist Church has
voted to divest their funds in the
Kmart Corporation. The action
came after Kmart refused the UM
board’s request to get out of the
pornography business. Kmart,
through their Waldenbooks
stores, is one of the leading
retailers of pornography in
America.
The UM Board of Pensions
has approximately $23,000,000
invested with Kmart. Donald E.
Wildmon, president of American
Family Association and a UM
minister, began efforts in April
1991 to get the pensions group to
divest. Wildmon said he hopes
UM pastors will make the
announcement concerning the
board of pensions action in their
churches and encourage their
members to participate in the
boycott of Kmart. “We call upon
all United Methodists to join the
boycott of Kmart, and to
encourage others to do the same.
The refusal of Kmart to get out
of the porn business shows their
contempt for families,”
Wildmon said.
The Southern Baptist
Annuity Board, which has an
investment of approximately
$5,477,000 in Kmart, is
expected to divest those funds
in the near future.
“We are hopeful that the
fifteen million Southern
Baptists and eight million
Continued on page 23
Donahue wants to show a live execution
On March 8, Phil Donahue hit
new depths when he said he
would like to show a live
execution on his DONAHUE
program.
“I would be pleased to have
an execution on the DONAHUE
show. What’s wrong with it?
Let’s see future bad guys watch
these people fry right here on
television.”
Donahue also offered total
disregard for any child who might
tune in to his coverage of the
execution. Mr. Donahue puts the
blame for the trash on television
totally on the shoulders of
parents. “It will be the parents’
responsibility to see that their
children are shielded from this
kind of thing.”
Unfortunately, Mr. Donahue
reflects the attitude of those who
control the networks, movies,
music and other entertainment
media. It doesn’t matter to these
people that parents have to earn a
living; or that they have
responsibilities in addition to
raising their children. It doesn’t
matter to them that a child may
American Family Association
Post Office Drawer 2440
Tupelo, Mississippi 38803
be at the home of a friend and
away from his parents’ guiding
hand. It doesn’t matter that the
child may be home during the
day when Donahue comes on
and accidentally turn the
program on. Mr. Donahue
Continued on page 24
Non. Profit Org.
U.S. Postage Paid
Permit No. 36
Gordonsville, VA 22942
ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED
AFA JOURNAL
May 1993
1
Brother to brother
“What good
have you done?”
Dr. Donald E. Wildmon
President
For the last 16 years, I have been fighting the battle against the filth in
the media. It has consumed most of my energy. I began with nothing but
a desire to stop the entertainment media from trying to pull our society
down into the sewer with them. They haven’t been easy years. But, then,
little in life which is worthwhile is easy.
A minister wrote me last month and asked me the question: “What
good have you done?” It is a valid question. Even one I ask myself quite
often. Without trying to mention all we have accomplished, I will admit
that we haven’t been successful. The entertainment media is far more
filthy now than when we began.
But something bothers me about the question, especially since it was
asked by a minister. “What good have you done?” It seems there is an
attitude in that question which says that if you don’t win, you quit. The
last place one would expect that attitude to surface would be in the church.
But, then, the church is made up of humans and is influenced by the world
just as it influences the world.
No, we haven’t been successful. Yes, the moral decline is far greater
than it was when we began. Are we, therefore, to quit? Absolutely not.
Before I go any farther, let me make one thing perfectly clear. We are
to do right because it is right, not because it makes us successful. Do I
want to win this battle? I would hardly have invested 16 years of my life
in this endeavor if I didn’t. But, win or lose, I will continue in the battle.
Why? Because it is the right thing to do.
Many of you reading this column are new to AFA. You don’t know the
history or the struggle which hundreds of thousands of fellow AFA
supporters have been involved in during the past 16 years. Let me tell you
that the AFA is made up of good people, people who are willing to
sacrifice, act, give, pray, and get involved to stop the moral decadence.
Most of them, but not all, are Christian. I am a Christian, and I do what
I do because of my Christian faith. But AFA has always been, and will
always be, open to anyone who wants to join in fighting the moral battle
regardless of personal faith.
I received a letter from a gentleman who had responded to our “WE
ARE OUTRAGED” ad a few days ago. He was angry to learn that we are
a Christian ministry and told me that had he known that AFA was a
Christian organization he would never have responded. He was in
complete agreement with what we are trying to do. He even sent us some
money to help, but once he learned that AFA was a Christian organization,
his mind closed and his bigotry took hold. At his request, and with our
blessings, we deleted him from our list. We don’t want or need individuals
who are such anti-Christian bigots.
Your AFA is growing. Our influence is growing. The chances of our
being successful increase with every new supporter who joins our battle.
But can I promise you success? No. The only thing I can promise is that
as long as I have breath I will continue with you in fighting the battle to
which God has called us, and that I will do so to the best of my ability.
Anything more than that I can’t give because I don’t have.
Don
2
May 1993
AFA JOURNAL
By Tim Wildmon
Vice President
“As iron sharpens iron, so one man
sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17 (NIV)
This month’s column will serve as
more of an advertisement than anything
else. But I think the product promoted
will save some homes, restore others and
count for eternity. I’m talking about the
1993 National Men’s Conference to be
held in Boulder, Colorado July 30-31
with the National Leadership Conference
to precede it July 27-29.
This conference is sponsored by the
Promise Keepers ministry which was
founded by University of Colorado head
football coach Bill McCartney. Its motto
is, “A man’s man is a Godly man.”
This July Promise Keepers is expecting
some 50,000 men from across America to
gather in Boulder to hear speakers such as
Dr. James Dobson, Dr. Jack Hayford,
Rev. E.V. Hill, Gary Smalley, John Trent,
Ed Cole and a host of other respected men
issue the challenge for men to be promise
keepers with God, with their wives and
with their families. It will also be a time of
praise and worship of Jesus Christ.
Now, I’m saying a lot about an event
I’ve not been a part of before. Last year
22,000 men made their way to Boulder
and, having heard some of their responses,
I was challenged and will be going this
year myself.
So many homes are falling apart today
because we men have not taken our
responsibility of being the spiritual leaders
in our families. America today needs men
who will defend faith and family. America
needs men who will not break their
marriage vows, who will love their wives
as Christ loves his church. Our country
needs men who will love, teach and train
their children in the ways of our Lord
Continued on page 24
AFA Journal
Volume 17
Number 5
A publication of the American Family Association. Published monthly and November/December. Address: P.O. Drawer 2440,
Tupelo, MS 38803. Phone 601/844-5036.
Subscription rate: $15 per year.
Executive Editor: Donald E. Wildmon
Editor: Randall Murphree
Editorial Assistant: Jessica Huckaby
AFA is a Christian organization promoting
the Biblical ethic of decency in American
society with primary emphasis on TV and
other media.
Christians & Society
TODAY
April 1993
A supplement for local bulletins and newsletters
Holiday Inn spurns Christians, keeps porn
Florida’s largest Holiday Inn franchise
group tried to deceive a church denomination into believing that they were removing
the porn channel from all ten of their
franchises.
The Missionary Church was prepared
to sign a contract with the Tampa Airport
Holiday Inn to secure a site for their
denomination’s 1995 convention. This
convention would bring in approximately
$600,000 in revenue for the hotel.
However, the Missionary Church became very concerned when they
discovered that this Holiday Inn offered
pornographic movies on the televisions in
their hotel rooms. A church representative
advised the Holiday Inn franchise that
their denomination would most likely
honor the AFA boycott of Holiday Inns by
taking their convention to another hotel if
they continued to provide the in-room
porn channel.
The Holiday Inn franchise management team responded quickly to keep the
Missionary Church’s convention. Some
Tampa Airport Holiday Inn sales personnel and the president of the franchise group
met with the representative from the Missionary Church and a representative from
the AFA of Florida. The franchise group
informed AFA of Florida that Spectra
Vision may charge the franchise as much
as $4,000 per month if it terminates the
porn channel before the television services
contract expires.
In a last ditch effort to get the Missionary
Church’s convention business a Holiday
Inn franchise sales employee told the Missionary Church representative that they
would permanently remove the adult features and replace them with similar to
non-pornographic movies shown on other
pay-per-view channels. However, the Holiday Inn franchise’s deceptive practices were
uncovered when the Missionary Church’s
representative requested that they be
allowed at a later date to inspect the movies
offered in the rooms. A Holiday Inn
franchise employee admitted that they were
not actually removing the porn movies.
In addition to the Tampa Airport
(Westshore) location, this Holiday Inn franchise group also owns the Holiday
Inn—Clearwater Beach Surfside,
Clearwater Beach Gulfview, Madeira
Beach, Clearwater Central, Ft. Lauderdale
Airport, Ft. Lauderdale Beach Galleria, Ft.
Lauderdale North, N. Miami Golden
Glades, and I-64 & Broad, Virginia.
Holiday Inns are the nation’s leading
provider of in-room pornographic movies.
AFA encourages people to boycott those
Holiday Inns which provide the late night
adult feature movies.
Dairy Mart charged
with selling obscenity
the disease in those already infected, a new
study says. Researchers at Thomas Jefferson
University in Philadelphia put the AIDS
virus in a test tube along with the white
blood cells of 60 healthy people who had
had several drinks over a weekend. They
found that HIV, the virus that causes AIDS
quickly replicated. “Even casual consumption of alcohol stimulates replication of the
AIDS virus in cell cultures,” said Omar
Bagasra, author of the study in the Journal
of Infectious Diseases.
A Covington, Kentucky, convenience
store has been charged with distributing
obscene material after a police officer said
he bought three copies of Hustler magazine there.
Kenton County Attorney John R. Elfers
cited Dairy Mart on three counts of distributing obscene material, a misdemeanor
that carries a $10,000 fine.
Dairy Mart is one of the leading retailers of porn magazines in America.
Kentucky Post, 3/6/93
AIDS and alcohol
A few drinks of alcohol may raise a
healthy person’s chances of becoming
infected with the AIDS virus or speed up
USA Today, 3/22/93
the teaching of a sexual abstinence
program in Caddo Parish public schools.
The suit was formally brought by area
citizens, whose detailed complaint
coincided with charges leveled by Planned
Parenthood and the ACLU in other states.
“It is unconscionable that the truth
about abstinence will be hidden from the
children of Shreveport, Louisiana,” said
Kathleen Sullivan, director of Project
Respect, which published the abstinence
curricula. “The message of these texts to
teenagers is very simple: Save
yourself...for tomorrow and your future
family...you’ll be so glad you did.”
Louisiana’s statute (LRS 17:281.A.(3))
instructs that “The major emphasis of any
sex education instruction offered in the
public schools of the state shall be to
encourage sexual abstinence between
unmarried persons.”
“But,” Sullivan noted, “Judge Thaxton
sided with the plaintiffs and ruled that by
teaching abstinence we are teaching a
‘religion.’ We are hopeful that the Caddo
Parish School Board will appeal this
outrageous decision,” Sullivan said.
This suit is book banning. Planned
Parenthood and the ACLU want to ban
ideas which they oppose and impose their
beliefs on others.
Cultural indicators
Below is a chart on how things have
changed in the past 30 years.
Violent crimes
per 10,000 people
1960
16.1
(FBI)
Percent of children
on welfare
3.5% 12.5%
(Census Bureau)
Illegitimate births
5.3% 28%
(National Center for
Health Statistics)
Single-parent families
Shreveport judge
bans books on
sexual abstinence
1991
75.8
9.1% 28.6%
(Census Bureau)
Teen suicide rate
3.6% 11.3%
(National Center for
Health Statistics)
Louisiana District Judge Frank H.
Thaxton, III granted an injunction to halt
SAT scores
975
899
(The College Board)
Commercial Appeal, 3/16/93
AFA JOURNAL
May 1993
3
Frohnmayer says pornographers
are like Christ’s example
Some readers will remember John
Frohnmayer, former director of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), he
who expressed approval of government
grants displaying, inter alia, the crucifix
in a vat of urine and bull whips inserted
into unmentionable parts of the male
anatomy. Writing in the Christian Century,
he explains the mission he had in mind. “If
an artist seeks, either gently or
confrontationally, to pique our social conscience, how different is that from the
example Christ set?”
Homosexual group
honors Roseanne
and Tom Arnold
having been the subject of sexual comments,
gestures and looks. Eighty-three percent
said they had been touched, pinched or
grabbed. The survey included girls ranging
primarily from 10 to 18 years of age.
Roseanne and Tom Arnold top the list
of recipients of this year’s Fourth Annual
Media Awards, which were presented
jointly by the Los Angeles and New York
Chapters of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance
Against Defamation (GLAAD). For the
second year in a row, ROSEANNE, which
is co-produced by the Arnolds, took home
the award for Outstanding Television
Comedy Series. The Arnolds were honored this year with a special award in
recognition of their outspoken support for
the homosexual community. Other recipients of this year’s GLAAD Media
Awards include Sir Ian McKellen, who
received the Stephan F. Kolzak Award for
his activism for homosexual civil rights,
Elton John (Outstanding Music Video
award for “The Last Song”), Liz Smith
(Outstanding Media Columnist), Garth
Brooks (Outstanding Song award for “We
Shall Be Free”), Tony Kushner’s “Angels
in America” (Outstanding Theater Production), The New Yorker (Outstanding
Magazine Coverage), the New York Times
(Outstanding Newspaper Coverage), and
Anna Quindlen (Outstanding Print JourNew York Native, 3/22/93
nalist).
Harassment of girls in
school rampant, obvious
Sexual harassment of girls is rampant
in the nation’s schools, ranging from
written notes to attempted rape, a survey
says. “There are assaults going on right in
front of the adults’ eyes,” said Nan Stein,
the lead researcher.
The survey is based on a review of
2,000 responses to a mail-in questionnaire
included in last September’s Seventeen
magazine.
Stein said the findings in the unscientific
survey match parents’ complaints,
lawsuits and reports from school
administrators. Stein is a research associate
for Wellesley College Center for Research
on Women in Boston.
Eighty-nine percent of girls reported
4
May 1993
First Things, 12/92
Associated Press, 3/10/93
Meet at City Hall:
Pray for America
Concerned citizens are reminded
to participate in Meet at City Hall on
Thursday, May 6, the National Day of
Prayer. The designated time for Meet
at City Hall is 12:20-12:40 p.m.
“I trust that AFA affiliates and all
others who care about the future of
our nation will meet together at their
local city hall and pray for a moral
rebirth in America,” said AFA President Don Wildmon. For more information contact AFA at 601-844-5036.
Gore put in
tough situation
Vice-President Al Gore finds himself in
a tough situation. President Clinton is
pushing federal funding for abortions. This
is the opposite position taken by Gore.
In a letter dated May 26, 1987, Gore
wrote a constituent: “During my 11 years in
Congress, I have consistently opposed
federal funding of abortions. In my opinion,
it is wrong to spend federal funds for what
is arguably the taking of a human life. Let
me assure you that I share your belief that
innocent human life must be protected, and
I am committed to furthering this goal.”
Report says USA
in cultural decline
The U.S. economy might be the soundest
in the world, but the country’s cultural
health is in serious decline, says a new
study. Ex-Education Secretary William
Bennett Monday unveiled his Index of
Leading Cultural Indicators. It finds that
since 1960—while population, wealth and
welfare benefits climbed—U.S. “values”
have deteriorated:
• Violent crime increased by 560%.
AFA JOURNAL Christians & Society TODAY
• Illegitimate births climbed by 419%.
• Divorce rates quadrupled.
• Teenage suicide jumped by 200%.
Pouring money on the problems won’t
solve them, Bennett says. “To turn around
these numbers, we must engage in the
time-honored task of the moral education
of our young (and the teaching of) values
such as self-restraint, respect for other
people, the importance of family and selfcontrol.”
USA Today, 3/16/93
Janet Reno’s first act
contradicts statement
When Janet Reno was being questioned
by the Senate Judiciary Committee prior
to her appointment as the Attorney
General, she said: “I keep politics out of
what I do, Senator.”
The first act taken by Attorney General
Reno was to fire all 96 U.S. attorneys.
Ms. Reno is expected to close down
prosecution of obscenity cases with the
exception of only the most vile child
pornography cases.
Washington Times 3/25/93
Military doctors
reject abortions
Despite President Clinton’s reversal of
a ban on abortions at military hospitals
overseas, women serving in Europe can’t
get abortions at military facilities because
no U.S. military doctors will perform
abortions.
The Pentagon confirmed all 44 military
doctors in Europe have decided against
doing the procedure on moral and religious
grounds. “It’s an individual choice,” said
Army spokeswoman Dawn Kilpatrick.
No military doctors in Asia are willing to
perform abortions either, Kilpatrick said.
Rep. Patricia Schroeder, D-CO, a
member of the House Armed Services
Committee, said it’s “an outrage” that all
military doctors have refused to do
abortions.
USA Today, 4/1/93
New TV program to
push nudity, profanity
Steven Bochco and his Steven Bochco
Productions will introduce a new series
on TV this fall. ABC will bring the police
drama series that Mr. Bochco expects will
increase the acceptance for both nudity
and profanity. Bochco has stated that he
wants to bring “R” rated programs to TV.
Christians and Society TODAY is published by American
Family Association, P.O. Drawer 2440, Tupelo, MS 38803, to
be reproduced for use as a supplemental insert for church
newsletters and bulletins and for use by other concerned
organizations. Sources cited indicate source of basic information only.
TELEVISION
Hollywood doesn’t
understand the problem
There is a growing disgust with Hollywood’s irresponsible
social and political behavior, but Hollywood doesn’t seem to
understand the problem. At a recent Washington conference,
Motion Picture Association of America head Jack Valenti spoke
in defense of his industry. “The only way you’re going to deal
with” objectionable movies, he stated, “is to deal with it in the
marketplace. The marketplace makes the decision.” The flaw in
Valenti’s argument is that it assumes the market is open to begin
with. In fact, views held by millions of Americans are routinely
ignored in entertainment fare.
Observe, for example, how television treats religion. On
prime time, religious figures are regularly parodied. Catholics
are portrayed as closed-minded bigots with the morals of
Torquemada; fundamentalist Protestants are, as one show
described them, “Bible-thumpin’ hayseeds.” A review of every
prime-time television show from the 1989-90 and 1990-91
seasons shows that only one series (THIRTYSOMETHING)
ever depicted religious institutions in a positive light; every other
program was neutral or negative toward religion. During the
same time period, a survey was conducted by the City University
of New York in which people were asked if they considered
themselves religious. Ninety-one percent of America responded
“yes.” Don’t nine out of 10 people constitute a “market”?
Since the 1989 Webster decision, a slew of television series
and TV movies have dedicated themselves to the abortion
question. All have supported the woman’s right to an abortion.
Not one has ever championed the right to life of a child; even on
shows such as MURPHY BROWN where an unwanted pregnancy
was carried to term, an abstract “right to choose” was supported.
To say that the marketplace determines the product is to say that
there is no such thing as a pro-life movement.
Is the market calling for the barrage of gay rights themes on
television today, and is there no market for the thoughtful opinion
that homosexuality is wrong? Is the market calling for movies
and television shows regularly to depict businessmen as evil and
corrupt, and is there no market for the positive portrayal of the
free-enterprise system? Is the market demanding the eco-nonsense
we so often see because there is no market for science? Or are
these products Hollywood chooses to sell while keeping
conservative values out of the market?
“Let the marketplace decide!” is the clarion call of those
without a social conscience. It is used to justify the anti-Catholic
Christian racists
murder blacks, Jews
on Fox network movie
The humble, Midwest farm families in
Fox’s March 15 movie BETRAYED go
to church regularly and live their faith
daily—as they lead and support a white
supremacist group, murder blacks and
Jews, and rob banks to finance their
intended overthrow of the government.
In the opening scene a radio “shock
jock” named Krause asks a caller, “Do
By Brent Bozell
Creators Syndicate
bigotry of Sinead O’Connor and Madonna. It is used to justify the
hate-filled racist messages of Ice-T, Sister Souljah, and NWA. It
is used to justify promoting teen-age promiscuity on television
shows designed for impressionable teenagers.
Yes, there is a market for these things. There is a market for
virtually anything in our society. That the entertainment industry
caters to those kinds of markets and thereby advances these
messages in pursuit of profit is nothing to be proud of.
But members of the Hollywood elite don’t care about their
responsibility to society. Instead, they admonish parents to better
police their children. Mr. Valenti, who pioneered the NC-17
rating system and has championed social responsibility in
Hollywood, disappoints when he dismisses parents with, “If you
don’t like (it), for God sakes, don’t patronize it.” The average
child will spend more time in front of a television set than in the
classroom by the time he or she graduates from high school. Add
Catholics are portrayed as
closed-minded bigots with the
morals of Torquemada;
fundamentalist Protestants are,
as one show described them,
“Bible-thumpin’ hayseeds.”
to that thousands of hours more listening to music. Add the
hundreds of hours in a movie theater. No parent can patrol all of
this. No parent should have to patrol all of this.
There was once a time when Hollywood was a shining beacon
on the public scene. Actors and performers were our heroes, and
as children we looked up to them, wanting to emulate their deeds
and their values. Today’s entertainers are still our children’s
heroes. Some heroes. Sure, Elvis Presley was controversial in his
day, but he never grabbed his crotch in magazine advertisements,
a la Marky Mark, or made foul-mouthed movies, a la Eddie
Murphy, or bitterly criticized his country, a la far too many stars,
such as Alec Baldwin, Spike Lee and Susan Sarandon. It’s time
for the industry that sponsors them in the name of “the market,”
and in the search for profit, to shape up.
you have any views on lesbian priests? Any
view on masturbation?”
In the next scene, he opines, “If there’s
a morality in these reborn Christians, that
they claim they are, if they all took care of
the underprivileged like Christians are
supposed to do, then we wouldn’t have a
welfare state, right!?”
Krause, a Jew, is murdered. The movie’s
lead character is Gary Simmons, head of
the white supremacist group called Zionist
Occupation Government. In one scene, they
release a black man, give him a gun and a
30-second head start, then hunt him down
like a wild animal. (He is given a gun so the
hunters can claim self defense.) The Joe
Eszterhas script was produced by Irvin
Winkler.
In another scene, a Bible-waving
political candidate supported by the Zionist
group speaks of taking the country back
from the Jews and faggots.
This family time movie was sponsored
in part by:
Chrm. Melvin R. Goodes, WarnerLambert Company, 201 Tabor Road,
Morris Plains, NJ 07950, FAX 201-5403761, TOLL FREE: 1-800-223-0182,
Certs breath mints, e.p.t. Plus pregnancy
test, Lubriderm Lotion, Tracer razor.
AFA JOURNAL
May 1993
5
Priest ignores
abstinence in Fox
high school series
In the March 10 episode of BEVERLY
HILLS 90210, series regular Donna is
pressured by David to have sex. “What’s
the problem?” David demands. “Your
parents are out of town.... I have
protection....”
“There’s more to it than that, David,”
Donna responds. “I was brought up
believing I’d wait ’til I got married. I can’t
just wipe all that out because of how my
body feels.”
Four of the regular gang go to an AIDS
benefit where the comedienne/hostess asks
front row teens—including David and
Donna—about their sex lives. Donna
explains that she plans not to have sex
until after marriage. The comedienne
responds, “Tell your mom she did a real
good job....it’s okay to wait. For all of you
who are having sex, please be careful,
and every time, use a condom!”
Later in a dream, Donna recalls her
priest telling her upon her confirmation
that no matter what she does, God will
always love her. A few days later, she goes
to the same priest for counsel.
“I don’t know what to do about sex.”
she tells Father Chris.
“What does your heart tell you to do?”
he asks.
“It’s not my heart I’m worried about.”
“The love you choose to give to another
is a precious gift that includes your
sexuality. Your virginity is a gift, Donna,
so you’ve got to ask yourself if David’s
the one you want to give it to.” (No mention
of abstinence until marriage.)
“I love him, and he loves me.”
“That’s wonderful. That just makes
this decision that much harder for you,
doesn’t it? Why don’t you pray on it for a
while. And remember, no matter what you
do, God will always love you.”
Following the priest’s counsel, Donna
tells David she is going to wait until after
they graduate from high school (a matter
of a few months) to have sex.
Among the advertisers was: Pres. Gary
Mulloy, Maybelline, Inc., Post Office
Box 371, Memphis, TN 38151, Phone
901-320-2011, Maybelline cosmetics.
Show pushes teen sex,
‘No mistakes’ mindset
In Fox’s March 2 episode of THE
CLASS OF ’96, casual illicit teen sex is
promoted as positive if one “learns from
it.” David, 19 and a college freshman, is
ecstatic when novelist Lindsey Kerr visits
his creative writing class and offers
6
May 1993
critiques on the students’ work.
Ms. Kerr, at least twice David’s age,
seduces the boy, and he “falls in love.” She
tells him not to “assume anything,” and his
friends (when they learn he’s had sex with
the older woman) warn him to be careful.
However, he insists to his friends, “It’s not
just a sexual thing.” He is convinced that
Ms. Kerr, after they have sex in the college
library floor, is in love with him. For her,
though, David is a toy, a mere amusement
to relieve stress after having recently broken
up with her live-in lover.
The promiscuous seductress concludes
the episode by imparting this wisdom to her
young bedmate: “Nothing’s a mistake if
you learn from it.” David, of course, matures
by leaps and bounds as he grasps the amoral
principle she espouses—any act is morally
right if one learns a lesson from it. One must
assume, then, that adultery, robbery, murder,
rape, etc. have no moral connotation as
long as the perpetrator learns from his deed.
Among advertisers was: Chrm. John R.
Albers, Dr Pepper/Seven-Up Companies,
Inc., Post Office Box 665086, Dallas, TX
75265, Phone 214-360-7000, FAX 214360-7980, Dr Pepper soft drink, Nautilus
Thirst Quencher, 7-Up soft drink.
Network bias obvious
in ‘Prime-Time
Live’ story
ABC’s PRIME-TIME LIVE news show
carried a March 25 story on homosexuals in
the military. Diane Sawyer’s lead-in had all
the depth of a junior high school analysis of
the issue: “...all the talk shows and panel
discussions were leading to a central
question that no one was answering: ‘Do
gay men, in fact, stare at and make passes at
straight men in the showers or in the
barracks?’”
The feature presented first those who
stood against allowing homosexuals in the
military. They included Gen. Colin Powell
(a 15-second clip from an earlier hearing,
not a PRIME-TIME interview); an
anonymous private (seven seconds) and
Adm. Thomas Moore, Ret. (an eight-second
clip from another TV show).
Total time: 30 seconds.
With that obligatory show of “balance,”
PRIME-TIME proceeded to interview five
homosexual men who promise viewers that
heterosexual military men are in no danger.
Note the unquestionable logic of their
collective wisdom:
No. 1: “I’m attracted to gay men. I’m not
attracted to straight men.”
No. 2 goes to the YMCA to work out, not
to pick up men.
No. 3 admits that he “cruises” and looks
at men.
No. 4 assures us that homosexuals know
AFA JOURNAL
how to “behave themselves.”
No. 5 served three tours in Vietnam
with a straight partner and never had sex
with him.
Total time: 190 seconds.
So much for media balance! It was
network news up to its politically correct
best, promoting and propagandizing under
the guise of “fair” coverage.
Top sponsor was: Chrm. John G. Smale,
General Motors Corporation, 3044 W.
Grand Blvd., Detroit, MI 48202, Phone
313-556-5000. AC-Delco auto parts,
Buick automobiles, Cadillac automobiles,
Geo automobiles, Saturn automobiles.
Teen hookers, adultery
fill NBC movie with
Ford advertising
Kim, a high school student, is a
prostitute pimped by Jo Ann and Bobby,
husband and wife owners of Sugar Babies
Escort Services. At the same time she is
having sex with Bobby, who has promised
her that they will go away together. Bobby
concocts a plan to have Kim murder Jo
Ann. It’s all a part of the March 25 episode
of NBC’s family time series CRIME &
PUNISHMENT.
Hookers with their johns and sexual
bondage scenes take the movie deep into
the gutter.
Top advertiser was: Chrm. Harold
Poling, Ford Motor Company, P. 0. Box
1899, Dearborn, MI 48121, TOLL FREE:
1-800-392-3673, Ford, Lincoln
Continental and Mercury automobiles,
Motorcraft automotive parts.
Promiscuous sex theme
on Fox sponsored
by Helene Curtis, P&G
In the March 4 episode of Fox’s DOWN
THE SHORE, six single housemates run
into problems when they all invite guests.
The six share a weekend beach home. As
in all other episodes, a major focus is
casual and illicit sex. As it happens this
time, the guests all pair off for sex with
strangers—including one homosexual
couple.
On March 18, neighbors invite Eddie,
one of the regulars, over for a drunken
orgy. Eddie gets drunk and marries
Cheyenne, who says her first marriage
ended in the death of her husband.
Cheyenne’s orgy friends get them a stolen
condom dispenser as a wedding present.
Hubby No. 1, however, arrives on the
scene to end Eddie’s short-lived marriage.
The three women who star in the series
seize every opportunity to prance about in
skimpy lingerie.
On April 1, Aldo, who thinks himself
God’s gift to women, approaches a woman
at a bar and says, “Hi, I’m Aldo....” His
five friends observe with disdain how he
denigrates women. Twenty-six seconds
after “meeting” this woman, Aldo is
headed out the door with her clinging to
his arm. Genitalia, illicit sex jokes and lots
of profanity are staples in series dialogue.
Appearing in all three of these episodes
were:
Chrm. Gerald Gidwitz, Helene Curtis
Industries, Inc., 325 N. Wells Street,
Chicago, IL 60610, Phone 312-661-0222,
FAX 312-836-0125, Salon Selectives hair
care products, Suave hair care products,
Vibrance shampoo & conditioners.
Chrm. Edwin L. Artzt, Procter &
Gamble, P.O. Box 599, Cincinnati, OH
45201, FAX 513-562-4500, TOLL
FREE: 1-800-543-7276, Crest toothpaste,
Noxzema skin cream, Pringle’s potato
chips, Sure antiperspirant.
Pepsi, NBC bring
pro-homosexual show
Sex continues to be a main topic on
NBC’s SEINFELD. The April 1 re-run
features a story in which a character’s
father is discovered to have carried on a
homosexual relationship for years. (He is
still married.)
Other “humor” has Jerry and his date
engaging in what he calls “filthy sex talk”
while they prepare for sex. Jerry can’t wait
to tell his friend George about it, and
George demands details.
In another scene, Elaine explodes in
anger when a co-worker tells the boss
about Elaine’s $429 worth of personal
calls (to her lover in Europe) made on the
company telephone. Both the opening and
closing monologues focus on sex.
Series star Jerry Seinfeld is producer;
writers include Elaine Pope, Larry David,
Tom Leopold, Peter Mehlman, Peter
Farelly and Bob Farelly.
Top advertiser was: Chrm. D. Wayne
Calloway, PepsiCo, Anderson Hill Road,
Purchase, NJ FAX 914-253-2070, TOLL
FREE: 1-800-433-2652. Kentucky Fried
Chicken, Lay’s potato chips, Mountain
Dew soft drink, Taco Bell fast food,
Tostitos tortilla chips.
‘LA Law’ returns
with same old sleaze
NBC and LA LAW creator Steven
Bochco played a poor April Fool’s joke on
viewers with a glitzy promotional
campaign for LA LAW. The first episode
of a supposed “new and improved” version
of the long-time sleaze series aired April l;
it was simply more of the same rubbish
dished out for several seasons now.
The episode included the promiscuous
hero Arnie Becker again preparing to have
sex (in his office) with one of his married
clients. (It was a divorce case, of course).
His conversations with the woman included
numerous thinly veiled euphemisms for
genitalia and sexual arousal.
Another story line followed the case of a
man who, pretending to be a member of
President Clinton’s staff, fooled the whole
LA LAW crew. In effect, he made idiots of
all of the power-hungry lawyers as they
fawned over him and engaged in a sickening
display of name-dropping.
Top sponsor was: Chrm. D. Wayne
Calloway, PepsiCo, Anderson Hill Road,
Purchase, NY 10577, FAX 914-253-2070,
TOLL FREE: 1-800-433-2652. Diet Pepsi
soft drink, Doritos corn chips, Fritos snack
foods, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Lay’s
potato chips, Taco Bell fast food.
Positive values
in ABC sitcom
A mother and her teenage daughter find
understanding and a way to communicate
in a rare prime-time portrayal of positive
family relationships. It occurred on the
March 26 installment of ABC’s FAMILY
MATTERS.
Teenage Laura’s friends ridicule her
“squeaky clean” image and thus pressure
her into going with them to a male strip
joint. Unfortunately, Laura’s mother has
also been cajoled into going to the same
club with her sister, so Laura gets caught in
the act.
Back at home, Laura tries to explain to
Mom that she sometimes tires of her image,
and wants to be known as wild and crazy.
“You want to be cool?” asks Mom. “Then
keep resisting temptation. Keep doing what
you know in your heart is right. That’s
what’s really cool.”
“You’re right,” Laura agrees. “You know
what, Mom? Every time that I think that
nobody in the whole world knows how I
feel, it turns out that you know exactly how
I feel. Why is that?”
“Simple—I’m your Mom!”
“The best mom!”
Among the advertisers was: Chrm.
Michael Eisner, The Walt Disney
Company, 500 S. Buena Vista Street,
Burbank, CA 91521, Phone 818-560-1000,
Touchstone Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures,
Walt Disney Attractions and Theme Parks.
P&G ads sponsor
casual sex, PC themes
Maggie O’Connell and Dr. Joel
Fleischman are lead characters in CBS’s
NORTHERN EXPOSURE; Maggie is also
Joel’s landlady. In the February 15 episode,
they argue, she breaks his nose, he sues her,
she delivers an eviction notice, they argue,
he calls her “spoiled and frigid,” she decks
him in the nose again, they go to a barn,
their argument erupts into a fist fight, they
roll in the hay, and then guess what! Yes,
they have sex—it’s all just a normal
progression in a mature, adult relationship.
Their next step is to announce to all their
friends—at the local restaurant—that they
had sex.
In the same episode, Maurice, former
astronaut, erects an illegal transmitter
tower for his radio station.
On March 8, Shelly is hallucinating. A
native Indian tells Shelly, about 21, that if
she will get married, the hallucinations
will cease. (She’s been having sex with
Holling, about 60, since she was in her
teens.) Holling agrees to marry and gives
Shelly his mother’s ring. However, she
declines to wear it because it will turn men
off and they won’t hit on her.
Another story line indicates that Maggie
is already involved in another sexual
relationship. A closing scene includes
praise for the blasphemous movie The
Last Temptation of Christ.
A very politically correct theme
permeates the March 15 episode in which
Mike, Maggie’s other lover, makes an
impassioned farewell speech as he leaves
town to work on global environmental
research. He leaves as a hero.
Executive producers of the series are
Joshua Brand and John Falsey.
Top sponsor in these three episodes
was: Chrm. Edwin L. Artzt, Procter &
Gamble, P.O. Box 599, Cincinnati, OH
45201, FAX 513-562-4500, TOLL
FREE:1-800-543-7276. Comet cleanser,
Cover Girl cosmetics, Crest toothpaste,
Folger’s coffee, Pert shampoo, Tide
detergent.
McDonald’s regular
sponsor on casual,
perverse sex series
Casual sex, perversion and hedonism
are the threads that weave through the Fox
network’s MELROSE PLACE. Alison
moves to Seattle to live with her lover
whose job is taking him there in the March
3 episode. Michael and Jane (the series’
token married couple) entertain Sammy,
an old friend from out of town. He kisses
and propositions Jane—and she, of course,
likes it. Billy moves out of his lover’s
apartment. (They’d begun living together
after knowing each other a few weeks.)
Matt, the series homosexual, appears in
one brief scene.
In a March 10 re-run, one of Jake’s old
lovers shows up, and the two talk over old
times, i.e. their sexual affair. She then
introduces Jake to the son he didn’t know
he had. Another story line focuses on
AFA JOURNAL
May 1993
7
Matt, who operates a halfway house and
feeds homeless kids. He is infinitely more
sensitive and compassionate about such
issues than are any of his trendy friends.
Alison and friends discuss foreplay in
preparation for her first date with Rick.
Matt is again center stage in the March
24 episode. He is the counselor whom
Billy seeks out when Billy’s father dies.
Subsequently, Matt and his father reconcile
their differences. Matt, of course, initiated
the healing process, and the father’s
homophobia is apparently cured. One of
Michael’s fellow doctors (female) at the
hospital tries to seduce him.
The March 31 episode opens with Jake
and Jo in bed, interrupted by a phone call
from Perri, another of Jake’s old bedmates.
Perri has come to announce that she has
AIDS.
Jake’s stupid response is this: “What
does this mean—for me I mean?”
When Jake later tells Jo that Perri has
AIDS, Jo echoes Jake’s self-centered
response: “What does this mean?”
Jake goes to Matt (Who else!?) for
counsel. Matt acknowledges that one of
his lovers died of AIDS, but reassures
Jake, “Testing positive isn’t a death
sentence. Ignorance is!” Jake and Jo both
test negative.
Helping sponsor all four of the above
episodes was: Chrm. Michael R. Quinlan,
McDonald’s Corporation, 1 Kroc Dr.,
Oak Brook, IL 60521, Phone 708-5753000, FAX 708-575-6941. McDonald’s
fast food.
Sleaze, profanity
fill ABC sitcom
One plot focus of the March 9 episode
of the JACKIE THOMAS SHOW on ABC
is the discovery, by the men on the set of
the fictional TV show, that Sophie, the
show’s star, appears nude in Playpen
magazine. They all gather around to gawk
at the porn pics and ogle Sophie when she
appears on the scene.
Doug, a network representative, has
Sophie fired because of pressure from
religious groups. Jackie, star of his own
show, however, decides he wants to do
shower scenes with Sophie. He offers to
get her job back if she’ll have sex with
him, though he doesn’t go through with it
when she agrees. Euphemisms for sexual
intercourse and male genitalia appear in
the dialogue.
On March 16, the series boasted sexual
bondage jokes and two writers (one male,
one female) for the show playing strip
poker while the third writer actually works
on a script.
In the March 23 episode, Jerry fondly
recalls his first sexual experience as a
teenager in the back seat of his car. Guest
8
May 1993
star Gary Coleman plays himself; he and
Thomas make Coleman’s real life lawsuit
against his parents a matter for joke lines.
Thomas makes numerous references to his
practice of promising aspiring actresses
roles in the series in exchange for sex.
All three episodes have frequent
profanity and obscene expressions. Mike
Dugan wrote the first script, Sid Youngers
the second, and David Silverman and Steve
Sustarsic the third. All were produced by
Dava Savel. Tom and Roseanne Arnold are
executive producers.
Top advertiser was: Chrm. Michael A.
Miles, Philip Morris, Incorporated, 120
Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017, FAX
212-878-2167, TOLL FREE: 1-800-3430975. PRODUCTS: Cool Whip whipped
cream, General Foods products, Kool-Aid
soft drink, Kraft food products, Maxwell
House coffee.
GM ads support
perversion in
Fox sitcom episode
The teaser features series hero Neil and
heroin Alicia in various stages of dress and
undress—in and out of bed, but always
preparing for illicit sex. A later bed scene
has Neil asking Alicia to be in a porn film,
so he can make points with his boss. (He
works for the porn film company; she has
acted in films for the company in the past.)
It was Fox's March 28 FLYING BLIND.
Additional dialogue includes other illicit
sexual innuendo, genitalia jokes and
adultery jokes. Mark Reisman wrote the
script, which was produced by Michael
Stanislavsky.
Top advertiser was: Chrm. John G.
Smale, General Motors Corporation,
3044 W. Grand Blvd. Detroit, MI 48202,
Phone 313-556-5000. Buick automobiles,
Chevrolet automobiles, Mr. Goodwrench
service, Pontiac automobiles, Saturn
automobiles.
Illicit sex is theme
in politically
correct series
Chief Gillespie, the widowed police chief
in CBS’s IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT,
is embarrassed when townspeople stare as
his lover—Harriet, a divorcee—drives him
to work after a night of illicit sex. Harriet
feels guilty sneaking around and not telling
her teenage son about her sex life. The two
lovers discuss the fact that very few people
in town are not aware of their illicit
relationship. And so another prime-time
hero falls victim to the Hollywood pens
which insist that sex outside marriage is the
AFA JOURNAL
norm.
The major story line follows the U. S.
Senate campaign of white supremacist
George Deschamps who says that he wants
to lead a “revival of conservative tradition.”
Nothing politically incorrect there! A white
supremacist is—obviously—a political
conservative.
When the city council debates whether
to allow him to stage a rally at the local
high school, one member declares, “We’re
supposed to have the power to stop things
that we do not want.”
The story turns into an ugly adulterous
relationship going on between Deschamps’
wife and Chris Pastory, his campaign
manager. Pastory arranges to have
Deschamps assassinated during the
campaign rally, but instead himself
becomes the target of the assassin’s bullet.
The tawdry tale of murder, adultery
and illicit sex was a Matt Harris teleplay
produced by Joe Gannon.
Top advertiser was: Chrm. Arnold G.
Langbo, Kellogg Company, One Kellogg
Square PO Box 3599, Battle Creek, MI
49016, FAX 616-961-2000, TOLL
FREE: 1-800-962-1413. Eggo Waffles,
Frosted Flakes cereal, Kellogg’s cereals,
Mueslix cereal, Pop Tarts, Special K cereal.
Filthy language, teen
sex theme in sitcom
The March 23 episode of ABC’s
ROSEANNE held true to the sitcom’s
commitment to gutter-level sludge as
family time entertainment. In this episode,
jokes about priests are juxtaposed against
male genitalia jokes. Occasional profanity
is included.
In one story line, Molly, about 16,
visits the Conner’s house and propositions
David, Darlene Conner’s boyfriend. Such
is typical fare for the series. Executive
producers are Tom and Roseanne Arnold.
Robert Borden wrote the script.
Advertisers included: Chrm. Robert D.
Haas, Levi Strauss & Co., P.O. Box
7215, San Francisco, CA 94120, Phone
415-544-6000, FAX 415-544-3939,
Brittania apparel, Dockers apparel, Levi’s
blue jeans and denim apparel.
Send AFA
Responses
Please send AFA copies
of replies you receive from
advertisers and other
companies. Also, send
news clippings on family
issues. Your assistance is
deeply appreciated.
NEWS OF INTEREST
CBS/FOX video asks homosexuals to
‘mobilize’ behind homosexual releases
Leading an unprecedented charge into
the homosexual market, CBS/Fox Video
has announced a national “mobilization”
campaign to launch the homosexual-promoting The Lost Language of Cranes.
CBS/Fox is urging homosexual consumers to contact local video stores and
national chains and request the film. Retailers can only order rental copies of the
film until the May 11 cutoff date.
“We know demand’s there for gay and
lesbian titles all over the country, not just
in New York and San Francisco,” said Sal
Scamardo, CBS/Fox’s director of promotions. “Now, we need gay and lesbian
consumers to help us prove it to retailers.”
CBS/Fox will also donate a portion of
rental receipts to VIAC, the Video Industry AIDS Coalition.
For the home video industry, the campaign could lead to major changes in how
it markets to homosexuals.
“Our ultimate goal is to better serve
gay and lesbian consumers by integrating
titles that speak to them into more stores
in more places,” Scamardo said. “We’ve
always recognized the importance of the
gay market, and this title gives us the chance
to work directly on their concerns.”
According to Scamardo, research indicates homosexual consumers boast a higher
household income, spend more, and rent
more videos than average consumers. A
recent reader survey by Out, the national
homosexual magazine, found that its readers rent an average 4.1 videos each month,
with 28% renting 6 or more a month. Of
readers surveyed, 88.9% said they own a
VCR.
“It’s not a question of politics for us,”
said Mindy Pickard, vice president of marketing for CBS/Fox. “It benefits everyone
for video stores to carry more gay and
alternative titles–the stores win, consumers
win, distributors win. This market offers
true growth potential if its needs are addressed.”
The Lost Language of Cranes will
debut in video stores on June 2, at the start
of Gay Pride Month.
Congressman Barney Frank calls
his homosexual partner his “spouse”
The February edition of Washington
Life magazine presented a detailed survey
of U.S. senators and representatives,
complete with portraits of the lawmakers
and such information as their education,
previous occupation, spouse’s name, and
spouse’s occupation.
The attention-getter of the group was
clearly Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), one
of two avowed homosexuals in Congress.
For “spouse’s name” in the Frank profile,
Washington Life listed “Herb Moses” and
for “spouse’s occupation” listed
“Mortgage Banker.”
Since homosexual marriages are not
legally sanctioned anywhere in the United
States, Human Events contacted Frank’s
office to inquire just who Herb Moses was
and why he was listed as the congressman’s
“spouse.”
Frank himself returned the call and
confirmed that he had filled in the
questionnaire from the publication and had
listed Mr. Moses as his spouse.
“I normally wouldn’t discuss this, least
of all with you,” Frank told the Human
Events reporter. “But since you asked, I
didn’t think it would be accurate to just
write in ‘single,’ and ‘spouse’ was the closest
thing to describe Herb.
“Actually, there is no one single word to
describe Herb to me or me to him, and this
is something he has written about in a
magazine article. One can’t describe him as
a ‘companion’ because that sounds like
he’s a dog and if you simply say ‘friend,’ it
suggests he might be an elderly or infirm
person that I take care of. No, one (term)
can’t really describe what Herb is to me,
and there’s no need for one.”
Father shares concern
about entertainment violence
after daughter attacked
was sent to my 33-year-old single daughter
who is a flight attendant for American
Airlines and was forwarded to me for
reasons which I will explain.
“Kelly was returning home from the
grocery store at about 11:30 p.m. on July
20 of last year as she had forgotten to get
some cat food for her three pets. She was
followed home by three youths from a neighboring town (Ft. Worth) and they managed
to get in under her garage door before she
AFA regularly receives letters from
individuals who have been the victims of
violence and pornography. We felt led to
share the one below.
“Dear Mr. Wildmon, I received your
letter the other day on behalf of the American Family Association. Actually the letter
Human Events, 3/27/93
could get it closed with her auto door
opener. They robbed her of the cash she
had and then proceeded to rob her of the
life she had enjoyed up to that moment.
They hit her in the back of the head with
something that cracked her skull and then
as she lay on the garage floor they stomped
her head, kicked her head and stood on it
just to make sure she did not live through
it. The imprint of their athletic shoes remained embedded in her face for a couple
of weeks afterwards. She lay there in the
garage floor until 10:30 the next morning
when a neighbor found her. She had lost
two pints of blood (out her ears). Her skull
was cracked all the way around. The
neurosurgeon described it as being like a
cracked egg. She was not expected to live
but miraculously she did. She has been
hospitalized for nearly eight months now
and faces an untold period of rehabilitation when she comes out of the coma...and
of course we are still praying for miracles.
“I have long felt that TV and the programs that are being presented are ruining
our society. I wonder how many programs of violence it took to produce two
17-year-olds and a 19-year-old capable
of doing what these young men did. They
are awaiting trial for attempted capital
murder...FOUR lives ruined by a sponsor
holding to the argument that they want to
sponsor what people want to
see...regardless of the consequences for
our society.
“I just thought you might like a testimonial to keep you working when you’re
tired and going is tough. If I can ever help
you in any other way please let me know.
I would gladly help in any way possible.
Name Withheld by AFA
Time-Warner adds
more porn to lineup
Time-Warner has added a new line of
porn videos entitled NightVision. The
first two releases for the new porn line are
Fantasies and Erotic Encounters.
According to Video Business, February 1993, Fantasies “focuses on 16 women,
all in seductive states of undress, traipsing
through a variety of alluring settings.”
Video Business says “Ten vignettes of
uninhibited man/woman couplings can
be seen in Erotic Encounters, where the
viewer’s own interest in voyeurism is
directly proportional to the enjoyment of
the video’s sensuality. The scenarios are
all quite titillating, with such situations
involving a tutor, a pair of identical twin
sisters, an invisibility potion and a
News of Interest Sources
Sources cited for News of Interest items
indicate source of basic information only.
AFA JOURNAL
May 1993
9
jailhouse warden. As with Fantasies, the
players are all realistically attractive and
the love-making is deftly delivered with
style.”
NEA tax dollars push
homosexuals in military
The National Endowment for the Arts
has given $50,000 to Allan Berube and
Arthur Dong to help the pair make a film
based on Berube’s book, Coming out
Under Fire: The History of Gay Men and
Women in World War Two
The NEA has been a major player in
funding homosexual art for the past several years. The new film will help push the
acceptance of homosexuals in the military. Homosexual soldiers’ letters, film
footage and government documents will
be woven together to support the homosexual cause.
Associated Press, 3/7/93
NC-17 videos involved in rape
Two Clermont County, Ohio, boys
charged with molesting two neighborhood
youths admitted their guilt in Clermont
County Juvenile Court.
On February 24, a 13-year-old boy
admitted to four charges of rape, and his
9-year-old brother admitted to being
incorrigible, said juvenile Court Judge
Stephanie Linder.
The New Richmond area boys
performed sex acts on two other
neighborhood boys while watching Xrated video tapes. The victims were
between the ages of 6 and 7 during the
time of the incidents, said Clermont
County Prosecutor Don White.
Clermont Sun, 3/4/93
AFA distributes 35,000 copies
of the video “The Gay Agenda”
American Family Association has
distributed 35,000 copies of the video
“The Gay Agenda.” The video has been
widely viewed by top military personnel
during the current debate on lifting the
ban on homosexuals.
“We have mailed 35,000 copies of the
video to leaders and officials across the
country, including U.S. Senators and
Representative. The video contains much
vital information about the homosexual
movement and lifestyle which the major
media are not reporting. We feel this
information is necessary in order to make
an intelligent decision concerning lifting
the ban on homosexuals in the military
and the move by homosexuals to win
acceptance and approval for their
lifestyle,” said AFA president Donald E.
Wildmon.
Wildmon said that he has asked those
who received the video to share it with
10
May 1993
• AFA BOYCOTT BOX •
COMPANY
K Mart
Chrm. Joseph E. Antonini
3100 West Big Beaver Rd.
Troy, MI 48084
1-800-63-Kmart
Holiday Inns
REASON
Kmart, through its subsidiary Waldenbooks, is one of the
leading retailers of pornography in America. Kmart has
the authority to order Waldenbooks to get out of the
pornography business at any time. All profits from the
sale of pornography go to Kmart. Kmart owns
Waldenbooks, American Fare Stores, Pay Less and Pay
N Save Drug Stores (in the Northwest U.S.), Office Max,
Bargain Harold’s, Builders Square home supply stores,
Sports Authority and PACE Membership Warehouse
stores. (For additional companies owned by Kmart, see
article on page 1.)
All corporately owned Holiday Inns carry Satellite Cinema movie service which includes in-room porn movies
known as Sensations Features. Holiday Inns is the largest
provider of in-room pornographic movies in the U.S.
Chrm. Bryan Langton
3 Ravinia Dr., Ste. 2000
Atlanta, GA 30346
1-800-HOLIDAY
S. C. Johnson & Son S. C. Johnson & Son has been cited by CLeaR-TV for a
Chrm. Samuel C. Johnson
1525 Howe Street
Racine, WI 53403
1-800-558-5252
one-year boycott. The company has been among the
leading sponsors of sex, violence and profanity in primetime television programming for more than two years.
(See article on page 1.)
• QUOTES OF NOTE •
Abstinence is no answer
“I strongly believe that abstinence is no
cure. I think young people are...gonna do it
no matter what you say to them... Condoms
really need to be available.”
LIFE GOES ON star Chad Lowe
(CNBC’s TALK LIVE, February 20).
TV, etc. April 1993
Sitcoms are used to push politics
“There’s a sort of line they’ve (print
media) drawn between entertainment and
politics, where people who deal in a halfhour format don’t have any business
dabbling in politics. When I met (producer)
Larry Gelbart...and found he basically had
others. He said that he has received some
criticism from those who have viewed the
video because of scenes of sexual activity
between homosexuals on floats during Gay
Pride parades in San Francisco and other
cities. “There are offensive scenes, but these
scenes were a public part of the gay pride
parades,” Wildmon said.
Copies of “The Gay Agenda” are
available from AFA for $9.95 including
shipping. Include check with order to: The
Gay Agenda, AFA, Post Office Drawer
2440, Tupelo, MS 38803.
his own column on television, it was just
called M*A*S*H, it really impressed me.”
HEARTS AFIRE producer
Linda Bloodworth-Thomason
(January 25 Electronic Media).
TV, etc. April 1993
Evil believers
“Half the country is very religious and
thinks sex is a terrible thing, then the other
half is into life. I vote for sex...Always the
most heinous crimes in history (are committed) in the name of religion: the
Crusades, the Inquisition ...Hitler.”
Comedienne Elayne Boosler
(March 16 ARSENIO HALL SHOW).
TV, etc. April 1993
the state of Colorado and shall not convene
any national conference or event in said
state until this measure is lawfully
repealed....”
The humanist organization also
endorsed efforts by the ACLU to get the
will of the voters reversed in court.
People for the American Way, the
ACLU, American Library Association and
other leftwing groups—which in the past
have called AFA boycotts censorship—
have not come forward to call the boycott
by AHA censorship.
The Humanist Bulletin, Winter 1993
Humanist Association
supports Colorado boycott
People For American Way
staffer joins White House staff
The American Humanist Association has
Melanne Verveer, former Director of
passed a resolution endorsing a boycott of
the state of Colorado. Voters in Colorado
refused to grant special rights to
homosexuals in a vote last fall.
The AHA resolution says that the
organization “shall engage in a boycott of
AFA JOURNAL
Public Policy for the leftwing political
group People for the American Way, has
joined the staff at the White House.
Verveer took the key position of Deputy
Chief of Staff to First Lady Hillary Clinton.
The Clintons filled several key
positions with members of both People
for the American Way and the American
Civil Liberties Union.
AFA State Directors
AFA of Alaska, Mr. & Mrs. Robert
Head, Sr.,P.O. Box 20218,Juneau, AK
99802,Phone 907-463-3834
AFA of Alabama, Thomas Blackerby,
P.O. Box 11453, Montgomery, AL 36111,
Phone 205-834-4439
AFA of Arkansas, Bob Hester, P.O.
Box 9076, Jonesboro, AR 72403, Phone
501-932-5065
Northern California AFA, David
Woodel, P.O. Box 605, Citrus Heights,
CA 95611, Phone 916-988-1060
Southern California AFA, Dr. Wiley
S. Drake, 6671 Longfellow Dr., Buena
Park, CA 90620, Phone 714-522-7201
AFA of Delaware, F. Lytton Patterson,
P. O. Box 342, New Castle, DE 19720,
Phone 302-328-7469
AFA of Florida, David Caton, P.O.
Box 82722, Tampa, FL 33682, Phone
813-971-4622
AFA of Georgia, Nolen P. Cox, P.O.
Box 3112, Valdosta, GA 31604-3112,
Phone 912-244-8493
AFA of Indiana, Vickie Bowman, P.
O. Box 92, Garrett, IN 46738, Phone 219357-5484
AFA of Iowa, Larry R. Johnson, P.O.
Box 10111, Cedar Rapids, IA 52410,
Phone 319-377-1746
AFA of Kentucky, Dr. Frank Simon,
P.O. Box 6689, Louisville, KY 40206,
Phone 502-895-6263
AFA of Maryland, Bill Hoffman, Rt.
11, Box 432 Dagsboro Rd., Salisbury,
MD 21801, Phone 410-546-3512
AFA of Michigan, Bill Johnson, P.O.
Box 202, Fremont, MI 49412, Phone 616924-4050
AFA of Missouri, R. L. Beasley, P.O.
Box 2862, Joplin, MO 64803, Phone 417624-9385
AFA of New Jersey, Robert Kellow,
P.O. Box 699, Waretown, NJ 08758,
Phone 609-693-9590
AFA of Ohio, Scott Ross, P.O. Box 60,
Bethel, OH 45106-0060, Phone 513-7342326
AFA of Tennessee, Harry Grothjahn,
P. O. Box 412, Alcoa, TN 37701, Phone
615-977-7871
AFA of Texas, Jeff Fisher, P.O. Box
140917, Austin, TX 78714, Phone 512472-9196
AFA of Virginia, Rev. Mark Jarvis,
754 Germanna Hwy., Culpeper, VA
22701, Phone 703-825-1549
West Virginia AFA, Sam A. Cravotta,
3008 Glen Dr., Martinsburg, WV 25401,
Phone 304-274-2794
Bernice Wildmon Memorial Award established
The Jefferson County (Ohio) affiliate of
American Family Association has established the Bernice Wildmon Memorial
Award in memory of the mother of AFA
founder Donald E. Wildmon. Bernice
Wildmon died June 29, 1992.
The Jefferson County affiliate stated that
the award will be presented to those who
have performed heroically for Judeo-Chris-
tian morals and traditional family values
at great personal sacrifice, regardless of
the cost.
The first recipient of the Bernice
Wildmon Memorial Award was Mr. Billy
Inmon, former manager of the Ohio State
Fair, who was dismissed for taking a
public stand against homosexuals distributing pornography at the fair.
Sony, Disney help underwrite homosexual bash
Sony Pictures Studio hosted the second
annual National Gay and Lesbian Task
Force Hollywood fundraiser, which brought
in $180,000 for the NGLTF Policy Institute—more than twice the amount raised in
1991. Rocker Melissa Etheridge headlined
the evening; actors James Wood, Richard
Gere and Dana Delaney spoke. Among the
500 attending were Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-
CA), Peter Guber and Barry Diller.
Sony Pictures Entertainment, the Walt
Disney Co., Warner Bros., Fox Inc., Largo
Entertainment, the Diller Foundation and
David Geffen Foundation underwrote the
production costs.
The money will go to help promote the
homosexual lifestyle.
NGLTF Task Force Report, Winter 1993
Resources from AFA
Public School Sex Education: A Report. A documented study on sex
education programs and school-based health clinics.
A Guide to What One Person Can Do About Pornography. Step-by-step
guide to how you can fight porn in your community.
Christianity and Humanism: A Study in Contrasts. A six-session study
written by AFA. Biblically based, good for Sunday school, bible study.
Pornography: A Report. An in-depth look at the effects of pornography.
Some of the finest material available on the subject.
Anti-Christian Bias in America. Reveals bias in government, media and
education.
The Fight Back Book. Gives addresses of TV advertisers and government
officials.
For Each of the above titles send:
One copy $2; 2-9 copies $1.50 each;
10-49 copies $1 each; 50 or more copies $ .50 each
AFA T-Shirts. AFA logo in blue on white all-cotton shirt. Minimum order
5 shirts. 5-9, $5 each; 10-24, $4.50 each; 25 or more, $4.00 each.
Bumper Sticker. “Porn banned” sticker (3.75" x 4.5") The word “PORN”
on black background with familiar red circle and cross bar superimposed.
Order in quantity only: 100/$12; 250/$27; 500/$50; 1000/$90.
Anti-Porn Billboard. Ready to apply to standard-size billboard. Red and
black; “Pornography victimizes women and children” slogan with photo of
child. Has AFA name. $25 each, includes shipping. Junior Billboard, $15.
AIDS Billboard. Standard-sized billboard reads “Abstinence or AIDS: It’s
your choice.” Red and blue on white background. AFA i.d. line can be
replaced with local sponsor, $25.
The Gay Agenda. Video containing vital information about the homosexual movement and lifestyle which the major media is not reporting.
Some scenes are offensive. $9.95.
Send check with order to: AFA, P. O. Drawer 2440, Tupelo, MS 38803
AFA JOURNAL
May 1993
11
AFA
Newspapers endorse AFA advertising campaign
Editor’s note: The Daily Oklahoman of Oklahoma City and
the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Gazette recently endorsed the AFA
newspaper advertising campaign promoting better entertainment.
The editorials are reprinted below.
It’s not censorship
Every time Donald E. Wildmon goes campaigning on behalf
of family values, somebody invokes First Amendment freedoms.
It happened four years ago when Wildmon, a Tupelo,
Mississippi, minister, took on the National Endowment for the
Arts. Some critics assumed he was on a censorship kick when all
he wanted was to end taxpayers’ subsidy of sick and repellent
works of art.
Today Wildmon again is cast as Cotton Mather incarnate—
this time for heading a petition campaign to get the entertainment
industry to clean up its act.
But he and his American Family Association colleagues had
the foresight to blunt the criticism: “Spare us the censorship
lecture—you in the entertainment industry,” their ad says. “And
this is not an appeal to prudery. All we want is to get the movie,
TV and record industries to act responsibly. Our children, our
families and our country are being hurt too much for us to remain
silent.”
It is a reasonable request. Asking people to act responsibly is
far different from seeking to have their constitutional rights
suspended.
Wildmon probably will get results. Crucially, the message is
going not to headstrong producers, directors and artists, but to
directors of entertainment companies, who answer to stockholders.
The stockholders, in turn, should see the risk of product boycott
and demand that the wares (TV programs, movies and recordings)
be made less offensive to mainstream America. These are highpressure tactics, but a threatened boycott is not to be confused
with censorship.
What makes us think the entertainment industry is out of touch
Skateboard magazine
features pornography
A member of the city council in
Southern California called AFA offices to
share an experience he had after
purchasing a skateboard magazine for his
12-year-old son.
The father saw the magazine Thrasher
as he scanned the children’s section in a
local store’s magazine display. The cover
featured a skateboarder jumping through
a huge hoop. (More skateboard
illustrations and features are evident as
one quickly flips through a few pages.)
He purchased the magazine and took it
home to his son, who soon brought it back
and said, “Dad, I don’t think you really
want me reading this.”
The magazine featured nude photos, as
well as an article entitled “How to Get
Laid: Ten Sure Fire Steps.”
AFA President Don Wildmon
12
May 1993
with the public? Twenty-five years worth of watching and
listening, coupled with dwindling viewership of sordid, violent
TV shows and movies. Especially movies, where cynicism is the
prevalent theme. Almost incredibly, some producers and directors
would rather win the praise of their industry peers than draw huge
audiences. In Hollywood vs. America (1992) film critic Michael
Medved points out that movie patronage dropped 50% in the late
1960s, never to recover. The period coincided with the scrapping
of traditional standards in favor of the “anything goes” industry
rating system—G,PG,PG-13, R and X (now NC-17).
You don’t have to be a stuffed-shirt to lament the decline and
to ask that the entertainment industry act responsibly.
Cedar Rapids Gazette 3/20/93
‘Godspeed’
The American Family Association (AFA), based in Mississippi,
is making waves with a grass-roots advertising campaign aimed
at raising popular awareness of frequently violent and salacious
movies, television programming, music videos and shocking
record lyrics.
Through full-page advertisements which have appeared in
most major markets (including a recent ad in The Oklahoman),
AFA aims to gather more than one million signatures on petitions
which will go to members of the boards of directors of major TV,
film, music and record companies.
The AFA drive, which had netted nearly 740,000 signatures
through late February, is focused on heightening citizen awareness
and on communicating to key shapers of the popular culture that
“This is not a call for prudery. All we want is to get the movie, TV
and record industries to act responsibly.
“Our children, our families and our country are being hurt too
much for us to remain silent.”
In the best tradition of American free speech and advocacy,
AFA is standing for traditional morality, common sense and
ethics in commerce. Here’s wishing them “Godspeed.”
observed, “It’s tragic when parents have to
be on the lookout for pornography in
magazines in the children’s section.”
Wildmon encouraged parents who
encounter similar situations to ask city
prosecutors to investigate to see if public
display laws or harmful to minors laws are
being violated.
O’Hair, Clairborne,
P&G rumors abound
For years, rumors have persisted that
Madalyn Murray O’Hair has petitioned the
Federal Communications Commission to
enact a ruling that would prevent, even in
Sunday worship services, the reading of the
Gospel over the airwaves. The rumor will
die down for a while, then re-surface. A
current rumor making the rounds refers to
petition No. 2493. AFA’s inquiries reveal
that the rumor is just that—total rumor.
There is no such petition by Mrs. O’Hair
AFA JOURNAL
Daily Oklahoman 3/4/93
on file with the FCC.
In a similar campaign, Procter and
Gamble Company has been the victim of
false reports for more than a decade. The
typical flyer calls for a boycott of P&G
because the company’s president allegedly
boasted on THE PHIL DONAHUE
SHOW that he was a Satan worshiper
and/or that a portion of P&G profits were
funneled to the Church of Satan. Again,
no such thing ever occurred.
In fact, readers should be advised that
P&G won a $75,000 lawsuit against a
Topeka, Kansas, couple who were
spreading the rumor.
Like P&G, the Liz Clairborne women’s
apparel company has been wrongly
connected to Elizabeth Clare Prophet, a
self-styled religious cult leader who has
appeared on THE OPRAH WINFREY
SHOW. There is no relationship
between the cultist and the legitimate
Liz Clairborne products.
POLITICS
If Elders does for nation what she
did for Arkansas, we’re in trouble
She displays in her office an “Ozark Rubber Plant”—so called
because yellow condoms hang for its stalks. Attached is a note:
“Blooms mostly at night. Blooms vary in length, depending on
owner. Blooms may wilt in chilly atmosphere.”
Funny, huh?
She wants to pour more money into a very expensive program
that has proven itself an accelerator of both teenage pregnancy
and abortions.
She plans to institute explicit, no holds barred, sex education
beginning with your kindergartener.
She advises pro-lifers to “get over their love affair with the
fetus” and charges they “love little children as long as they are in
someone else’s uterus.”
She derides the “celibate, male-dominated church, a maledominated legislature, and a male-dominated medical profession.”
She may just call you a “very religious non-Christian” with a
“slave-master mentality” if you dare to disagree with her.
She is Dr. Joycelyn Elders, Bill Clinton’s Surgeon General
designate and current director of the Arkansas Department of
Health.
Anne Dierks, immediate past president of Arkansas Right to
Life and a thorn in the flesh of Elders in frequent public and
The Elders answer doesn’t
work. It’s researched fact. But
the Clinton administration
wants to do it.
private debates, bemoans the “damage Elders could do
nationally...it’s scary.”
During her tenure as Arkansas health director, the incidence
of teenage pregnancy has steadily risen—after posting steady
declines in the years before her appointment.
That shouldn’t surprise.
Elders’ answer is the use of school-based health clinics which,
as research attests, is a sure loser. The Alan Guttmacher Institute,
the research arm of Planned Parenthood, reported its findings in
1991: “Clinic presence was not associated with lower rates of
pregnancy at any of the sites, either during the previous 12
months or any other time....Our data did not provide evidence
that the presence of any of the school-based clinics reduced the
schoolwide pregnancy rate.”
Researchers Joseph Olsen and Stan Weed, in a 1986 report,
found that “instead of the expected reduction in teenage
She advises pro-lifers to ‘get
over their love affair with
the fetus.’
pregnancies, greater adolescent involvement in family-planning
programs was associated with significantly higher teenage
By Matt Friedeman
The Clairon-Ledger
March 31, 1993
pregnancy rates.” This is “dramatically different,” they said,
from the hypothesized reduction.
Message in all this: The Elders answer doesn’t work. It’s
researched fact. But the Clinton administration wants to do it
anyway.
“Doing it anyway” is expensive, however—each clinic costs
$100,000-$150,000 annually. Little Rock Central, for instance,
She wants to pour more money
into a very expensive program
that has proven itself an
accelerator of both teenage
pregnancy and abortions.
cost $111,000 the first year with a total of 1,100 visits, which
averages out to about $109 per visit. And at what cost to parents
and family—if no consent form is received in Arkansas the
school assumes that the parent is giving consent; medical decisions
are made without parental consent or knowledge and Elders
admits that counselors advise students on a range of available
options—including abortion.
The sex education Elders has in mind is no more comforting.
Check these out for yourself—Love and Sex and Growing Up by
Eric Johnson and Changing Bodies, Changing Lives by Ruth
Bell. Just to be safe hide them somewhere so the kids can’t get to
them. Warns Dierks, “The latter is pornographic and encourages
the young to ignore any suggestions from authoritative figures in
their lives if they don’t like what they say...i.e., parents, ministers,
teachers, etc.”
And the condoms? Well, Dr. Elders ought to let someone take
her “Ozark Plant” to a lab; she will likely find that those yellow
latex things have channels of 5 microns or so in them—frightening
when you think that the HIV virus measures about .1 micron. The
condoms she wants to dispense at schools are found to fail 15.7
During her tenure as Arkansas
health director, the incidence
of teenage pregnancy has
steadily risen.
percent of the time in preventing pregnancies; 36.3 percent with
young, unmarried minority women.
“Governor,” she has queried Clinton occasionally, “should I
back off?” His typical response: “No, no, Joycelyn, I love
it....keep it up.” In fact, he has said, “I want you to do for the whole
country what you’ve done for Arkansas.”
School-based clinics, sex education beginning in kindergarten,
condoms for your teenagers and abortion—agenda items to
reduce teenaged pregnancy and encourage good health?
AFA JOURNAL
May 1993
13
FATHERHOOD
Living for your children
I remember seeing a National Geographic special a few years
ago about the diverse U.S. national parks and the rangers who
serve in them. One ranger from out West talked about some of the
tragic incidents he had been involved in over the years. One, in
particular, gave me a lot to think about. I don’t think I’ll ever
forget it.
A father had taken his young son on a fishing trip into one of
the more remote parks. They had set out in a small fishing boat
We are a compass that helps
them stay on course.
on an unpredictable river noted for rough water that often
appeared without warning. Only after the small boat capsized in
the seething rapids did the father realize he had made a serious
error: there was only one life-vest in the boat. The father held his
son close, secured the life vest around him and gave him a shove
toward the shore. The last words the little boy heard his father say
as he disappeared in the rapids were, “I love you, son.”
Was this an unusual sacrifice? Fathers, let me ask you about
your convictions. How strongly do you feel about the things that
are really important to you? What, for instance, would you be
willing to die for? Your wife? Your children? Your God? As I
pondered these questions, I asked myself, if my daughter was
trapped in the back of a burning automobile—one that might
explode at any second—would I hesitate, or would I spontaneously
go for her, this child who is so precious to me? Linda and I have
nurtured her from the womb. We’ve laughed joyously together
and we’ve shared tears of sorrow. Saving her would be an
uncontrollable urge.
I know that, like the young father in the river, I would willingly
die in an instant to save my children’s lives. Heroic? Hardly.
They want to know that we care
enough about them to give them
some of that most precious
commodity—time.
Practically every parent I know would do the same. The nation’s
newspapers often print accounts of mothers and fathers who have
made the ultimate sacrifice to save their children.
We are willing to die for our children, but how many of us are
willing to live for them? What does it mean to live for our
children, our spouse, our family? Does it mean only providing a
roof over their heads, sufficient food and clothing, an adequate
education?
No, it’s much more. It means to be constantly sensitive to their
total well-being, to know what makes them laugh, what makes
them cry, to hurt when they hurt, to be willing to make meaningful
and tough decisions for their physical, mental and moral welfare,
to love them enough to do this even when it makes them angry or
upset, to love them with an unconditional love when they make
us sad as well as when they make us glad. We provide the nucleus,
the center, of love and compassion and concern around which
their earthly lives can rotate. We are a compass that helps them
stay on course.
14
May 1993
AFA JOURNAL
By William Swindell
Excerpt from Fathers, Come Home
Children need parents. They need to be loved. They need to be
needed. They want to know that we care enough about them to
give them some of that most precious commodity—time. We all
must examine our schedules and see just how much of our
undivided attention is dedicated to our children. There are times
when we should let nothing else, mentally or physically, come
between us and our child. It is only by spending time with our
children that we really get to know them.
Joey shuffled reluctantly to the blackboard. The teacher had
asked him to write one word that best described his dad. The
fourth-grader hesitated and then asked, “How do you spell
‘selfish’?” He slowly wrote “S-E-L-F-I-S-H” across the
blackboard. The teacher sensed the delicacy of the situation, so
she didn’t pursue the matter until after class. Then she asked Joey
why he chose “selfish.”
“Because he never does anything with me,” the boy said
meekly. “He’s always got time for hunting and fishing by himself
‘Fathers, Come Home’
released by Greenlawn
William Swindell’s book Fathers, Come Home
has recently been released by Greenlawn Press. It is
an enjoyable and creative look at the importance of
involved, committed fathers in today’s families.
Swindell is head of HomeFires ministry through
which he and his wife Linda lead seminars for
parents. He formerly served as president of
Children’s Legal Foundation and as national
associate director of AFA. For more information
about the book or speaking engagements contact
Christine at Greenlawn Press, 107 S. Greenlawn
Ave., South Bend, IN 46617-3430; phone 219234-5088.
and playing golf and playing cards and bowling with his friends.
He always does what he wants to do but never what I want to do.”
Fathers, how are we investing our time? On behalf of pleasures
in the present, or on behalf of the eternal? Our children are
watching. They remember. They see the disparity when we
always have time for the things we deem important and don’t
have time for them.
When I finally came to the point of asking myself, “How well
do I really know my daughters?” questions like these came to
mind:
Who are Kari’s and Sara’s best friends and what do I know
about their parents? What are their favorite subjects in school?
What kind of activities, foods, colors, etc., do they prefer? Whom
does Kari look to as a role model? What does she want to
accomplish this year? What does Sara dream of being when she
grows up?
Honestly, at the time I couldn’t answer any of those questions.
How well do you know your children? Do they excitedly share
all their experiences with you, or have you made yourself
inaccessible?
Fathers, pray every day that God will give you the wisdom,
strength and courage to be the kind of parent who lives for your
children as eagerly as you would die for them.
MEDIA BIAS
By Ron Austin
National Catholic Register
March 21, 1993
Hollywood and violence
What to do about gratuitous violence in films and TV is a hot
subject in Hollywood at the moment. Perhaps due to the Clinton
election, people in the media are feeling less defensive, and even
engaging in some serious soul-searching. A recent discussion of
the violence issue at the Writers’ Guild reflected the increased
concern. It was impeded, however, by some familiar “straw man”
arguments which either deny the problem by defining it out of
existence, or spread the blame elsewhere. For instance:
Straw Man No. 1: “What problem? There’s always been
violence in both society and popular entertainment, and it’s really
not much worse, etc.” This line is hard to deliver with a straight
face in violence-plagued Los Angeles these days. Anyone living
in the real world knows this is bunk. Next case.
Straw Man No. 2: “OK, so there’s a problem, but there’s
nothing we can do about it.” This defense comes in two versions,
the political and the philosophical, and both deserve a hearing.
The political stance is civil libertarian, i.e., “the cure is worse than
the disease,” and the underlying issue is the “c” word. Censorship
is, and should be, a central concern of writers and artists. This is
legitimate self-interest, and their vigilance benefits everyone.
But this concern is too often used to defend the status quo, and to
end discussion. Fact is, no one that anyone takes seriously is
proposing government censorship—yet. But if Hollywood is
perceived as scornful of reasonable criticism and only concerned
with the bottom line, then, as we have seen recently, demagogic
appeals will find ready listeners.
The philosophical version of the passive defense is “violence
is simply part of human nature. It’s not ‘dehumanizing,’ it’s all
too human!” There’s some bad theology lurking here, and worse
reasoning. The problem of evil may remain a mystery, but that
needn’t mean the inevitability of widespread violence, and it
hardly justifies the deliberate programming of violent
entertainment for adolescents. In fact, if one has a grim view of
human nature, then logic suggests more restraint and
responsibility, not less.
Straw Man No. 3: “The media are being used as a scapegoat.
We’re just the ‘mirror’ of a violent society.” Corollary: Blame
everyone else, including courts, cops, educators and parents. But
Boycotts and protests are
the inevitable response of
consumers who feel
otherwise disenfranchised.
even the most severe critics aren’t claiming that the media are the
sole cause of anti-social behavior. The real question is, to what
extent are they a contributor? As to the “mirror” analogy with it’s
claim of minimal influence, its Hollywood proponents had better
keep this word from reaching Madison Avenue. Advertisers have
spent billions assuming the opposite.
Straw Man No. 4: “If you don’t like violence then turn it off.
The audience has the right to a choice. Let the marketplace
decide.” This argument has an ironic flavor in liberal Hollywood,
where most people wouldn’t dream of defending Adam Smith’s
venerable “invisible hand” as sufficient protection of the public
interest. It only confirms the powerful role of self-interest in
these debates. Let’s all hope that the “free market” works, but will
the media industry really welcome the consequences? A
functioning free marketplace assumes informed and energized
consumers who will exercise their right to complain. Boycotts
and protests are the inevitable response of consumers who feel
otherwise disenfranchised.
Straw Man No. 5: “There’s no proof of direct causality. We
don’t know if movies and TV actually cause violence.” Probably
more time is spent (and wasted) on this issue than any other. One
reason, of course, is the temptation of statistical obfuscation, but
there’s a more serious underpinning. Judgments about popular
entertainment, violent or otherwise, are ultimately decided by
The biblically oriented “JudeoChristian” ethical system no
longer provides a commonly
accepted basis of judgment.
values and morals. But, increasingly, whether conservatives
wish to acknowledge this or not, there is little or no moral
consensus in popular culture. To attempt to address these issues
in “moral” terms in present-day Hollywood is to disappear into
a semantic black hole.
This isn’t to suggest that people in Hollywood are unconcerned
about the welfare of children. But the biblically oriented “JudeoChristian” ethical system no longer provides a commonly accepted
basis of judgment. This is when the social scientists step in. In an
attempt to provide an acceptable conceptual framework, they
offer studies and statistical guides.
What is the measurable effect of TV upon children? How
many “counts of violence” are acceptable? It’s an effort to create
a more quantified, “scientific” ethical system, a kind of moral
calculus. And of course it fails. People’s motives and actions
can’t be plumbed that way. So the numbers debate becomes
inconclusive and interminable.
But it’s another straw man anyway, because, again, few
sensible researchers are suggesting simple causality. Some of the
studies are nevertheless valuable, and are strongly suggestive of
negative effects from media violence. What parent wants to run
the risk?
Straw Man No. 6: “We’re talking about art. Most of these
excessively violent movies are just exploitative junk, but we
have to be tolerant or we’ll endanger creative freedom, etc.” Like
the civil libertarian argument, this is a point worth respecting.
Sometimes Hollywood does produce “art,” but it’s a shame to see
that label used as a fig leaf for the mass media commodities that
dominate the imagination of the young.
This argument does, however, point up a weakness in the
position of many well meaning educators and mental health
professionals involved in this debate. They often slip into a
Platonic view of the arts as being desirable only when they are
safely pro-social and offer positive role models. In other words,
when art is designed to be moral instruction or education. But
Plato’s view of art has, unfortunately, inspired pedants and
authoritarians as well as artists.
Many, if not most, great works of art would fail Plato’s tests.
The aesthetics of Western drama were derived more from Aristotle,
and, through Aquinas, entered the Catholic tradition. Aristotle
AFA JOURNAL
May 1993
15
viewed dramatic action as offering catharsis, a purging of the
emotions which leads to insight and deeper understanding.
But Aristotelian theory not only doesn’t justify gratuitous
violence, it indicts it. For a successful catharsis, or purging, to
take place, it must be in a rational and moral context. If the
stimulation offered by the depiction of violence is not discharged
by the work of art itself, then it remains pent-up and may be
released in some far less desirable manner.
These “straw men” unfortunately obscure the necessary terms
for a beneficial debate. When it’s eventually conceded that there
Arrogant attitude caused
NBC to self-destruct
In the wake of the network’s brazen lying to the public in the
last few months, it was high time that NBC News President
Michael Gartner resigned. From the staged explosion of GM
trucks to the supposedly dead fish in an Idaho stream that were
only electronically stunned, NBC’s contempt for the viewing
public cannot be tolerated if television news is to be trusted.
But Gartner’s resignation is the first step on the road to real
responsibility for the network’s atrocious reporting practices.
NBC has had a special problem admitting guilt, standing by
stories for weeks, only admitting error after being threatened
Both scandalous stories set out
to expose an industry’s
wrongdoing, and all that
was exposed was the
network’s wrongdoing.
with a lawsuit. At NBC, it’s not journalistic integrity that matters,
but ratings and profitability. NBC is practicing “checkbook
journalism” of an entirely different kind.
Liberals may find that this fits into a neat box: journalistic
idealism quashed by bottom-line corporate capitalism. But honest journalism is losing out not only to show biz values, but also
to liberal bias: Our video may be inaccurate, but industry (the
auto industry, the logging industry, the you-fill-in-the-blank
industry) is the real villain, and the ends justify the means.
NBC News also lost credibility with its response to the furor,
using a recycled version of the liberal argument that no one was
really responsible for NBC’s actions. NBC risked the perception
that in the current world of network news, no heads should roll,
since trumped-up fakery is simply a rational response to a system
that thrives on sensation and overstatement.
Rewind to the DATELINE NBC story on GM trucks, when
Gartner avoided any admission of guilt: “We remain convinced
that taken in its entirety and detail, the segment . . . was fair and
accurate.” Gartner insisted that misleading the public didn’t do
any harm, since the incendiary devices NBC hooked to the GM
truck didn’t supposedly cause the fire. That unrepentant, viewerbe-da--ed attitude doesn’t belong in an honest news organization.
NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw provided a similar mealymouthed defense of NBC in his on-air apology for its dead-fish
story: “At one point, we inadvertently used footage of dead fish
from another forest further south, not from Clearwater (National
Forest).” Inadvertently? How can you air an entire story charging
fish are dying from logging in an Idaho forest and then “inadvertently” splice in video of dead fish from somewhere else? That’s
a long way from Brokaw’s declaration in a 1988 interview with
People magazine: “As one of the most conspicuous symbols of
16
May 1993
AFA JOURNAL
is obvious excessive and gratuitous violence in the media, that
common sense tells us it has some negative effects, and that we
have both the obligation and capacity to monitor what is sold to
our children, and while recognizing at the same time that creative
rights must be protected, then the real—and difficult—discussion
can begin. We must act. What are our choices?
Meanwhile, the creative people in Hollywood should stop
acting like the oil industry PR folks viewing the post-Exxon
Valdez Alaskan coastline, and begin to help in cleaning up the
mess.
By Brent Bozell
Creators Syndicate
the network, the anchor ought to take responsibility for the entire
news division.”
But it gets more interesting. Brokaw ended his apology: “We
regret the inappropriate video to illustrate what was otherwise an
accurate report.” Wrong again, Mr. Brokaw. The report claimed
that 70% of the fish were dying from logging in the Clearwater
National Forest, something NBC absolutely failed to prove. It’s
interesting that Brokaw emphasized apologizing for the video,
but not the story. Does he really think people don’t listen to their
reports, but only watch the pictures?
NBC’s shoddy reporting is especially ironic since both scandalous stories set out to expose an industry’s wrongdoing, and all
that was exposed was the network’s wrongdoing. The usual hideand-seek had been reversed: GM and the loggers were doing the
seeking, NBC the hiding. The only ‘inadvertent’ thing NBC
accomplished may be causing the public to wonder if journalistic
malfeasance isn’t more common than corporate malfeasance.
It’s also noteworthy that the networks have been goaded into
dishonest stories on allegedly dishonest business practices by
left-wing anti-corporate activists: NBC collaborated with the
Institute for Safety Analysis on its GM story. CBS worked with
the Natural Resources Defense Council to “expose” Alar. ABC
conspired with the Government Accountability Project to sabotage non-union Food Lion grocery stores.
Had NBC used the logging industry for an expose on
Greenpeace, it would have constituted an act of unethical influence-peddling. But stories done in collaboration with left-wing
partisans with their own groups’ agendas raise no eyebrows. In
fact, the journalistic community gave awards to producers of the
DATELINE segment for previous stories using the same leftwing auto-safety activists. Neither the networks nor the activists
are looking for the truth—they’re looking for yet another cheap,
easy, anti-business “Gotcha” story.
“Journalistic ethics” is replacing “military intelligence” as
NBC has had a special problem
admitting guilt...only admitting
error after being threatened
with a lawsuit.
Washington’s favorite political oxymoron. Gartner’s colleagues,
including Brokaw, Nightly News producer Jeff Zucker and
DATELINE executive producer Jeff Diamond, need to feel their
colleagues’ contempt for these embarrassments before there is
any real impact on NBC’s journalism. And all the networks need
to reconcile their attempt to cultivate an appearance of objectivity with their desire to collaborate with left-wing special-interest
groups. Newspapers hire ombudsmen to patrol such partisan
chicanery. It’s time for television to do the same.
ANTI-CHRISTIAN BIAS
By Ralph Reed
The Wall Street Journal
March 16, 1993
Christianity vs. Fanaticism
Michael Griffin was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.
Beleaguered by marital problems, he erupted into fits of violence
without warning. After repeated beatings, his wife sought a Court
injunction, citing “incidents of physical abuse” that left bruises.
His church removed him from membership after he rejected
counseling.
Last week the anger raging inside Mr. Griffin boiled over in
a parking lot outside an abortion clinic in Pensacola, Florida,
A caring faith community will
not merely condemn the
abortionist, but offer loving
alternatives to pregnant women,
such as homes for unwed
mothers and adoption services.
where he has been charged with the murder of Dr. David Gunn,
an itinerant abortionist. This murder has raised anew the national
debate over abortion. It also has raised questions about the role
of religion in civic discourse in America.
Mr. Griffin’s aberrant violence is no more representative of
the pro-life movement than the terrorism practiced by the Black
Panthers exemplified the civil rights struggle of the 1950s.
Martin Luther King Jr. preached nonviolence. The fact that a few,
led by Huey P. Newton and Eldridge Cleaver, carried their rage
to violent excess did not signal the moral bankruptcy of the
crusade for a colorblind society.
Growing contempt
Mainstream pro-life organizations recoiled in horror at the
murder in Pensacola. “The violence of killing in the name of prolife makes a mockery of the pro-life cause,” proclaimed the U.S.
Catholic Bishops Conference. The bishops are right. Murder
committed in the name of life is hypocrisy, pure and simple.
Yet the statement of the Catholic Church went largely ignored. After all, why appeal to religious authority when Dr. Joyce
Brothers or Carl Sagan will do? Indeed, the tragedy in Pensacola
reveals the vacuum in American intellectual discourse created by
the growing contempt for religion. A dark thread runs through the
conventional explanation for Michael Griffin’s behavior: He was
a devout Christian. His pathology has been cast in largely
religious terms.
Anthony Lewis of the New York Times opined hysterically
that the murder in Pensacola showed that “religious fanatics”
want to impose “God’s word on the rest of us.” One news account
related that Mr. Griffin educated his children at home, a practice
“largely associated with Christian fundamentalist beliefs.”
Why are law-abiding, churchgoing citizens associated with
the isolated violence of an obvious sociopath?
Part of the answer lies in the church’s abdication of its
responsibility to the broader culture. After the Scopes trial of
1925, people of faith withdrew to their churches, creating a
cultural ghetto of their own making. Their recent re-entry into
civic life after decades of neglect has been greeted with fear.
In seeking to redress their cultural isolation, people of faith
must resist the temptation to promote political involvement as the
sole answer to our social ills. The church that saves souls and
restores marriages gains a platform from which it can speak to the
broader society. The hand that feeds, clothes and educates is
strong enough to bang the gavel in the courthouse and statehouse.
A caring faith community will not merely condemn the abortionist, but offer loving alternatives to pregnant women, such as
homes for unwed mothers and adoption services.
A second problem is the growing alienation of cultural elites
from middle America, particularly in matters of religion. According to a survey by Stanley Rothman and Robert Lichter, 86%
of U.S. media leaders attend church infrequently or not at all. By
contrast a survey conducted last month by the Marketing Research Institute found that 48% of Americans attend church
twice or more a month.
More than 100 million Americans attend church every month
and approximately 30 million attend church four times a month
or more. Yet few of our nation’s journalists, professors and
intellectuals can be found in the pews on any given Sunday.
As Jeffrey Bell observes in “Populism and Elitism: Politics in
the Age of Equality,” this cultural estrangement has created a
values crisis of unprecedented magnitude that is reflected in our
politics. As elites have become increasingly isolated from the
people (and vice versa), our politics have become downright
nasty, even dysfunctional.
Christians in the public sphere are “fanatics,” their participation in the civic process a threat to the “separation of church and
state.” Columnist Molly Ivins even labeled politically active
evangelicals “Shiite Baptists,” a bizarre equation that suggests a
connection between evangelical Protestantism and political extremism.
Popular disdain for religion has debased our civic discourse
until it is vulgar, vitriolic and violent. We no longer communicate because we no longer share a common vernacular. Religionists and secularists snipe at one another across rhetorical
barricades.
It was not always so. Unique among all nations in history,
America was settled by people of faith. Our educational system
Mr. Griffin’s aberrant violence is
no more representative of the
pro-life movement than the
terrorism practiced by the Black
Panthers exemplified the civil
rights struggle of the 1950s.
was largely founded by clergy. Jonathan Edwards, one of the first
presidents of Princeton, stirred congregations with sermons that
warned of “sinners in the hands of an angry God.”
Schoolchildren in early America read McGuffey Readers by
candlelight, memorizing Scripture verses and church hymns.
When Noah Webster published the first American dictionary in
1828, he used Bible verses as definitions. Webster founded a
college, served in government, and mastered 28 languages.
There was no false dichotomy between personal faith and public
service in his day.
Well into the 20th century, two bodies of literature informed
our civic discourse: the classics and the Bible. Theodore Roosevelt,
AFA JOURNAL
May 1993
17
who often read three books a day, claimed, “A thorough knowledge of the Bible is more imporant than a college education.”
(Roosevelt understood this from personal experience, having
graduated from Harvard.)
When Abraham Lincoln said in the 1850s that “a house
divided against itself cannot stand,” he was quoting the book of
Matthew. His listeners needed no translator. Shared language
and symbolism muted disagreements and sustained national
unity even when political disputes threatened to destroy it.
We have lost this common language, and with it our sense of
common values. As religion has been pushed to the periphery of
intellectual life, the media’s explanation for the continued vitality of religion assumes an apocalyptic flavor.
Our morbid fascination with the tragedies in Waco, Texas,
and Pensacola is instructive. Religion in the popular mind has
become virtually synonymous with fanaticism. Preachers are
drawn as Elmer Gantry-like caricatures, and their followers are,
in the words of the Washington Post, “poor, uneducated and easy
to command.” When religion does find its way into the national
debate, it is invariably in the context of bombings, terror, murder
and cultic violence.
One searches in vain for a positive portrayal of faith in popular
culture. When Martin Scorcese remade the 1962 film “Cape
Fear” a couple of years ago, he transformed the character played
by Robert De Niro into a Pentecostal psychopath who sneers at
a woman just before raping her, “Are you ready to be born
again?” Gone is our understanding of religion’s vibrant role in
sustaining marriages, nurturing children, and strengthening families. Gone is our appreciation for religion as the basis for
individual self initiative, social quietude and voluntary civil
obedience.
Civil religion
The Hollywood set argues that the exclusion of faith from the
public arena is tantamount to patriotism. But even they cannot
deny that skyrocketing crime, drugs, illegitimacy, divorce, teen
pregnancy and illiteracy parallel the decline in the public
affirmation of religious faith in popular culture.
Civil religion was the first of American political institutions.
“It was not until I went into the churches of America and heard
her pulpits flame with righteousness that I understood her greatness,” wrote Alexis de Tocqueville in 1835. Religion, he added,
was “indispensable to the maintenance of republican institutions”
in the U.S.
Tocqueville marveled at a nation of churchgoers whose political differences were tempered by shared values and a common
language to express them. Until our culture begins to honor and
affirm religion, civility may never return to American civic
discourse. Even more tragically, a gunman in Pensacola and a
lunatic in Waco will remain exemplars of religion, instead of the
pathetic aberrations they are.
Christians being used as targets
Dandy Dan Rather, the CBS anchor, announced the other
night a big, important story: Some Christians are running for the
school board seats in their home towns.
The story has cropped up on TV several times. This is a good
indication it originated with some special interest outfit—in this
case, probably, the People for the American Way, an outfit with
its own agenda that masquerades under the guise of civil liberties.
The tenor of the story, of course, is that some awful group is
conspiring to seize the country—school board by school board to
use the hokum of the CBS report.
Whether one agrees with Christians—fundamentalist, looseinterpreters, right-wing, leftwing or whatever version—is entirely
Political types who disagree
with these Christians on secular
political issues...are using their
religion to attack them.
irrelevant. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. Still, there is
nothing in our Constitution, our laws, or our traditions that denies
citizenship to Christians.
As citizens, they are perfectly within their right to run for
office, to organize political campaigns, and to contend in the
marketplace of ideas. The absurd bias of the media and of those
trying to make something sinister out of this is evident.
As it happens, there are 10 Jews in the U.S. Senate and only
one black, even though there are far more African-Americans in
America than Jews. Does this mean Jews are trying to take over
the United States— Senate seat by Senate seat? Of course not.
Yet, Jews do run for office. Jews do organize to make sure their
views are heard by public officials. African Americans run for
office. African Americans organize to make sure their views are
heard by public officials. Gays run for office. Gays organize, etc.,
on down a long list of people who, believe it or not, exercise their
rights as citizens in the political arena.
18
May 1993
AFA JOURNAL
By Charley Reese
The Orlando Sentinel
What’s the difference? Christians run for office. Christians
organize to make sure their views are heard by public officials.
Why are the same activities—legitimately practicing democracy, I might add—acceptable if done by one group and sinister
if done by another?
But the double-standard these new Christian political activists
are being subjected to doesn’t stop there. One charge against
them is that they don’t announce ahead of time they are Christians. This is one of those heads-I-win, tails-you-lose dirty
tactics. If they mention their Christian beliefs, they are slapped by
their critics for injecting religion into a campaign; if they don’t,
they are accused of being sneaky and deceptive.
Presumably, of course, the overwhelming majority of American public officeholders are already Christian since that is the
professed belief of a majority of Americans. I haven’t gotten any
notices from IRS that I have to tithe. I haven’t seen any votes in
House or Senate split along religious lines. I haven’t seen Dandy
Dan or People for the American Way report with horror that
Christians have already taken over the country—public office by
public office.
So what’s going on with this orchestrated media campaign
directed against these Christians seeking school board seats? The
answer is that they are conservatives. Political types who disagree with these Christians on secular political issues, such as the
curriculum in schools, are using their religion to attack them,
rather than fairly debate the issues.
There is no constitutionally mandated school curriculum.
There never has been. There is not even a constitutional mandate
for a public school system. What is taught in public schools is a
matter of judgment arrived at collectively through the democratic process. Over the years, curriculums have changed as
people’s ideas have changed.
Every citizen has a right to put his two cents worth in on school
curriculums or any other subject matter of government—without
being vilified or subjected to well-financed character assassination campaigns.
Freedom is for everybody, not just the anointed.
SEX EDUCATION
By Sharon A. Sheehan
Good Health News
March 1993
The gift of the self
Our local newspaper ran an essay recently by the president of
the Youth Council explaining their vote favoring condom
machines in high schools. He said that students should be able to
pick up condoms in the school bathroom because they fear
personal embarrassment at the checkout counter of the local
drugstore.
Could it be that many teenagers would rather take their
chances with AIDS than run the risk of embarrassment? And
what about the risk of pregnancy?
Family planning workers have observed that many teenage
girls cannot bring themselves to march into a family planning
clinic and openly declare that they are planning to lose their
virginity. It is too embarrassing. So embarrassing that running
the risk of pregnancy is preferable.
After graduate school in public health, I was employed by the
State of California to help solve the problem of teenage pregnancy
by educating teenagers about birth control. The fundamental
origin of the problem–i.e. the premarital sexual activity of
teenagers–was accepted as a given. The Planned Parenthood
professional assigned to train me pointed out that the real solution
to this problem was to eradicate the sense of shame associated
with premarital sex.
I was stunned. But the logic was obvious: Teenage pregnancy
is a problem. Birth control is the solution. Shame is the barrier to
applying the solution. Therefore eliminate shame in order to
solve the problem.
But taking a young person’s sense of modesty and giving back
a pill or a condom wasn’t what anyone would call a fair trade.
Nonetheless, for the next several months I proceeded to talk to
hundreds of teenagers about various methods of birth control.
But I was never convinced that I was genuinely helping them.
That one comment about shame was the tip of an iceberg that no
condom could ever cover.
Professionally, I succumbed to the obligatory gag rule: Don’t
say anything that could arouse the sense of shame. In practice,
then, I was compelled to imply that all sexual choices were
morally neutral.
Thus everything that I had learned from my parents’ marriage
and my own marriage was off-limits. Everything I believed about
how human beings form meaningful and lasting relationships
was not only irrelevant, but counter-productive.
The new sexual ideology protected teenagers from shame by
saying, “If you feel like you are ready, then it’s OK”. Ready for
what? Ready to build a life together? Ready for conquest? Ready
to feel like a slut? Ready to bring a new life into the world?
Shame is a powerful word that explodes off in many directions.
There is a cruel, destructive side to shame. Controlling people by
shaming them into self-loathing or compliance, for example. But
shame also protects us. It prevents us from treating others in a
despicable fashion. And it protects the sanctity of our unfinished
or unready selves.
In his book The Meaning of Persons, Paul Tournier reflects on
a young person’s innate sense of modesty: The appearance of this
sense of shame is, in fact, the sign of the birth of a person. And
later the supreme affirmation of the person, the great engagement
of life, will be marked by the handing over of the secret, the gift
of the self, the disappearance of shame.
Recently, I returned to the high school campus and was free to
talk with students about how they see themselves and what they
dare to hope for. The poignant, articulate expressions of their
ideals and intentions belied every stereotype that the relentless
surveys construct in our minds.
Many are offended by the adult assumption that most teens are
sexually active. One girl was so uncomfortable that she finally
went to her teacher in Living Skills class to explain that she was
not sleeping with her boyfriend. “It’s like the adult world invading
our world,” another girl commented.
Yet they are embarrassed to ask the questions they care about
most. “What should I look for in a guy?” “How do I know if it’s
morally right? How will I feel afterwards?”
Behind their “correct,” value-free facade lurks a deep sense of
loss. They lament the lack of guidelines and moral structure. One
girl described it this way: “It used to be that people got married
and then they had sex. Then when the baby came there was a place
all prepared for it. Now technology has taken away the worry of
having children. That leaves sex to float around in everyone’s life
when there’s no guy who’s going to stick around.”
“It used to be that kids wouldn’t want to disappoint themselves
or each other,” a boy remarked. “I think it’s really lonely,” said
another. “It’s sad.”
It’s as if the gap between sex and marriage has opened up a
In practice, then, I was
compelled to imply that
all sexual choices were
morally neutral.
huge, empty hole in which there is “no real sure thing.” A loving
relationship that lasts. Hasn’t that always been the goal and
bottom line? Isn’t the real C-word for sex education commitment,
not condoms?
Jesus said, “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give
him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?” When
kids are asking for help to build a life with someone they love,
how can we simply hand them a condom?
It’s time to give the thousands of couples in this country who
have been happily married 20, 30, 40, 50 years equal access to sex
education classrooms. One boy told me, “I’d like to hear more
stories...how they met...how they kept the love alive.” If you have
built a marriage and family the old-fashioned way, go to a junior
high or high school classroom and tell your story. Share the
wisdom gained by keeping the promises of your youth. Let them
ask the questions they care about the most.
In coming face to face with another human being, how much
do we value the self that we glimpse through their eyes, that
flutters past in a gesture or a smile? Sex education is about
nothing less than how and when we hand over this astonishing
gift of the self. The goal is that we can love and trust and believe
enough to commit our whole self and our whole future.
Yes, there are many dangers and temptations that could cause
the dream to go awry. But that is no justification for giving it up.
There is no excuse for accepting less for young people when they
themselves long to expect the best.
AFA JOURNAL
May 1993
19
VALUES
More false hope for poor people
Editor’s Note: In addition to being a syndicated columnist,
Walter Williams is a university professor of economics and a
long time leader in the black community.
OK, Clinton is in the White House. Democrats maintain
control of both houses of Congress. What does that mean for
black people? No doubt a number of blacks will become members
of the Clinton administration, as should be the case.
After all, political plums are part of the compensation for
campaign assistance and loyalty. But a more important question
Self-destructive behavior by poor
black people is ignored
or excused.
is whether there’s any indication that political power can deliver
on its promises.
That’s a reasonable question, because for several decades, the
black elite said political power is a necessary precondition for
economic power.
Enough time has passed for us to ask how has life among poor
black people improved, say compared to 1970, in Philadelphia,
Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Newark, Washington, Detroit
and other cities where blacks are mayors, superintendents of
schools and chiefs of police.
Is black education better? Are streets safer? Do the cities and
their citizens have bright prospects for the future? You’d have to
be out of your mind to answer yes.
By every measure, whether it’s crime, academic achievement,
family stability or illegitimacy rates, life has gotten worse for
poor urban blacks over the last two decades.
Don’t get me wrong. There’s no necessary causal connection
between increasing deterioration of urban life and black political
power. What I insist is that the socioeconomic progress of black
people, as a class, will not come through the political arena.
There must be a grass-roots mobilization and moral rebirth
which emphasizes individual ambition, responsibility and
accountability.
One of the most debilitating attitudes toward the poor is
captured in the phrase, “There but for the grace of God go I.” This
is a vision that differs little from that which sees our country as
being divided into people who are lucky (the non-poor) and
Women’s groups battle
porn publishers in Canada
Women’s groups are squaring off with
publishers of erotic magazines in a unique
case in Ontario that could lead to a ban on
the sale of the magazines in the province’s
convenience stores.
The Ontario Human Rights
Commission, a quasijudicial arm of the
provincial government, has set up an
inquiry to examine complaints by two
20
May 1993
people who are unlucky (the poor).
Quite naturally, it’s cruel to blame a person for being unlucky
or admonish him to be luckier. Thus, self-destructive behavior by
poor black people is ignored or excused. Anybody with the
temerity to criticize this behavior is immediately charged with
blaming the victim.
Liberal mentality says that the fact of slavery and racial
discrimination absolves poor blacks of the responsibility for
acquiring “middle-class” values of hard work, chastity and
lawful behavior.
In an article titled “Welfare and Poverty” (First Things,
November 1991 ), William Voegeli commented on the intellectual
elite’s admonition against “blaming the victim.” He agrees that
we shouldn’t blame victims.
By definition, victims are people who are not responsible for
what has happened to them. The question for us is who can lay
legitimate claim to victim status?
In 1990, close to one-half of all black families were headed by
a woman, and these families accounted for 73% of black poverty.
Thus, the largest component of black poverty are female-headed
households. Unless you believe people, like animals, are driven
by uncontrollable instincts, irresponsible sexual behavior does
not give one claim to victim status. If anyone is a victim, they are
68% of black children, born each year to these callous and
irresponsible parents.
Blacks must wake up to the fact that we’ve been sold a bill of
goods by black and white poverty pimps, social engineers and
political hustlers.
In the process, many of us have abandoned those principles
and strengths of character that stood us in good stead throughout
slavery, Reconstruction and Jim Crowism. I say it’s about time
we tell those chumps to go play in the traffic and demand more
Blacks must wake up to the fact
that we’ve been sold a bill of
goods by black and white
poverty pimps, social engineers
and political hustlers.
responsibility and accountability from one another.
If we’re waiting for Clinton to do what we must do ourselves,
we’re going to be waiting a long time.
Toronto women. The women claim that the
magazines, including Playboy and
Penthouse, create a negative and hostile
environment for women in three
convenience stores where they shop. They
say that constitutes discrimination under
the province’s human rights code.
If the three-person inquiry board finds
discrimination, it could order the owners of
the three stores to pay a penalty to the
women, stop selling the magazines or even
ban the sale of such magazines in all of the
AFA JOURNAL
By Walter Williams
Syndicated Columnist
province’s convenience stores.
The issue “has nothing to do with
censorship,” but harm to women, says
Susan McCrae Vander Voet, executive
director of the Metro Action Committee
on Public Violence Against Women and
Children, a Toronto group taking part in
the inquiry. The images in erotic
magazines and videos “contribute to the
mentality that women are suitable targets
for violence,” she says.
The Wall Street Journal, 3/30/93
ABORTION
The Freedom of Choice Act
Washington is awash with solutions to America’s abortion
dilemma. But the “problem” from Washington’s official perspective is that there are too few abortions. The Clinton White
House works overtime shoveling edicts out the door to Congress
and the various federal agencies now under the President’s firm
control:
• The Hyde Amendment is to be eliminated and thus the
federal government would pay for abortion;
• federally funded family clinics will be allowed to promote
abortion;
• the manufacturers of RU 486, the French abortion pill, are
being pressured to seek approval for U.S. distribution;
• and military hospitals will soon provide abortions—(although finding military doctors who will partake in the killings
is proving formidable; not one doctor in one overseas military
hospital is willing to do abortions).
On Capitol Hill, Congress one ups the President proposing
“clinic access” legislation seeking to punish protesters of this
government preferred procedure.
But the most sinister of all abortion-related proposals—one
backed by the President and steamrolling through Congress—is
the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), (S 25 and HR 25).
FOCA, if enacted, would extend the long arm of the federal
government into each state striking down any meaningful abortion regulation. As the House version of the bill stands now, it
would:,
• overturn prohibitions on third trimester abortions;
• deny parents any involvement in their child’s decision to
abort;
• allow non-physicians to perform abortions;
• prohibit waiting periods;
• outlaw conscience statutes that protect religious hospitals
from having to provide abortions;
• invalidate informed consent laws for abortion which serve to
provide women with meaningful information regarding the development of children in the womb as well as alternatives to
abortion.
FOCA may even require states to use taxpayers’ funds to pay
for some abortions. In other words, FOCA would allow abortion on demand through nine months of pregnancy in all 50
states and the territories. Some in favor of this bill contend that
states could act to prevent post viability abortions unless the
woman’s life or health is endangered. They are either unfamiliar
with or choose to distort the Senate Committee report on the bill
which defines “health” to include “all factors—physical, emotional, psychological, familial (what does that non-medical term
mean?), and the woman’s age—relevant to the well-being of the
patient.” Then too, it is the abortionist who makes the determination based on these factors.
The National Right to Life Committee of Washington, DC
estimates there are already thousands of third trimester abortions
each year in America. The number would surely grow once
President Clinton signs FOCA into law. There seems no doubt he
will sign it although as governor of Arkansas he signed another
bill limiting third trimester abortions.
Throughout his campaign Mr. Clinton promised to support
FOCA. There must be only a very few people in the 43% who
supported Clinton in the election who favor third trimester
abortions. So the question arises, “Why doesn’t he break this
campaign promise as he has so many others?” Supposedly, he
would be offending only a tiny portion of the voting public—
By Patrick A. Trueman, Legislative Counsel
American Family Association, Washington, DC
those who believe life doesn’t begin until birth and those who
know very well that what is killed is human life but don’t care. Of
course, no morally significant difference exists between an
abortion of an eight-week unborn child and one of 32 weeks.
There is, however, almost universal revulsion to late-term abortion in America.
That is illustrated in the recent criminal conviction of a New
York doctor for an illegal third-trimester abortion at 30 to 32
weeks. The victim of that botched abortion, Ana Rosa Rodriguez,
now 17 months old, born with her right arm sheared at the
shoulder, was recently pictured on the front pages of New York
newspapers (and reprinted elsewhere).
Ana Rosa’s plight, however, seems not to have deterred
Congress or the President from FOCA. The bill passed out of the
Senate committee by an overwhelming vote and moves to the
Senate floor soon. In the House it sailed through a subcommittee
and could be taken up in a matter of days by the full Judiciary
Committee.
Why is FOCA steamrolling through Congress? Two answers:
First is President Clinton’s leadership. Even the casual observer of American politics notes there are few political leaders
anymore. Most in office seem to prefer polls to principle in
formulating their views. Not Bill Clinton. He is a leader, however
wrong-headed. Not intimidated by the 57% of the electorate who
opposed him, he is leading the country into large tax increases for
the middle class, homosexuals in the military, and now abortion
on demand through nine months of pregnancy—all minority
views.
But the telegenic Mr. Clinton, master of rhetoric, possesses a
frightening ability to lead the public where he wishes. And he has
a plan for America. Abortion on demand through nine months of
pregnancy is a major part. FOCA is his instrument.
The second factor is not, as one might think, a pro-abortion
Congress. Rather, it is a morally complacent public. In two
decades of legalized abortion, we have gone from a country
where abortion was hardly mentioned in polite society to one
where opposition to abortion is hardly mentioned at all. The
result is a pro-abortion majority in Congress. Given that majority, FOCA could pass. But some in Congress are reluctant to vote
for abortion on demand. Thus, you can make a difference now.
If these senators can be convinced to vote no, FOCA would
fail:
Howell Heflin of Alabama
Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania
John Warner of Virginia
Slade Gorton of Washington
Sam Nunn of Georgia
Byron Dorgan of North Dakota
Kent Conrad of North Dakota
William Roth of Delaware
These eight are thought to be undecided at this time. Help
them decide. Let your own state’s senators hear from you also.
Your representative in the House should hear from you as well.
We may have an even better chance there. One telephone
number, 202-224-3121, can reach any member of Congress. If
you don’t know your member’s name, give the operator your zip
code and she will connect you to your House member’s office.
Write also. The address for each member of Congress is U.S.
Capitol, Washington, DC 20510.
America has a real abortion problem. Don’t rely on the
President or Congress to fix it. Only you can do that.
AFA JOURNAL
May 1993
21
Abortion is such a test for political
correctness that all reason is lost
Why do the freedom-of-choicers rage?
And they can rage, as the Arkansas legislature discovered
when it considered a modest proposal to require a 24-hour
waiting period before an abortion.
Outrage! Apostasy! Another vicious attack on women’s rights!
How strange when you think about it, if anybody thinks, rather
than shouts, about this issue any more.
Here are people who might be receptive to requiring a 24-hour
or maybe a 30-day waiting period before allowing someone to
buy a dangerous weapon; who surely would want to sleep on it
before deciding to change jobs; who might think it only prudent
to pause and get a second opinion before going ahead with any
If abortion is not wrong,
then nothing is.
other kind of elective surgery on a healthy human being; and who
would surely take at least a day before making a final decision on
buying a house or a car or where to take a vacation . . . and these
good, reasonable, ordinarily calm citizens are thrown into a
political paroxysm because the legislature might hold up an
abortion for 24 hours.
Why is that? Why has abortion become the functional
equivalent of a political sacrament among a broad band of
American opinion? How did abortion become the litmus test of
political correctness, the combined sine qua non and summum
bonum of political progress?
Why should an undivided loyalty to Roe v. Wade become the
only specific qualification announced by the president of the
United States for the next appointment to the Supreme Court?
Of the estimated 1,600,000 abortions a year in this country, or
30 million since Roe v. Wade, surely some of them—just one of
them?—could have waited 24 hours. Is there not any reason for
any abortion anywhere that would be acceptable to those who
Now there is a “serious” question
about whether it is human life
at all. What else could it be—
an aardvark?
look on the right to an abortion as the one absolute constitutional
principle in the American system?
Consider these test cases:
What about the young matron who just got a wardrobe of new
clothes and really doesn’t want to spend the season pregnant and
unable to wear any of those super new gowns, and so opts to Have
It Done?
Then there’s the couple who really want a boy and, thanks to
recent medical and legal advances, can discover the sex of their
next child while it’s still in embryo, and keep aborting till they get
one of the desired sex. Ain’t science grand? And in this case, what
a boon for women’s rights!
Or what about the young lady who might otherwise have to
22
May 1993
AFA JOURNAL
By Paul Greenberg
Little Rock, Arkansas
Democrat-Gazette
miss a semester of college?
Or the family that would really rather have a new car?
Surely there are some cases in which abortion is so, uh,
gratuitous a procedure—let’s not be caught using outdated words
like sin or crime—that the state, which is all of us, should be able
to say in clear, unmistakable terms: No. Or if we lack the courage,
perhaps whisper a pusillanimous: Wait a day before you do this
thing.
To judge by their sheer number in this country, abortions have
become but another means of birth control, and one of the more
popular ones at that. Is that some great testament to liberty, or
only one more symptom of rampant license?
The test of a civilized society, it seems to me, is how it treats
the most vulnerable—the old and sick, the young and ignorant,
the poor and disabled, the homeless and despised, the dispossessed
and imprisoned. The least among us. Once upon a time there
would have been no hesitation to include in such a category life
in the womb. Now there is a “serious” question about whether it
is human life at all. What else could it be—an aardvark?
Once there was a folk metaphor for security—“as safe as a
child in its mother’s womb.” At the rate of 1.6 million abortions
a year in America circa 1993, surely few would make any such
assumption now.
Abortion is wrong.
If abortion is not wrong, then nothing is.
Most people understand as much, which is why many of us
tend to duck into evasions and shift from foot to foot when trying
to rationalize it, and start using slippery words, or constructions
like, “While I’m personally opposed to it . . .” preparatory to
defending it.
Why has abortion become
the functional equivalent
of a political sacrament
among a broad band of
American opinion?
This is not to say there are no greater wrongs that may arguably
justify an abortion. For example, the need to save a mother’s life,
or the barbarity of forcing a woman who cannot bear even the
thought of it to bear the child who may be the result of rape or
incest . . . but such surely are the horrific exceptions, and not the
rule among the millions and millions of abortions that have taken
place in this country since Roe v. Wade, the great Magna Carta
of American abortion.
Yet to say that abortion should be limited by law, even for 24
hours, is to draw the wrath of its advocates, who often deny that
they are advocates at all. They are not pro-abortion, they explain,
but prefer to be thought of as pro-choice—as if any choice other
than abortion required defending. The need for that kind of verbal
disguise should tell us something about just what is being
advocated here.
Someone who is really opposed to something, one would
innocently think, would oppose it. But that may seem unspeakably
logical as the country tries not to look too directly at just what is
being tolerated here, and more than tolerated—promoted.
Porn magazines
depend on PM/
General Foods ads
The following companies were among
advertisers in the April 1993 issues of
Playboy and Penthouse:
Chrm. Michael A. Miles, Philip Morris,
Incorporated, 120 Park Avenue, New York,
NY 10017, FAX 212-878-2167, TOLL
FREE: 1-800-343-0975, General Foods
products, Kraft food products.
Chrm. Stewart Resnick, American
Protection Industries, Inc., 12233 W.
Olympic Blvd., Suite 380, Los Angeles,
CA 90064, phone 213-442-5700, FAX 213207-1557, Tele-Flora flower delivery, The
Franklin Mint.
Kmart...
Continued from page 1
United Methodists will follow the lead of
their pension groups and boycott Kmart,”
Wildmon said.
The Southern Baptist Convention’s
Annuity Board has filed a shareholder
resolution with Kmart, asking it to stop
selling pornography. Kmart is expected to
ignore the resolution.
Robert E. Osborn, Associate Treasurer
for the General Conference of Seventh-day
Adventists, has stated that if Kmart refuses
to stop selling porn, his group will also
divest. A number of other denominations,
holding millions of dollars in stock, are
expected to divest in the company also.
The groups also have investments with
other companies involved in the sale and
distribution of pornography and
entertainment media which scorn and
ridicule Christians and Christian values.
The UM Board of Pensions has an
investment of $7,807,000 with Capital
Cities/ABC, Inc., $661,000 with CBS, Inc.,
$4,430,000 with General Electric (which
owns NBC), $17,730,000 with TimeWarner (porn movies on HBO and Cinemax
and porn music, publishing Madonna’s porn
book SEX), $1,554,000 with ITT (which
shows porn movies in their Sheraton motel
chain), and $231,000 with Marriott (which
also shows the porn movies in their motels).
The Southern Baptist Annuity Board
has investments of $795,000 in Capital
Cities/ABC, $1,182,030 in CBS,
$3,791,225 in General Cinema Corporation,
$25,180,000 in General Electric/NBC, and
$5,315,200 in Paramount Communications.
They also own 5,000 shares of Multimedia
(which owns the Donahue show), 8,100
shares of Turner Broadcasting, and 30,000
of Viacom. The Annuity Board divested
nearly $8,343,000 worth of Time-Warner
stock after Time Warner published
Madonna’s book SEX.
Sheraton and Marriott motels show
porn movies in all their corporately owned
motels, and Time-Warner shows porn
movies on their HBO and Cinemax cable
channels. All three networks and the movie
studios regularly bash Christians and
Christian values.
Time-Warner owns HBO which
recently produced and aired a show called
“Real Sex.” Youth specialist Bob DeMoss
of Focus on the Family had this to say
about Time-Warner: “‘Real Sex’ looks
like it wandered over from the Playboy
Channel. It’s that explicit. Burlesque
shows, sexual bondage, indecent
interviews about sexual fantasies and
things I’d rather not describe on national
radio. Deviant stuff. Last month they even
featured a grandmother who’s the
ringleader of a $50 million pornographic
enterprise.
“...In recent months Time-Warner
promoted Madonna’s pornographic book,
SEX. They published the infamous Sports
Illustrated swimsuit issue, and they’re the
driving force behind Prince, whose latest
tour carries on a tradition of on-stage
vulgarity. It’s all part of Time-Warner’s
effort to popularize pornography in this
country. Now they’re piping this sewage
straight into American homes through
HBO.”
United Methodists wishing to express
appreciation for the board’s action and
encouraging them to do the same with the
other companies can write: Bishop Clay
Lee, President, UM General Board of
Pensions, P.O. Box 51787, Knoxville,
TN 37950-1787.
AFA urges conventions and
conferences being held by Christian
denominations and groups to pass
resolutions in support of the Kmart
boycott. Below is a sample resolution.
“We wish to express our concern to
Kmart regarding the pornography sold
in their Waldenbooks stores. We believe
that pornography is detrimental to the
moral fabric of our society. We are
especially distressed that Kmart,
through their Waldenbooks stores, is
one of the largest retailers of
pornography in America.
“We call upon Kmart to discontinue
the sale of pornography and return the
company to its historic image of a
family-oriented company.
“Until Kmart takes such positive
action in disassociating itself with
pornography, we urge concerned
individuals, churches and businesses to
discontinue doing business with the
Kmart Corporation including Kmart
stores, American Fare Stores, Bassett
Book Shops, Borders Bookstores,
Brentanos
Bookstores,
Coles
Bookstores, CooperSmith Bookstores,
AFA JOURNAL
May 1993
23
Pay Less and Pay N Save Drug Stores
(located in the northwestern states),
Bargain Harold’s, Builders Square
home supply stores, Office Max, Sports
Authority and PACE Membership
Warehouse stores.”
AFA also urges calls to Kmart customer
service. The number is 1-800-63KMART. Please be polite when you call.
Individuals are also urged to call their
local Kmart store and tell the manager
you are boycotting Kmart and asking
others to do the same. The pornography is
sold in Waldenbooks, owned by Kmart.
Kmart has the authority to order
Waldenbooks to get out of the pornography
business at any time. All profits from the
sale of pornography go to Kmart.
AFA still has “Boycott Kmart”
postcards available. The cards, which
contain information about the Kmart
boycott along with a postcard to mail to
Kmart, are available from AFA for $1 per
hundred. “We hope that many individuals
and pastors will order the cards and
distribute them to their friends, family
and church members,” Wildmon said.
Order from Kmart Boycott Cards, P.O.
Drawer 2440, Tupelo, MS 38803.
Also write Chrm. Joseph Antonini,
Kmart Corporation, 3100 West Big Beaver
Road, Troy, MI 48084.
Donahue...
Continued from page 1
refuses to accept any responsibility for his
actions. He is going to blame the parents.
“I think it is time for individuals to
send a message to Mr. Donahue that he
has crossed the line of acceptability,” said
AFA president Donald E. Wildmon.
Scores of sponsors have dropped off the
DONAHUE program in recent months.
AFA encourages individuals to watch the
DONAHUE program in their local
communities, and to call and write the
local sponsors to complain and ask them
to stop sponsoring DONAHUE.
In addition, here are three of the leading
national sponsors of DONAHUE. A letter
and/or phone call reminding them that you
don’t care to do business with a sponsor of
a program wanting to show a live execution
would help.
Chrm. James A. Block, Block Drug
Company, 257 Cornelison Avenue, Jersey
City, NJ 07302, phone 201-434-3000,
customer service toll free number 1-800652-5625. Products include BC headache
powder, Polident denture cleaner, Tegrin
shampoo, Zestabs.
Chrm. Melvin R. Goodes, WarnerLambert Company, 201 Tabor Road, Morris
Plains, NJ 07950, phone 201-540-2000,
customer service toll free number 1-800223-0182. Products include Certs, Listerine
mouthwash, Rolaids, and Efferdent.
Chrm. Gerald Levin, Time-Warner, 75
Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10019,
phone 212-522-1212, fax 212-522-0907.
Products include Time, Sports Illustrated,
Fortune, Progressive Farmer, Southern
Living and People magazines, HBO and
Cinemax TV cable services, and Time Life
books.
S. C. Johnson...
Continued from page 1
That is basically the same response the
company has been giving for the past two
years. Two years ago CLeaR-TV called for
a boycott of S.C. Johnson after they were
on the list of top sponsors of sex, violence
and profanity and refused to change their
advertising practice. After that boycott
began, S.C. Johnson dropped off the top
list. When the boycott ended, S.C. Johnson
moved back to the top list again. During the
past monitoring period, the company averaged sponsoring a whopping 16 incidents
of sex, violence and profanity with every
30-second ad they ran on prime time TV.
(For a list of some of the programs Johnson
Wax helped sponsor, see the March AFA
Journal.)
AFA has boycott card decks available to
BOYCOTT THESE S.C. JOHNSON WAX PRODUCTS
Personal Products: Agree shampoo, Aveeno bath products, Curel skin
lotion, Edge shaving cream, Fisher Price bath products, Halsa shampoo and
conditioner, OFF INSECT REPELLENT, Soft Sense lotion.
Household Products: DRANO DRAIN OPENER, Favor polish, GLADE
ROOM ODORIZER, Glory rug cleaner, Mr. Muscle oven cleaner, Pledge
Dusters, RAID INSECTICIDE, Shout stain remover, Step Saver cleaner,
Toilet Duck cleaner, Vanish toilet cleaner, WINDEX GLASS CLEANER.
Waxes and Polishes: Bravo wax, Brite floor wax, Clean & Clear wax, Future
floor coating, Glo Coat floor coating, Johnson Wax, J-Wax, Klear floor coating,
Pledge wax, Pride wax.
Address: S.C. Johnson Wax, Inc., Chrm. Samuel C. Johnson, 1525 Howe
Street, Racine, WI 53403, Phone 414-631-2000, Toll free 1-800-558-5252,
FAX 414-631-2133.
24
May 1993
AFA JOURNAL
help promote the S.C. Johnson Wax boycott. The boycott card decks contain 100
cards with the list of Johnson Wax products
plus the reason for the boycott and 100
pre-addressed and printed postcards which
can be mailed to the company informing
them that the sender is joining the boycott.
These can be distributed in churches,
businesses, among friends, clubs, etc. AFA
has shipped 18,000,000 of the cards to
churches asking that they be distributed
among the local church members. The
card decks are available at only $1 per
100, shipping included. Order from:
Johnson Wax Boycott Cards, AFA,
Drawer 2440, Tupelo, MS 38803.
CLeaR-TV is composed of over 1000
Christian leaders from nearly 100 denominations. Members of the Executive
Committee of CLeaR-TV include: Dr.
Billy A. Melvin, Executive Director, National Association of Evangelicals; Rev.
Dr. Milton Efthimiou, Executive Director,
Dept. of Church & Society, Greek
Orthodox Archdiocese of N. & S. America;
Dr. Leonard J. Hofman, General Secretary,
Christian Reformed Church; Dr. G.
Raymond Carlson, General Superintendent, The Assemblies of God; Rt. Rev.
William C. Wantland, Bishop, The
Episcopal Church; Bishop Stanislaus J.
Brzana, Catholic Bishop of Ogdensburg;
Mark Taylor, Editor, The Lookout; Dr.
Richard Land, Executive Director, Christian Life Commission, Southern Baptist
Convention; Tom Minnery, Vice
President, Focus on the Family; Dr. Donald
E. Wildmon, President, American Family
Association.
AFA urges you to call (1-800-5585252) and write S.C. Johnson Wax. Be
aware, however, that individuals are being told that some of the products cited by
CLeaR-TV as belonging to S.C. Johnson
“aren’t even S.C. Johnson products.” What
callers aren’t told is the products Endust,
Renuzit and Behold were sold by S.C.
Johnson after the boycott began and were
part of S.C. Johnson during the monitoring period last fall.
Brother...
Continued from page 2
Jesus Christ rather than be consumed with
climbing the proverbial ladder of success.
And the church needs men who make
decisions based on the Holy Bible and
prayer rather than the popular trends of
our times. We need the road less traveled
to become the road worn out.
Let me encourage you men to gather a
group of your friends and make your way
to Boulder, Colorado, to be a part of this
national men’s conference. For more
information call Promise Keepers at 1303-421-2800 or write P.O. Box 18376,
Boulder, CO 80308.