afa debates activists over homosexual promo video
Transcription
afa debates activists over homosexual promo video
august 1999 american family association Inside this issue AFA debates activists over homosexual promo video ■ Most PBS stations refusing equal time The issue of whether society should tolerate, accept or even celebrate homosexuality has become one of the most volatile cultural issues of the 1990s. But nothing seems to generate more passion – on both sides of the ideological divide – than the question of whether schools, even as early as kindergarten, should be teaching children that “gay is O.K.” That subject’s flashpoint seems to be developing around two videos that represent two mutually exclusive worldviews. It’s Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in School, advocates that children be taught to accept homosexuality. A counter video, produced by AFA and titled Suffer the Children: Answering the Homosexual Agenda in Public Schools, takes a critical look at the message of It’s Elementary and the manner in which children are manipulated into arriving at politically correct conclusions about the issue. AFA has covered the subject of It’s Elementary in detail since it first surfaced in 1996. But it wasn’t until that video’s producers, lesbian Debra Chasnoff and homosexual advocate Helen Cohen, had successfully pushed to have It’s Elementary aired on some PBS stations that AFA decided to produce a rebuttal piece. In April AFA vice president Tim Wildmon sent a letter to every PBS station in the country, expressing the ministry’s concerns about It’s Elementary’s message. In the letter Wildmon asked station managers, “If you do choose to air It’s Elementary, would you consider giving equal time to the other side of this issue with a program under essentially the same terms?” In See AFA on page 3 Stern TV show hits ratings base■ Shock-jock dropped by third of stations Although he calls himself the “King of All Media” and promised to bury his late-night Saturday TV competition, Howard Stern has failed to achieve anything more than peasant status and has watched his competition do the digging. The Howard Stern Radio Show, as his syndicated television show is called, has failed to extract itself from third place since it debuted in August, 1998, behind Saturday Night Live (NBC) and Mad-TV (Fox). According to New York Now, the latest Nielsen numbers show Stern’s TV show crashing to a new ratings low. The shock jock’s June 12 program fell 25% from the previous week, to a worst-ever 0.9 rating (as a percentage of the nation’s more than 99 million homes). Moreover, according to the AFA’s Stern Project, which monitors both Stern’s daily radio broadcast and the TV show, a third of the sta- tions that originally began airing the television series have now dropped it. At last count, only 55 outlets were airing the raunchy series, down from 79 when the show launched. Stern’s radio show has also been having trouble attracting and keeping advertisers. Several big advertisers have abandoned the show due to its vile content, including Snapple, Bumble Bee Tuna, Geico Insurance, Joseph A. Banks Clothier, Amazon.com and RCN Internet. Nationally known advertisers who stubbornly continue to advertise on Stern’s radio show include: ➤ ABC/The Walt Disney Co., Chrm. Michael Eisner, 500 S. Buena Vista Street, Burbank, CA 91521, Phone: 818-560-1000 ➤ Toyota Motor Sales USA (See address on page 15.) AFA Departments ❚ Christians & Society Today ❚ Columns Don Wildmon Tim Wildmon ❚ AFA Foundation Disney Boycott ❚ Gay Day ’99 12 2 23 19 3 Entertainment ❚ Film ratings get ‘F’ 16 Family ❚ How can families thrive? 18 Homosexual Rights Agenda ❚ Does homosexual orientation exist? 20 Media ❚ High priests of journalism 4 News of Interest ❚ Congress debates media violence 7 ❚ APA and pedophilia study 8 ❚ Gambling commission findings 11 Television ❚ Network reviews ❚ Cable channel profile – VH-1 14 15 individual subscription: Suggested contribution: $15 per year ALL-MEMBERSHIP PLAN Subscriptions mailed directly to your church members: • $5 a year/each subscription (minimum 10) • Send check or money order with your church name and legible mailing list to: AFA Journal, P. O. Drawer 2440, Tupelo, MS 38803 • U.S. addresses only Copies of this issue: $15/50 copies for all generations That’s what Christians do In 1973 The Supreme Court said it was ok to kill unborn babies. Since then, we have killed more than the entire population of Canada. And it continues. A woman’s choice? Half of those who have died in their mothers’ wombs have been women. They didn’t have a choice. It is called abortion. Me? I go to church, the minister preaches, I go home. That’s what Christians do now. First it was in dingy, dirty theaters. Then, convenience stores. Then, grocery stores. Then on television. Now it is in the homes of millions via the Internet. It is called pornography. Me? I go to church, the minister preaches, I go home. That’s what Christians do now. They called it no-fault. Why should we blame anyone when something so tragic happens. Haven’t they already suffered enough? Half of the marriages in America end this way. The children suffered. The family broke down. It is called divorce. Me? I go to church, the minister preaches, I go home. That’s what Christians do now. At one time it was a perversion. We kept it secret. We secured help and hope for those who practiced it. Now it is praised. We have parades celebrating it, and elected officials give it their blessing. Now it is endowed with special privileges and protected by special laws. Even some Christian leaders and denominations praise it. It is called homosexuality. Me? I go to church, the minister preaches, I go home. That’s what Christians do now. It used to be an embarrassment. A shame. Now a third of all births are to mothers who aren’t married. Two-thirds of all African-American children are born into a home without a father. The state usually pays the tab. That is why we pay our taxes, so that government can take the place of parents. After all, government bureaucrats know much better how to raise children than parents do. It is called illegitimacy. Me? I go to church, the minister preaches, I go home. That’s what Christians do now. At one time it was wrong. But then the state decided to legalize it, promote it and tax it. It has ripped apart families and destroyed lives. But just look at all the money the state has raised. No longer do we have to teach our children to study and work hard. Now we teach them they can get something for nothing. We spend millions encouraging people to join the fun and excitement. Just look at the big sums that people are winning. They will never have to work again! It is called gambling. Me? I go to church, the minister preaches, I go home. That’s what Christians do now. Not long ago, Christians were the good guys. But now any positive image of Christians in movies or on TV is gone. We are now depicted as the bad guys – greedy, narrowminded hypocrites. The teacher can’t have a Bible on her desk, but can have Playboy. We don’t have Christmas and Easter holidays – just winter and spring break. We can’t pray in school, but can use foul language. It’s called being tolerant. AFA • Volume 23, 8 AFAI Law Me?Journal I go to church, theNo.minister preaches, go Center: home.662-680-3886 That’s what Christians do AFA Journal is a publication of the American Family Association. Published monthly except November/December. AFA is a Christian organization promoting the Biblical ethic of decency in American society with primary emphasis on TV and other media. P.O. Drawer 2440, Tupelo, MS 38803 Main phone: 662-844-5036 FAX: 662-842-7798 WAFR Radio: 662-844-8888 Internet homepage: http://www.afa.net American Family Online: 662-840-6464 Founding Editor: Don Wildmon Editor: Randall Murphree Associate Editor: Rusty Benson Copy Editor: Jessica Huckaby News Editor: Ed Vitagliano Please, no unsolicited manuscripts. Are you and your investment advisor tracking? by Neal Clement EFP Financial Advisor I talked with a lady recently who said she was ready to let me help her invest her retirement account. She came to me after reading about EFP’s Values Investing Strategy and asking her former broker to help her make morally sound investments. She explained to him that she wanted to minimize her investments in companies that promoted or supported abortion and the acceptance of homosexuality. The broker gave her a confused look and said, “What do you mean?” Again she explained, but he didn’t get it. In popular business vernacular, they just weren’t “tracking.” Investors and investment advisors generally want the same thing: to establish a long-term, trusting and profitable relationship. A key component in that relationship is a shared personal and investment philosophy. Here are three questions I recommend that my prospective clients ask: 1. Can I trust my investment counselor to make recommendations consistent with my convictions? 2. Does my investment counselor have a record of moral and financial returns? 3. Do we share the same basic Christian beliefs and values? EFP’s investment advisors have a history of long-term client relationships, grounded in honesty and integrity. In attracting like-minded clients we hope to impact companies to see that moral products and policies make good business sense. If we share those views, call us at 1888-841-0254 write me at nclement@ efpinc.com. For more about EFP, visit our Internet site at www.efpinc.com. Securities offered through FSC Securities Corporation, a registered broker/dealer. Member NASD and SIPC. $25,000 minimum investment required. AFA Journal • August, 1999 ADVERTISEMENT By donald e. wildmon • AFA President AFA…from page 1 order to facilitate Wildmon’s concept of equal time, AFA offered to provide a free preview and broadcast quality copy of Suffer the Children to every station. Nearly 90 PBS stations decided to air It’s Elementary, representing less than a third of the total number in the U.S. Nevertheless, only a handful even responded to Wildmon’s letter, and virtually every one of those refused AFA’s offer. Most PBS station officials flatly dismissed the notion that equal time was necessary, arguing that It’s Elementary was not biased in favor of the homosexual viewpoint. For example, William T. Reed, President and CEO of KCPT in Kansas City, Missouri, said the video “does not promote” homosexuality nor does it present a “point of view” about the issue. Instead, Reed insisted, It’s Elementary is “an attempt to show how tolerance for other people is being taught in some schools.” Wildmon said there was some hypocrisy in PBS stations describing It’s Elementary as a film promoting tolerance. “The video may call for tolerance and respect for all when it comes to homosexuals, but not when it comes to Christians,” said Wildmon. He noted that It’s Elementary shows supposedly Christian people making statements like “God hates fags” and “The Bible I read says homosexuals should be put to death.” Joanne Whitehead, Program Schedule Manager for CPTV in Hartford, Connecticut, also argued that the video “does not endorse or promote one belief or lifestyle over another.” Wildmon disagreed. “That demonstrates to us that they’ve already made up their minds on this issue, in favor of the homosexual movement,” he said. “A video that shows kids calling adults prejudiced, narrow-minded, and homophobic because the adults believe homosexuality is wrong is most certainly promoting one belief over another.” In fact, only three PBS stations agreed to air Suffer the Children in an effort to balance the presentation on this subject: KIXE in Redding, California; KEET in Eureka, California; and KCTS in Seattle, Washington. Two others – WBGU in Bowling Green, AFA Journal • august, 1999 Ohio, and WCET in Cincinnati – held an on-air panel discussion to which an AFA representative was invited. KCTS also extended the invitation in addition to airing Suffer the Children. AFA accepted those invitations and sent a representative, who debated the issue with members of the homosexual community and advocates of the homosexual rights movement. Helen Cohen participated in the discussion on WBGU. One of the most frequently mentioned excuses for not airing Suffer the Children was the claim that the AFA video, because it used some clips from It’s Elementary to make its case, had violated copyright law. But in another letter sent to all PBS stations, AFA Chief Counsel Stephen M. Crampton assured program directors: “The American Family Association Center for Law & Policy has reviewed [both videos]. We have also carefully researched the law governing the fair use of a copyrighted work such as It’s Elementary, and conclude that Suffer the Children in no way violates the copyright protection of It’s Elementary.” Moreover, Crampton said in his letter, AFA attorneys stood “ready to defend the production of Suffer the Children in a court of law against any spurious claim of copyright infringement.” PBS stations ignored the letter. “We wonder whether there is someone behind what appears to be a campaign to frighten off PBS stations with implied legal action,” said Wildmon. “Someone does not want the other side of this issue broadcast, and I’m Gay Day at Walt Disney World ’99 For the ninth consecutive year Disney World in Orlando, Florida, has been the site of “Gay & Lesbian Day at the Magical Kingdom,” a gathering of thousands of homosexuals who openly flaunt their sexual orientation in front of unsuspecting parents and shocked children. Even though Gay Day has been held at Disney World on the first Saturday of June every year since 1991, most people who are not connected with the homosexual community are unaware of the event. Disney has steadfastly refused to make the public aware of Gay Day, presumably because the theme park does not want to drive away its non-homosexual patrons on one of the busiest vacation weekends of the year. Unfor tun a t e l y, t h a t results in an unpleasant surprise for many families that go to Disney World on the same weekend as the Gay Day festivities. One woman who experienced this first hand wrote a letter of complaint to a Florida newspaper. Debbie Campbell recounted how homosexuals attending Gay Day were displaying their sexuality physically and verbally all through the park, often in a loud and boisterous manner. Saying the experience shocked her and her husband and ruined her daughter’s birthday, she said, “It was perfectly clear to me [that many homosexuals in attendance] wanted to put on a show for people to notice them, even children.” Campbell said, “I also am upset that Disney did not warn parents before they entered the park.” Photo courtesy of Coral Ridge Ministries Media By Richard Lowry The high priests of journalism ■ Truth, morality and the media Most journalists are professionals, worried more than anything else with beating the competition. But willingly or not, they are also part of a media establishment that has attitudes and values that seep into its coverage the way cigarette smoke at a bar gets into everything you wear; it doesn’t matter whether you smoke or not, you stink. This establishment at least implicitly reinforces the radical side in America’s culture wars. What do I mean by the “radical side?” I am referring to those intellectuals on the Left who are attempting to remold American society and the way we view ourselves as human beings in keeping with an extreme feminist and multicultural world view. To illustrate what is at stake, let us go a little far afield and examine the hot new discipline of evolutionary biology. Evolutionary biologists look to our human and animal ancestors for clues as to what survival strategies and innate dispositions shape who we are now. In their way, they are engaged in the battle over human nature and its meaning. Not so long ago, scientists used to disappear into the jungle to study tribes of natives, apes, and monkeys. You will see them in old documentaries on the Nature Channel wearing rumpled khakis, anxiously peering through binoculars at their unwary subjects. What many of them concluded was that violence and warfare were unknown among primitive humans, which supposedly proves that human nature is malleable and ultimately pacific. Only our corrupt, patriarchal, and repressive civilization accounts for violence and the other depredations of modern society. As it turns out, this is bunk. Margaret Mead, the famous anthropologist who did so much to popularize such a view, turns out either to have deliberately falsified her evidence or to have been fooled by her Richard Lowry is Editor-in-Chief of National Review. Reprinted by permission from Imprimis, the monthly journal of Hillsdale College. supposedly guileless subjects. Actually, any reasonable person might expect, primitive societies were much more violent than civilized ones. And apes and monkeys, as we now know, beat up on one another as brutally as competing hordes of British soccer fans. So much for the pacific theory. But as Richard Wrangham and Dale Peterson observe in their biological study, Demonic Males, there is one exception. Among the chimpanzees known as the “Bonobos” there is no observable violent behavior. There are several other characteristics that also set this little group apart: They live in a matriarchal society in which the females lord it over the passive and easily manipulated males; free love reigns since the Bonobos are not loyal to their mates and will have sex at the slightest instigation; the females are bisexual; and all the chimps, male and female, are vegetarians. Review this list carefully, and you are bound to conclude that it is a perfect description of the ideal liberal society. In fact, it is probably a pretty good description of life at, say, Brown University. Demeaning Facts There is a strange moral inversion in the land. Smoking in the White House is strictly forbidden. It is an unacceptable social, indeed, even moral offense. But other activities – including those that puzzle journalists like Barbara Walters – are shrugged off as a healthy president’s way of blowing off steam or as unfortunate personal excesses that are none of the public’s business. Another example: Politicians create intrusive new regulations in the name of protecting our kids’ health while allowing schools to distribute condoms. National Review’s Washington Editor Kate O’Beirne has quipped, “To get liberals upset about teenage sex, you would have to convince them that it is connected to teenage smoking afterward.” What is notable about the liberal agenda is that it is not…“normal.” It comes from an academic, cultural, political, and media elite hostile to the mores and common sense of average Americans. My particular concern, of course, is how this agenda affects the media. Reporters used to be ill-dressed, annoying types who thought of themselves as practicing a craft in a rough-and-ready, sometimes drunken, but always conscientious fashion. Today, reporters are illdressed, annoying types who think of themselves as the high priests of the journalism profession and who practice their secular religion in a relentlessly self-important and self-righteous fashion. One recent study refers to reporters as “superyuppies.” As a class, most journalists share the attitudes and values of the guests at the average Manhattan dinner party. Of course, they vote Democratic. According to one 1992 survey, 90% of Washington journalists voted for Bill Clinton. And the problems go much deeper. A lot of journalists – thanks to their educaAFA Journal • August, 1999 tion in fancy journalism programs and journalism schools – have absorbed such trendy postmodern notions as, “There is no objective truth. U. S. News & World Report columnist John Leo recalls being hissed and booed at one journalism conference when he mentioned the need for objectivity. His experience is not uncommon. Hostility toward truth is extremely convenient for reporters because it frees them from the deadening and demeaning task of transmitting facts. Actually, facts themselves are demeaned as merely subjective interpretations of reality – unless, of course, we are talking about the alleged “facts” of global warming, breast implants, or gun control. Demonizing moral authority figures It is no wonder that many journalists distrust and dislike individuals who stand up for truth and who strive to uphold ethical and legal standards that are based on moral absolutes. Bill Clinton has had his share of negative press. Quite a few Washington reporters have grown tired of being played for fools or are out to “kill the king.” But Clinton was outpaced in unfavorable news coverage by his nemesis, Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr. When he agreed to take the job five years ago, Starr probably expected some White House stonewalling and some flak from congressional Democrats. But surely he never dreamed of the rabid hostility he would encounter from the media, which has managed to portray him as both a religious zealot and a sexual obsessive. Starr has never lied under oath and has never fooled around with young interns. Yet he is regularly ridiculed for such offenses as singing hymns…. His character is painted as black as the Hole of Calcutta. He is ruthless, unethical, strange, unhealthy, all for conducting an investigation aimed at discovering the truth. Starr is also pilloried for allegedly violating Clinton’s privacy. This is an interesting and murky area. The media itself once had a high regard for privacy. Certain things were just off limits. In a famous incident after her husband lost the 1960 presidential election, Pat Nixon confronted a couple of reporters who had shown up on the steps of her California home for day-after reaction. She was furious and launched into a long, unhinged tirade, doubtless fueled by the AFA Journal • august, 1999 stress and disappointment of her husband’s narrow loss. The reporters retreated and didn’t write a word about it. They considered it out of bounds, Pat Nixon was venting her personal grief, and there was no reason to broadcast it to the world. Today, is there any doubt that Pat Nixon’s outburst would have led every evening news show? Nothing is off limits, from Baywatch star Pamela Lee Anderson’s breast implants to the grief of high school students in Littleton, Colorado, (some of whom called TV stations before 911). Which brings us back to Ken Starr. Violating the president’s privacy certainly bothers the press, but not all that much. Sexual harassment law with which it sympathizes made possible the Paula Jones suit that precipitated the investigation. And the press violates people’s privacy every day. No, the problem is that the subtext behind Starr’s investigation is that Clinton has done something wrong in his private life (as if anything done in the Oval Office can be private anyway) and that the public can make a judgment about his wrongdoing, and act accordingly, i.e., impeach and convict him. It is judgment that really bothers the media. And here we arrive at a deeper, more disturbing trend. Unfortunately, this attitude is no longer confined just to the media or to other elites. One of the more important books published in the last year is One Nation, After All by sociologist Alan Wolfe. In this penetrating analysis of the middle class, Wolfe demonstrates that most Americans lead responsible, morally upright lives, but that they are extremely reluctant to make moral judgments about other people. They are also reluctant to rely upon their private beliefs as the basis for their opinions about public life. Value-free tolerance is fast becoming America’s civil religion. The media plays to and reinforces this tendency in its depiction of religious leaders ranging from Pat Robertson to Pope John Paul II. Their beliefs may or may not be portrayed in a positive way, but their efforts to apply their beliefs to such social issues as premarital and extramarital sex, homosexuality, abortion, and euthanasia are considered bizarre and dangerous. Another media tendency plays into this trend: It loves to expose hypocrites. This means targeting public figures who uphold moral standards. Conveniently, all of the people exposed in the most recent round of the Clinton scandal-related “outings” happen to be such social conservatives as Dan Burton, Helen Chenoweth, and Henry Hyde. Avoiding Judgments Moreover, there is a general trend toward sentimentality and compassion in the media. Feelings are constantly elevated over reason, compassion and good intentions over sterner virtues like duty and honor. Clinton’s empathy is the subject of lengthy magazine articles. Sportscasters cut their coverage of athletic events short in order to spend more air time on the personal trials and tribulations of the contenders. Television news networks reserve large chunks of air time for “soft” features that go beyond the general level of human interest.… Then, there is the matter of race and gender. The media pushes a kind of politically correct caste system of racial and gender identity. Metropolitan newspapers are the worst institutions in the country when it comes to imposing quotas; many not only set goals for hiring but also follow the Los Angeles Times’ example of setting quotas for sources, and they never pass up a chance to run features on the so-called “gender gap” and “hate crimes.” The gender gap, of course, isn’t a oneway street. Republicans attract fewer female voters, and Democrats attract fewer male voters. But the votes of men are considered less valuable. Look at the major news stories about Clinton’s impeachment. Almost all of them pointed out time and time again that the House managers were white males, which perforce made their arguments suspect. Meanwhile, Clinton’s attorney Cheryl Mills and secretary Betty Currie were assumed to be the repositories of a kind of unerring virtue based solely on their race and gender. Again, we are dealing here with a postmodern notion that there is no objective truth apart from identity politics. All of this makes for a dismaying picture. Remedying the problems of the modern media requires a long-term overhaul, not just of the press but of the wider culture. A couple of places to start: getting more conservatives in journalism; exercising eternal vigilance against media bias; strengthening institutions that work to Sources cited for News of Interest indicate souce of basic information only. CULTURE More states requiring post-prison treatment for sex offenders A growing number of states are telling convicted sex offenders “Not so fast” when they finish their prison terms and want to head out the door. During this decade alone, at least a dozen states have amended their laws to require those convicted of violent sexual crimes to enter psychiatric treatment centers after serving their sentences. Across the nation an estimated 1,000 violent sex offenders have either been committed to psychiatric care or face it, according to USA Today. More states are expected to follow suit by passing new laws or amending old ones. The thinking behind such moves is that sex offenders either cannot be cured of their predilections or require substantial therapy to overcome them. Either way, a prison term does not sufficiently protect society from sexual predators. Gene Schmidt helped Kansas enact their law in 1994, after his 19-year-old daughter was murdered by a sex offender who had already been through the system. “I don’t know if there will ever be a cure for this kind of thing,” Schmidt said. “I do know that treatment for sex offenders in prison is very inadequate, if not nonexistent.” Child molester Kevin Haenchen may represent every parent’s nightmare. He was scheduled to finish a prison term in Missouri in April, but confessed that he would probably repeat his crimes after being released. “I am terrified of being released [from prison]. Because I fear without counseling, I will molest more children. Since I don’t want to return to prison, I would be forced to kill them,” he said. His case is being reviewed under Missouri’s involuntary commitment law for sex offenders. USA Today, 4/12/99 EDUCATION Parents win case against probing school questionnaire A federal judge sided with parents in a Texas case involving the clash between parental rights and the power of the public school system. The case, Lisa T. et al. v. San Antonio Independent School District, dealt with questionnaires handed out to students which inquired into their home life, as well as psychological examinations of students without parental consent. In the case, the plaintiff said she had taken numerous steps since 1995 to complain to the San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD) because of its ceaseless non-academic education, including sex education and death and suicide education, and lessons about UFO’s and the Bermuda Triangle. SAISD had also given the plaintiff ’s daughter psychological examinations against the parent’s wishes. But according to Education Reporter, SAISD ignored the plaintiff, and instead retaliated by repeatedly requiring the girl to answer personal questions about her home life and “what her mother was up to.” Then more than 600 students at one San Antonio high school were given intrusive surveys which included questions about their families. Students were told that responses to the questionnaire would be kept confidential, “even from parents.” Questions included: “What do you consider to be the best thing about your home and the worst?” “If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be and why?” “What’s the thing you need most that you are not getting from your family?” U.S. District Judge Fred Biery upheld the rights of parents, ordering among other things that SAISD must obtain parental consent for all guidance counseling, psychological exams, and surveys. Parents were represented by the Texas Justice Foundation, a non-profit, publicinterest litigation foundation. Education Reporter, 6/99 ENTERTAINMENT Talk show loses court case Whether one sees it as a boon to those with pro-family concerns over television content or as a significant loss of First Amendment freedoms depends on one’s perspective, but one thing is for sure: the jury verdict against the Jenny Jones talk show astonished culture watchers. A Michigan jury slammed the show with a $25 million negligence tab for allegedly allowing the humiliation of a guest, who later committed murder as the result of his embarrassment. Jenny Jones guest Jonathan Schmitz came on a March 1995 show after being told by producers that he had a secret admirer – thinking that his admirer was a woman. Instead, Schmitz found out that acquaintance Scott Amedure, a homosexual, was the one with a crush. Apparently humiliated by the whole scene, Schmitz shot Amedure three days later. Talk shows like Jenny Jones, Jerry Springer and Ricki Lake often play off such surprises, which are sprung on stunned guests to produce strong audience reaction and thus higher ratings. The lawsuit against Jenny Jones and its corporate parent Warner Brothers asked for $71 million in damages, according to USA Today. It was filed by Amedure’s family, charging the show with negligence for not fully informing Schmitz about the nature of the program and what he could expect. Geoffrey Fieger, the attorney for Amedure’s family, said the verdict should send a clear message to other talk shows that “that type of human exploitation needs to be corralled. This is a renegade business.” USA Today, 5/10/99 Video game producers ignore calls for less gore While Congress was deliberating laws which might lower levels of violence in the entertainment media, video game producers were proving themselves deaf to any demands for toned-down violence. At the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo in May, where manufacturers show off the latest and hottest video games and video systems, company representatives were quick to defend the more than $6 billion a year industry. “Everyone feels bad about what happened. I don’t believe [violent or gory video games] had anything to do with what happened,” said Todd Hollenshead, chief executive of id Software. That company AFA Journal • August, 1999 news of interest produces the violent game Doom, which was mentioned as allegedly being one of the favorite games of the Littleton killers. One critic of the video game industry is Sen. Herbert Kohl (D-WI), who had worked with video game makers to place ratings on their games. Kohl now says companies are ignoring the spirit of the ratings system. He pointed out that the video game makers are producing toys – meant for kids – that are offshoots of games that are rated for adults. Manufacturers point to the wide selection of games produced each year – many of which are not violent. Nevertheless, this year’s offerings will include ultra-violent games like Quake III and Gore. Time, 5/24/99; Reuters, 5/14/99 FAMILY Feds drop marriage statistics For the first time this century the U.S. government will not be collecting and keeping detailed statistics on marriage and divorce when it gathers information for the once a decade Census. Government spokesmen blame government cutbacks for the change, but sociologists and other researchers, public policy makers and profamily forces alike have criticized the decision as short-sighted. Most Americans receive a short form Census questionnaire, which has always asked for marital status...Only about 16 million Americans will get a longer form, which will ask questions about marriage and divorce. From those statistics the government hopes to extrapolate information about marriage throughout the nation. Budget cuts in 1996 led the National Center for Health Statistics to begin the cutbacks, and the government decided to no longer ask states for important information on family and marriage – such as when people married and divorced, how often they had been married, or how many children they had. This final blow, however, brought the critics out of the woodwork. “These statistics are absolutely vital to us,” said University of Chicago family researcher and sociologist Linda Waite. She said the information was essential for researchers who try to “understand what kind of families we are living in.” Some saw the change in policy as a AFA Journal • august, 1999 Congress debates media violence In the wake of school shootings in Littleton, Colorado, the president and members of Congress from both sides of the aisle have been attempting to rein in the entertainment industry’s hyper-violent product in an effort to protect the nation’s children. The entertainment industry has often responded to such charges in the past by blaming guns and family breakdown for crimes like Littleton. One Hollywood head blamed politics. Dick Wolf, creator of NBC’s Law & Order, said the brouhaha in Washington over entertainment is being driven by political considerations as the year 2000 elections approach. “[O]nce again, politicians who have done nothing to stop the proliferation of guns on the street are using the entertainment industry as a convenient scapegoat for the social ills affecting this country.” That Hollywood revulsion to accepting at least some responsibility for cultural violence was evident when President Clinton hosted a three-hour brain-storming session on youth violence at the White House. Not a single movie studio head honcho accepted the president’s invitation to the youth violence confab. President Clinton said, “It is true that there has been a breakdown in the family, schools and communities. It is also true that there has been a coarsening of the culture in many ways, and those who influence it must be sensitive to it.” Despite the outcry from some members of Congress, political fixes aimed at the entertainment industry have had mixed success in the wake of the Littleton killings. The House rejected two amendments to the Juvenile Crime Bill, both of which were intended to control violent material. One amendment, proposed by Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL), would have prohibited selling or sending to anyone under age 17 material – such as books, movies, video games or pictures – which is “obscenely violent or sexual” in nature. Representatives Zach Wamp (R-TN) and Bart Stupak (D-MI) sponsored a separate amendment, also rejected by the House, which would have waived antitrust laws to allow the entertainment industry to develop a common, industry-wide ratings system for its products. A Senate proposal, authored by Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-SC), would have created a “safe harbor” of violence-free television when children would most likely be watching – 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. It was also defeated. But the steps that seem likely to pass muster on the Hill may get the ball rolling. Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have been given a green light and $2 million to study the effects of violent entertainment on children. Both the House and Senate passed an amendment requiring the Justice department and Federal Trade Commission to join in an investigation of studio marketing practices, to see if entertainment companies target teenagers with violent and sexually-explicit material. Reuters, 5/14/99; USA Today, 6/18/99; Advertising Age, 5/10/99, 5/17/99; Daily Variety, 5/11/99, 5/12/99, 5/13/99, 5/14/99; Time, 5/24/99 watershed moment. Family therapist Diane Sollee of the Coalition for Marriage, Family and Couples Education told USA Today the government cutbacks represented a significant point in history when our culture is “not even asking for this information anymore.” Such nonchalance about society’s most important social institution will have a potentially devastating impact on those in society who would like to try to stop the divorce epidemic, said social scientist David Blankenhorn. The author of Fatherless America: Confronting Our Most Urgent Social Problem, Blankenhorn asked, “How can you make good family policy based on ignorance news of interest about marriage?” USA Today, 6/1/99 HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA President slips homosexual nominee past Senate objections President Bill Clinton once again showed himself the master of political maneuvering, appointing a controversial homosexual nominee to an overseas post while the Senate was in recess over the Memorial Day holiday. Philanthropist and homosexual activist James Hormel was appointed by Clinton using a “recess appointment” to the post of U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg. The first openly homosexual ambassador in U.S. history, Hormel will serve until the president’s term expires in 2001. When sworn in during a ceremony on June 29, Hormel placed his hand on a Bible held by his homosexual “partner,” accompanied by the cheers of homosexual supporters amidst a crowd of 300. According to The Washington Times, nine television cameras recorded the event, even though the State Department normally bars reporters from such swearing-in ceremonies. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright boasted to the crowd, “Today, we do send a message that neither race nor creed nor gender nor sexual orientation is relevant to the selection of an ambassador of the United States.” Ordinarily the Senate must ratify a presidential nominee before he or she can begin serving in an official capacity. But some Senate Republicans objected to Hormel’s record as a homosexual activist, and refused to allow a vote on the nomination. Pro-family Republicans were outraged that Clinton had circumvented the process on the Hormel nomination, although recess appointments are not unusual for presidents. Clinton has made only 57 in his six-and-a-half years in office, compared to President George Bush’s 78 during his four years. President Ronald Reagan made 239 recess appointments during his two terms. But it was the controversy surrounding Hormel’s record that made some Republicans furious over Clinton’s use of the recess appointment. Hormel’s record, according to Family Research Council: ➤ Hormel opposes the traditional Psychologists disavow decision to publish pedophilia study Outrage from House Republican members and the general public has led the American Psychological Association (APA) to disassociate itself from a study it had printed in its own prestigious journal, Psychological Bulletin. The report allegedly suggested that sex between adults and children was not always harmful to the child. The study was entitled “A Meta-Analytic Examination of Assumed Properties of Child Sexual Abuse.” The article said that it was possible for an intergenerational liaison to be a “willing [sexual] encounter,” and that sex between and an adult and child should “be labeled simply ‘adult-child sex,’ a value-neutral term,” rather than child “abuse.” Initially the APA defended its decision to publish the piece. APA spokeswoman Rhea Farberman told The Washington Times, “There’s nothing in this article that suggests pedophilia is not harmful. The article tried to determine whether there are varying degrees of harm, if the child’s age, resiliency and family environment were factors.” Even though the APA denied endorsing the sentiments expressed in the report, public outrage was immediate and relentless. Conservative radio talk show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger blasted the APA for publishing the report, saying such studies are often used to change public policy. Schlessinger said she worried that the “study will now be used to normalize pedophilia, to change the legal system and further destroy the family.” Schlessinger asked, “If [the report is] science, then why aren’t they endorsing it? And if it isn’t science, why did they publish it?” House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-TX) co-sponsored a resolution which condemned the study. “The lack of judgment shown by the American Psychological Association in publishing [the study] absolutely confounds me. I will not equivocate on this issue. Sexual activity between an adult and a child is criminal all the time and in all cases,” he said. In a letter to DeLay’s office, however, APA Executive Vice President/CEO Raymond D. Fowler underscored the organization’s policy concerning pedophilia, stating that “any form of sexual relations between adults and children” should “remain criminal and punishable to the full extent of the law.” Fowler also assured DeLay that the APA believes “that children cannot consent to sexual activity with adults.” The letter also outlined the Association’s planned steps to insure that its journal would not publish research without evaluating “its potential for misinforming the public policy process.” Human Events, 5/28/99; The Washington Times, 5/13/99 definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman, and advocates elimination of that legal distinction. Hormel has stated that his homosexual lover, activist Timothy Wu, would accompany him to Luxembourg when he fills his post as ambassador. ➤ He is a radical activist for the homosexual movement. Hormel was a founder of the Human Rights Campaign, a homosexual advocacy group that frequently tags pro-family groups, including AFA, as “political religious extremists” and “hate groups.” He also provided major funding for the production of the documentary It’s Elementary, an instructional video showing teachers how they can teach children that “gay is O.K.” ➤ Hormel insulted many Catholics at a “gay” pride parade when he approved of a group of homosexual male drag queens who were dressed as nuns and mocked God during the festivities. ➤ He funded the James C. Hormel Gay AFA Journal • August, 1999 news of interest and Lesbian Center in the San Francisco Main Library, which stocks homosexual materials that include publications from the North American Man-Boy Love Association, a pedophile group. Hormel has been criticized for refusing to condemn such material. USA Today, 6/9/99; New York Blade News, 6/11/99 Public school curriculum blames Christians for ‘hate’ In a publication that riled Christian leaders, the U.S. Justice Department has produced a document to be used in public schools that links religious beliefs about homosexuality to racism, prejudice and hatred. Called Healing the Hate: A National Hate Crime Prevention Curriculum for Middle Schools, the publication was paid for using federal tax dollars, as part of President Bill Clinton’s campaign against hate crime. The curriculum, intended for all students (K-12), follows the homosexual handbook to the letter, defining one’s sexual orientation as “a core and unchangeable aspect” of a person’s identity, like race or ethnic background. But it is the linking religious beliefs about homosexuality to prejudice and hatred that has stirred up many in the Christian community. For example, a vocabulary handout defines institutional prejudice as “prejudice that is widely accepted throughout a society including schools, workplaces, government, and religious organizations.” (Emphasis added.) In the document’s introduction, a segment is taken from President Clinton’s inaugural address in 1997, in which the president mentions racial hatred and prejudice that is “cloaked in the pretense of religious or political conviction.” Immediately following that excerpt, Healing the Hate mentions hate crimes based on sexual orientation as well as race, ethnicity, religion and gender. The link between prejudice and religious belief is also subtly drawn out in another student handout which tells the story of a man named Floyd Cochran, who had spent time as a white supremacist and neo-Nazi. Told from a first-person perspective, the testimonial explicitly mentions Cochran’s background in Baptist and Pentecostal AFA Journal • august, 1999 churches, and then “bleeds over” into a discussion of Bible studies that taught racist doctrine within the Aryan Nations, a white supremacist group. There is never any hint in the story that orthodox Christianity and the religious views taught by the Aryan Nations are incompatible. In a press release, Rev. Lou Sheldon, Chairman of Traditional Values Coalition, said, “Since the Clinton-Gore administration has come to power, they have worked hard to ensure that their anti-Christian definition of ‘tolerance’ is introduced into our nation’s classroom. This agenda has subverted the right of many Christian parents whose religious beliefs [about] right and wrong are in conflict with the administration’s.” Survey says homosexuals buy from friendly companies When AFA and other pro-family groups called for a boycott of The Walt Disney Company because of its pro-homosexual policies, “gay” activists cried foul, arguing that sexual orientation should not be a factor in patronizing certain companies. Now a new study shows that homosexuals make sexual orientation a prime factor when deciding which companies they will support. Surveys conducted by Greenfield Online, Inc., reveal that 87% of homosexuals have refused to do business with a company and changed brands if they perceived that the company was not “pro-gay.” On the other hand, 77% of respondents said they had shifted their patronage to a company soley because that company had taken a more positive approach to homosexual issues. Also contradicting the claims of activists: 87% of homosexuals agreed with the contention that their community represented “a powerful economic force.” Activists have argued in the past that homosexuals are an economically deprived segment of the population because of discrimination. According to a press release from Greenfield, survey respondents saw themselves as a political force with which to be reckoned. Thirty-eight percent described themselves as “politically conscientious,” which Greenfield Online said was a higher percentage than in the general population. Some 70% said they stay in touch with what is hap- pening politically. PORNOGRAPHY Internet sex industry grows With all the worries about the availability of pornography and other sexually-oriented websites on the Internet, the problem appears to be growing worse, with no end in sight. Internet sites containing “adult content” last year reaped a $970 million whirlwind, increasing 30% over the previous year, according to Forrester Research. In the next five years the 1998 total is expected to triple. One members-only website, owned by smut entrepreneur Seth Warshavsky, claims 115,000 subscribers who pay $24.95 a month to receive online porn. Market analyst Datamonitor said that in 1998, adult material made up 69% of all paid-for online content. With increased profits has come an inevitable increase in the number of such sites. That worries parents, whose children may be susceptible to stumbling across porn sites while surfing the Internet. A recent poll showed that 44% of teenagers had been exposed to websites that were Xrated or sexually explicit. Reuters, 5/27/99; Time, 5/10/99, 4/19/99; Investors Business Daily, 5/24/99 PRO-LIFE Nurses shrink from abortion In the space of one decade, a majority of the hospital-based registered nurses in this country have changed their minds about whether or not they would work in a place where abortions were performed. Nearly two-thirds of the two thousand nurses polled by RN magazine said that partial-birth abortions should be illegal. The survey also revealed a stunning reversal of opinion: 60% said they would not work in an OB/GYN unit where any type of abortion was performed; 10 years ago 52% of registered nurses said they would. “We saw perhaps the most striking change among nurses who actually care for mother and baby,” said RN editor Marianne Dekker Mattera. “Only 37% of the respondents who work in obstetrics or the nursery say they would work on a unit where the abortion is performed, a decline of 18 percentage points from 1988.” news of interest Some pro-abortion groups tried to put the best possible spin on the survey results. Kathy Simmonds of the Abortion Access Project of Massachusetts blamed the close ties many nursing schools have with the Catholic church. Plus, Simmonds said, many of these nurses weren’t working before the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion in Roe v. Wade, and so have no knowledge of women “suffering and dying because of their desperate efforts to end an unwanted pregnancy.” But April Holley of the National Right to Life Committee said the change in the abortion views held by nurses merely reflects the same trend within the general public. Poll after poll shows American sentiment steadily moving toward the pro-life position. World, 4/24/99; Pro-Life Infonet, 3/14/99 Court grants first victory for partial-birth abortion ban Opponents of partial-birth abortion finally got a federal judge to see the light in a Wisconsin case that challenged that state’s ban on the procedure. Partial-birth abortion refers to the gruesome act of killing a baby whose entire body has exited the mother’s abdomen except for the head. The baby’s head is then forcibly collapsed, killing the child, before the body is fully removed. Like 28 other states, the Wisconsin legislature had passed a law that made partialbirth abortions illegal, allowing for doctors convicted of performing the barbaric practice to be sentenced to life in prison. In 19 of those states, court challenges have successfully blocked the implementation of the law, either in part or in full. Planned Parenthood filed suit to block Wisconsin’s law as well, arguing that the law was too vague, restricted women’s constitutional right to abortion, and failed to take into account the health of the woman. But U.S. District Judge John Shabaz disagreed with all of Planned Parenthood’s arguments. “The partial-birth abortion is never medically necessary to preserve the health of the woman,” he said, adding, “The legislature did not adopt the act for the purpose of placing an obstacle in the path of women seeking an abortion.” World, 6/12/99 10 Cloning may yield fatal defects Scientists involved in the brave new world of cloning are puzzled by the rapid and unexpected demise of animals created by the process, as well as the possible genetic defects that seem to go hand-in-hand with cloning. Some animals that have been cloned are apparently short-circuiting, dying from things like anemia. French scientists, for example, struggled to keep a young calf alive after it developed severe anemia, only to see it die at seven weeks. According to U.S. News & World Report, cloned cows are at least 10 times more likely to be unhealthy than those conceived naturally, and scientists aren’t sure why. Even Dolly, the famous sheep who was cloned by Scottish scientists three years ago, is showing signs indicating premature aging. According to research published in the journal Nature, it may mean that the age of the adult source of the cell may transfer to the offspring in ways that differ from natural conception. Scientists fear that Dolly could be more susceptible to reduced fertility and even cancer. Dolly was the first large animal to be created by cloning a cell taken from an adult, and the world was stunned by the news when scientists announced their success in 1997. Once the province only of science fiction, the possibility that even higher forms of life, including humans, could be cloned immediately shoved the issue into the already volatile stew of other “who-plays-God” issues, like abortion, euthanasia and stem-cell research. U.S. News & World Report, 5/24/99; USA Today, 5/27/99 RELIGION / ANTICHRISTIAN Unique approach to prayer prospers in cities City-dwellers rushing down sidewalks have had to be as nimble as a broken-field runner in order to dodge everything from hot dog vendors to panhandlers to homeless drunks. Now, however, many of those peppy-paced pedestrians are coming to a halt in order to receive prayer. In a growing number of cities Christians are establishing non-threatening “prayer stations” – often nothing more than a card table marked by a banner and staffed by a person willing to pray with anyone in need. In New York City last New Year’s Eve, for example, Youth With A Mission (YWAM) volunteers prayed with 1,800 people and led 200 to Christ. According to Religion Today, the success of the YWAM venture in the Big Apple has led to other groups trying similar approaches in other cities and on college campuses. Responding to requests from 200 churches throughout the world, YWAM has mailed out manuals which describe the methods for establishing prayer stations which have been most successful for them. New York City YWAM director Nick Savoca said many people are touched to discover that total strangers care about their needs. “When people’s needs are met, they open up their hearts,” he said. “Most people deeply respect prayer. They want prayer.” Religion Today website, 5/28/99 First grader sues over New Jersey ban on Bible stories Lawyers are appealing a federal court decision on behalf of a first grade student in Medford, New Jersey, after the boy was denied the right to read his choice of stories in front of the class – simply because that story was from the Bible. According to The Christian Science Monitor, as a bonus for doing so well in his reading Zachary Hood was told he could pick his favorite story and read it to his classmates. But little Zachary’s teacher said his choice was a constitutional no-no: the Bible story of conflict between two brothers, Jacob and Esau. The case pits two well-established principles in legal combat: the current constitutional view of the separation of church and state versus the free-speech and freeexercise clauses of the First Amendment. The Hoods have already lost one round in federal court, when a federal district judge ruled that the teacher could rightfully decide what is appropriate in her classroom. But the case is now before a federal appeals court in Philadelphia. Eric Treene, an attorney with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing the Hoods before the appellate court, told The Monitor, “The school is hiding behind the mistaken assumption that Zachary sharing his favorite story with the class would be the equivalent of prayer. The government requires the school to be AFA Journal • August, 1999 gambling update Panel advocates some gambling restricA federal commission assembled to study the societal impact of legalized gambling has produced mixed conclusions which probably will please neither side in the growing debate surrounding the topic. The report issued by the National Gambling Impact Study Commission said that millions of Americans are developing gambling habits that they cannot control, devastating their marriages, families, careers and finances. The panel also concluded that legalized gambling may entail a social cost as well – in the form of bankruptcies and increased crime. The commission’s conclusions were somewhat ambivalent, however. Opponents of legalized gambling, who would prefer that it was shut down altogether, were sure to be disappointed that the report claimed that some economically depressed communities in the U.S. were actually helped by having casinos nearby. Consisting of presidential and congressional appointees, the two-year gambling commission’s conclusions amounted to a recommendation for an “easy does it” approach, including merely slowing down the growth of state lotteries; a minimum gambling age of 21; a prohibition against betting on college sports; and a ban on “convenience gambling,” such as slot machines in truck stops and bars. However, even these recommendations for applying the brakes to gambling are a long way away from being adopted by state legislatures. The gambling industry is a billions-a-year money maker, producing a political gorilla that can throw its weight around when election time nears. Meanwhile, the states themselves may find it hard to quit their own addictions to the largess of lotteries, which earned $43 billion in revenues in 1996. That figure represents a nearly 11-fold increase since Do you have a gambling problem? According to Nancy Petry of the University of Connecticut Health Center, if you answered yes to any of these questions, you could have a gambling problem. If you answered yes to five or more questions, you meet the official definition of a pathological gambler. y n ❑ ❑ Some warning signs: Are you preoccupied with gambling? ❑ ❑ Do you need increasing amounts of money to gamble? ❑ ❑ Have you ever tried, unsuccessfully, to cut down on or stop gambling? ❑ ❑ Are you restless or irritable when trying to cut down on gambling? ❑ ❑ Do you gamble to escape your problems or a bad mood? ❑ ❑ Do you gamble in order to win back money you have lost? ❑ ❑ Do you hide signs of gambling or lie about it? ❑ ❑ Have you ever written bad checks to pay for gambling? ❑ ❑ Have you ever jeopardized or lost an important relationship because of gambling? ❑ ❑ Do you borrow from the bank, credit cards, friends or relatives in order to gamble? Source: USA Today, 4/5/99 1982. Not all the suggestions would be easily enforceable, even if converted into state or federal law. A case in point is the subject of Internet gambling, which the panel recommended be declared illegal. The Internet can be used to gamble on virtually anything, from sites which allow the visitor to play traditional betting games like blackjack or poker to sites that allow sports fans to bet on how a single batter might do in a particular inning of a baseball game. Last year online gambling earned a robust $650 million, but that figure is expected to jump to $2.3 billion within the next four years. “These online sites are the crack cocaine of gambling,” said Sen. Jon Kyle (R-AZ). “They are highly addictive and destructive, especially for youth.” Kyle has pushed to outlaw online gambling sites, sponsoring a bill last year that passed the Senate 90-10. Congress adjourned, however, before the House could vote on the bill. But even with a federal law, virtually all such gambling websites are operated outside the country. Also working against efforts to halt the spread of gambling: the U.S. Supreme Court ruled recently that the 65-year-old federal ban on broadcast advertising for gambling businesses was unconstitutional. Casinos are expected to jump on the airwaves. In the past casinos were allowed to advertise “Vegas-style excitement” but not “Vegas-style games.” U.S. News & World Report, 6/14/99; USA Today, 6/18/99, 6/15/99; 4/26/99 AFA Journal • august, 1999 11 A supplement for local bulletins & newsletters from the American Family Association Teen-to-teen insight on issues Teen Chat is an appealing new book in which Teen Advisors (peer counselors) address issues raised by teens themselves. Teen Advisors is a peer support ministry designed to help teenagers live for Christ. “I duplicated a chat line and had different kids giving advice to other kids writing in,” explains Teen Chat author Mike Yorkey. Yorkey is former editor of Focus on the Family magazine. The advisors in Teen Chat speak from their own experience, many of whom had previously abused alcohol, drugs or sex. Teen Chat is published by Servant, and is available (HB, $10.99) at Christian bookstores. ‘Bibles Not Bullets’ for schools “In response to recent violence and tragic killings in our public schools we have launched a nationwide campaign to legally place Bibles in America’s public schools,” says Tim Todd of Revival Fires International, based in Branson, Missouri. Revival Fires has already distributed more than 200,000 copies of The Truth For Youth (TFY), a specially designed New Testament for teens. The book includes 10 chapters of comics dealing with the issues of school violence, evolution, sex, pornography, homosexuality, abortion, rock music, drugs, drunkenness and peer pressure. To contact Revival Fires/Tim Todd Min- august, 1999 Wal-Mart, Kmart pull objectionable album Continuing their habit of responding to parental concerns about vulgar, violent and otherwise objectionable music, both WalMart and Kmart stores pulled from their shelves an album which allegedly contained a satanic image and questionable lyrics. Parents in Cleveland, Ohio, complained to store managers about the self-titled album by the group Godsmack. The CD’s cover contains a pentagram, which has strong links to witchcraft and Satanism. Parents were also concerned about the album’s profanity and lyrics that allegedly were so dark that they might encourage teens to commit suicide. Both chains regularly refuse to stock music with labels indicating objectionable content. Godsmack’s album, however, was not labeled by its distributor, Universal Music, until after the Cleveland controversy. In such cases where a label is not present, both chains have removed albums once they discovered objectionable elements. Last year, for example, the album The Fat of the Land, from the group Prodigy, was yanked from the shelves after it already had been out for about a year (AFA Journal, 2/98). Sully Erna, lyricist for the group, said the album does not encourage violence of any kind, and “there are no satanic or suicidal themes of any kind.” But both Wal-Mart and Kmart disagreed. “After reviewing [Godsmack], we felt that it was something we probably shouldn’t have carried in the first place,” said Kmart spokesman Dennis Wigent. Send notes of thanks to: Chrm. S. Robson Walton, WalMart Stores, Inc., 702 S.W. 8th Street, Bentonville, AR 72716 Chrm. Floyd Hall, Kmart Stores, 3100 West Big Beaver Road, Troy, MI 48084 Rocky Mountain News (Denver), 6/9/99; Source: USA Today, 6/10/99 American Family Association • P.O. Drawer 2440 • Tupelo, MS 38803 • 662-844-5036 Citizens urged to observe Christian Heritage Week Thanksgiving week, November 21-27, marks the eighth annual America’s Christian Heritage Week (ACHW). According to founder and promoter Bruce Barilla, the event’s purpose is “to keep our families secure, communities safe, and America free by building upon our God-given rights.” More than 70% of the states have issued proclamations recognizing ACHW, most of them choosing the Thanksgiving dates but some opting for other times. “This is a significant event,” says AFA President Don Wildmon. “AFA is grateful to Bruce Barilla for keeping this idea before the public and for his faithful response to God’s call. I urge AFA groups to begin now preparing for a local observance.” Where there is no state proclamation, many cities and counties recognize the event with press conferences, rallies, special local church services, or patriotic assemblies. For information about how to participate, contact Bruce Barilla at: America’s Christian Heritage Week, P. O. Box 752, Troutdale, OR 97060-6432; Phone 503669-7522; Website www.achw.org. An unparalleled opportunity for American churches to minister to seniors in the next decade was highlighted at a Strategic Summit on Senior Ministry in April. “We had excellent input from a diverse perspective of ministries as we discussed how we can together address the ministry needs to seniors in our country,” said Roland Johnson, president of Christian Association of Prime-Timers (CAP). The event was cosponsored by CAP and Sonlife Ministries. One major concern addressed was how to head off the tendency of churches to go the entertainment and self-focus route in their approach to seniors rather than a strong, deliberate Great Commission approach. “Seniors want a solid challenge that will enable them to invest their time and talents in matters that will count for eternity,” said Billy A. Melvin, chairman of CAP. “This desire affords local churches a wonderful opportunity to enlist thousands of trained and dedicated seniors in Christian work. We dare not miss the opportunity.” CAP is a growing association that meets the needs of retirees and other seniors within a Christian context, in stark contrast to the liberal American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). CAP annual membership dues are $12.95 (spouse included), and benefits compare favorably with those of AARP. For more information: CAP, P. O. Box 777, St. Charles, IL 60174; call toll free 1800-443-0227. Opportunity for ministry to se- PrimeTimer Newsletter, Spring/99 Video teaches teens media discernment Hollywood’s Captive Audience is a compelling 22-minute video designed to help teens learn to handle today’s media with maturity and discernment. It is written and directed by John Andrew Murray, dean of students at Atlanta’s Whitefield Academy, a Christian preparatory school. “Inappropriate behavior depicted frequently in the media desensitizes young people,” says Murray. He decries the proliferation of vulgarity, insensitivity and violence in our culture, and says such behavior is often modeled, even commended, on TV. Murray and other Whitefield educators were determined to teach their students how to be discerning participants in today’s entertainment media; Hollywood’s Captive Audience is the result. The video would be appropriate for secular audiences as well as Christian groups. For credit card orders, you may call 404-531-3969 ext. 220. To order by mail, send your mailing address with: 1) your credit card number and expiration; or 2) a cashier’s check or money order for $19.99 (includes shipping and handling) to Whitefield Productions, 4449 Northside Reports from AFA affiliates New AFA State Directors AFA of Minnesota (St. Paul) – Brannon Howse spends countless hours writing issue briefs about important legislation that impacts America’s families. Brannon has authored two best-selling books, Cradle to College: An Educational Abduction and Reclaiming a Nation At Risk, and hosts his own national radio show. In addition his weekly education commentary is heard on 200 stations. http://www.familypolicy.com/ (651-739-4112) AFA of Pennsylvania (York) – Roy Jones is a grassroots community leader. He served on the national staff of the Bush-Quayle Campaign and has been a consultant in U.S. Congressional and international political races. In the 1980s Jones served as chief lobbyist for The Moral Majority. Roy is an insightful writer and speaker who has been featured in many publications and on TV and radio shows. www.RoyJonesReports. com/afa (717-292-0115) AFA of Texas (San Antonio) – Loralei Gilliam joined AFA in the middle of a raucous state legislative session, beginning her tenure by testifying in opposition to a proposed Hate Crimes Bill. She also worked for the passage of a parental notification law. Before coming to AFA, she spent more than three years with the Family Research Council and as a media relations specialist for Gary Bauer. While at FRC Loralei launched a number of nationwide pro-family campaigns. Her commentaries have been published in many newspapers around the country. www.afatexas.org (210-492-5866) AFA of Virginia (Forest) – Joe Glover communicates with thousands of activists on important pro-family issues. He equips citizens to defend traditional family values and promotes decency in corporate and public policy. Glover has been a guest on various radio and television shows and has worked as a paid consultant to political campaigns, once serving as the National Field Director for Alan Keyes’ presidential bid in 1996. www.familypolicynetwork. television action inUse this information to write or call advertisers cited in this issue’s television reviews. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. Chrm. Charles A. Heimbold, Jr. 345 Park Avenue New York, NY 10154 Phone: 212-546-9685 Toll Free: 1-800-468-4000 Website: www.bms.com Products: Clairol, Ban antiperspirant, Excedrin, Keri lotion, Pravachol medication Ford Motor Co. Chrm. Alex Trotman P. O. Box 1899 Dearborn, MI 48121 Phone: 313-322-3000 Toll Free: 1-800-392-3673 Website: www.ford.com Products: Ford, Lincoln, Mercury autos, Hertz car rentals General Motors Corp. Chrm. John F. Smith 3044 W. Grand Blvd. Detroit, MI 48202 Phone: 313-556-5000 Fax: 313-556-5108 Website: www.gm.com Products: Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saturn autos, DirecTV direct satellite broadcasting Grand Metropolitan, Inc. Chrm. George Bull 200 S. 6th St. Minneapolis, MN 55402 Phone: 612-330-4966 Fax: 612-330-5200 Products: Burger King, Green Giant Products, Old El Paso Mexican foods, Pillsbury foods, Progresso soup, Totino’s pizza Hyundai Motor America Chrm. Mark Juhn 10550 Talbert Ave. Fountain Valley, CA 92728 Phone: 714-965-3000 Toll Free: 1-800-633-5151 Product: Hyundai autos 14 Sex still simmers in summer reruns: Ford, Pepsi among top adverMost of the reviews below are repeats, but the networks seem incapable of airing anything without objectionable content. Even in episodes rated G, it is common to find casual, illicit sex. year’s Christmas party he had sex with the cleaning woman on Nikki’s desk. Carter, series homosexual, is delighted to discover a male “couple” in their 70s living in his apartment building. Advertiser: General Motors ■ Cosby S TVG CBS, 6/7 – Hilton runs into Fred, a friend from his youth. Fred, widowed for five years, wonders about a girlfriend who got away some 50 years ago. Hilton helps him locate her. Even after their 50-year absence, she quickly invites Fred to spend the night with her, their conversation clearly implying that they intend to have sex. ■ That 70s Show P15 S SATVPG-DLS Fox, 6/14 – Eric discovers his parents in the middle of having sex, and the trauma it causes him is the focus of the rest of the episode. In one scene, Eric sneaks beer (to serve his friends in the basement) as his parents host a party upstairs. Advertiser: PepsiCo Advertisers: Grand Met, Ford ■ Drew Carey P9 S TV14-L ABC, 6/2 – Drew, in his 40s, has a sexual relationship with a woman who is 62. She grows angry at him when he doesn’t tell his parents that she is his girlfriend. Drew’s transvestite brother appears in the family Christmas scenes. In addition to frequent sexual innuendo, the episode includes at least 25 ugly put-downs. Advertisers: J&J, PepsiCo ■ ER H P9 S TV14 NBC, 6/10 – In the opening scene, Dr. Carter gets ready for work while his sexmate lounges in his bed. Dr. Greene treats a teenage male prostitute. Cops tell Greene that, when the boy is discharged, they will have to arrest him. Dr. Greene, however, has a better plan; he puts the teenage hooker in a cab and gives him money to escape. Advertisers: J&J, Ford ■ The Simpsons P2 SA TVPG-L Fox, 6/6 – Series star Homer Simpson is drinking and driving as he celebrates the hometown baseball team’s win in the championship game. In his drunken spree, he crashes his car into the school building. When he awakens the next day, he can’t recall what he’d done the night before. ■ 3rd Rock from the Sun P3 S TV14 NBC, 6/15 – The story line revolves around the fact that Dr. Allbright, aging college prof, once posed nude for a porn magazine which is on campus to recruit coed models for upcoming issues. One series star strolls about the set nude, with some object always hiding his genitals. Advertiser: Ford ■ Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza P6 S TVPG-L ABC, 6/2 – Pete has a new girlfriend (Nicole), and he won’t tell friends Berg and Sharon her identity. When Berg finally sees Nicole, he is aghast to recall that he once got drunk and had casual sex with her – and she has his name tattooed on her derriere. One scene depicts Pete and Nicole taking each others’clothes off. Advertisers: Ford, PepsiCo ■ Will & Grace AC H P11 TVPG NBC, 5/27 – This episode contains sexual humor about homosexuality, transvestites, adultery, fornication, prostitution, lust and more. It also takes a few swipes at Christianity. When Grace criticizes a neighbor for cheating on her husband, Will sarcastically calls her “church lady,” and jokes about breaking the commandment against coveting. Advertisers: Ford, Grand Met Advertisers: Grand Met, PepsiCo ■ Spin City H P11 S SA TVPG-D ABC, 6/22 – Mike, series star, entices fellow staffers in the mayor’s office to attend the Christmas party with this line: “As always, booze will be free and flowing.” He reminds Stuart that at last ■ X-Files P6 S TVPG-LV Fox, 6/20 – A demonic man impregnates several women in his attempt to have a normal child. Each child, however, is part demon and part human. The demon/father then kills each baby. An ironic twist occurs in the person of one of the man’s human wives who married him specifiAFA Journal • August, 1999 television Cable channel profile VH-1 sends morally mixed sigVH-1 is a cable channel for adult rock and rollers. According to Advertising Age, the 14year old music channel targets fans 18-49. That dictates that VH-1 features music and musicians as early as the1950s and as recent as this year’s stars. “Music first” is VH-1’s motto. The channel fulfills its watchword by presenting the songs, the artists and the history of rock and roll in a variety of formats including music videos, game shows, live concerts, biographies, movies and specials. VH-1’s programming contains far less objectionable content and edgy attitude than Viacom’s other music channel, MTV, target demographic: 12-24. (See AFA Journal 2/99.) However, in serving their daily dose of rock and roll, frequent reference to immoral behavior – particularly substance abuse and illicit sex – is unavoidable. On these issues VH-1 sends mixed signals. Often drug and alcohol abuse are portrayed as life-wrecking. At other times, however, stories of excess, including illicit sex, are given a knowing wink or chuckle. VH-1 also offers its share of sexual innuendo, off-color jokes, and bump and grind dancing. Language is occasionally objectionable, generally coming in the form of interviews with rock stars themselves. However, on a relative scale, the number of vulgarities is far less than many typical network sitcoms. VH-1’s highest rated original series is Behind the Music (BTM), an hour-long video biography of a rock star, legend or band. Many BTM installments follow a familiar, repetitive storyline: unknown artist achieves stardom, only to succumb to drugs and/or alcohol abuse and the trappings of fame. Other recurring elements include sexual immorality, divorce, misuse of money, exhaustion, mental illness, death, personal and/or professional tragedy, etc. The artist hits bottom, but later rises from the ashes to reestablish his or her career. Recent groups and stars who have been profiled on BTM include shock rockers Alice Cooper and Ozzy Osbourne; rappers Vanilla Ice, MC Hammer and TLC; bisexual ’80s pop star Boy George; hedonistic heavy metal bands Kiss and Metallica; former teen idols Andy Gibb, Leif Garrett and David Cassidy; and divas Cher, Bette Midler and Donna Summer. A redeeming installment of BTM is the story AFA Journal • august, 1999 of country/pop star Shania Twain. Early in her career the Canadian native gave up a budding singing career to provide for her siblings after the tragic death of her parents. She is frequently shown paying tribute to her parents and family. Though drugs and alcohol are not part of her story, Twain’s songs, stage act and image include significant sexual content. Other original VH-1 productions which profile artists are Legends and Where Are They Now? On Pop-Up Videos, factoid bubbles about the artist and song appear during a music video. Almost every sequence of factoids contains a sexual innuendo or joke. For example, during a video by former Partridge Family star David Cassidy, viewers are told that at the height of his popularity, he “made it” with a different girl whenever he could find 20 minutes. VH-1 also runs heavy metal and hard rock videos on their late night Rock Show. In recent months, VH-1 has aired The History of Rock and Roll series, a documentary mixing clips of performances with interviews of musicians. During the Guitar Gods installment, guitarist Paul Stanley of Kiss referred to the guitar as an “extension of what you’ve got between your legs.” Rocker Eddie VanHalen described his early band experiences as sexually rewarding: “I got all the [bleeped out] I wanted.” The episode included several other incidents of highly objectionable language and references. Rock and Roll Jeopardy is a game show which mimics the TV classic, except that all questions are related to rock music. Another music trivia show is entitled Street Games. On Storytellers songwriters perform before a live audience and reveal the inspiration for their compositions. Language and content on Storytellers is occasionally objectionable. A recent featured artist, Tom Waits, sang a song entitled Chocolate Jesus. Artists perform live on Hard Rock Live, and special VH-1 produced concerts. Special event programming on VH-1 has included The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and the VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards. The channel also offers full length music oriented movies such as That Thing You Do, Blues Brothers 2000 and others. Major advertisers: Toyota, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (Clairol), Hyundai Johnson & Johnson Chrm. Ralph S. Larsen One Johnson & Johnson Plaza New Brunswick, NJ 08933 Phone: 732-524-0400 Fax: 732-214-0332 Website: www.jnj.com Products: Imodium A-D, Johnson’s baby products, Reach toothbrush, Shower to Shower body powder, Sine-Aid, Tylenol PepsiCo, Inc. Chrm. Roger Enrico 700 Anderson Hill Road Purchase, NY 10577 Phone: 914-253-2000 Fax: 914-253-2070 Website: www.pepsico.com Products: Doritos, Lay’s and Ruffles chips, Mountain Dew, Rold Gold pretzels, Tropicana Toyota Motor Sales, USA Pres. Yoshio Ishizaka 19001 S. Western Ave. Torrance, CA 90509 Phone: 310-618-4000 Fax: 310-618-7820 Toll Free: 1-800-331-4331 Products: Lexus automobiles, Toyota motor vehicles AFA TV Codes AC Anti-Christian H Promotes homosexual agenda Profanity; the number followP ing the “P” is the number of times profanity is used in the program. Politically correct in dealing PC with an issue identified in the review Objectionable sexual content S (may include partial nudity) Substance abuse (drugs or SA alcohol) Violence (graphic or gratuV itous) Positive theme with no + objectionable elements (A good story told with profane language earns no commendation.) TV network ratings are indiTV cated in black. 15 Entertainment By Jim Delmont Film ratings merit ‘F’ President Clinton has a good point when he urged Hollywood to rethink its Motion Picture Association of America ratings and to get tougher with movies that feature violence. I say this because I made the same point in a recent column. When the American motion picture industry changed from a production code to a rating system back in 1965, no one at the time foresaw the rapid drop in standards that would result. Association spokesman Jack Valenti explained at the time that the new code would not change movies much but would allow Hollywood to do a realistic version of a Tennessee Williams play, for instance – labeled R, for mature audiences. The objective was not to change movies drastically, but to allow some room at the edges for more mature work. Unfortunately, movies went downhill fast. Within three to five years, violence, sex and profanity were common – and for more than 20 years now, the majority of films made each year have been R-rated. Worse, movies that would have drawn R ratings 20 years ago are now being rated PG-13. Movies that would have been Xrated are now rated R – my main gripe with the system. In general, puritanical America attacks sex with more enthusiasm than violence. When a rare mainstream film is rated X (NC-17 now), it is usually for sex or nudity, rarely for violence. As I pointed out recently here, many violent films of the past several decades deserve an X or NC-17 rating. That would have drastically restricted their circulation both in theaters and later in video. There also is too much profanity in movies. It actually detracts from the scripts, demeaning both story and characters. Hollywood itself can clean up its movies while still making hard hitting films.… Any intelligent person can tell the difference between gratuitous sex, violence and proJim Delmont is a movie critic for the Omaha World Herald. Reprinted with permission of Omaha World Herald. 16 fanity and what is necessary for a realistic movie that deals honestly with the dark side of human nature. It is mostly a matter of common sense and common decency. I would argue vigorously against censorship of what might be called “the fine arts” – books, live theater, art gallery showings, art films at festivals or on cable venues.… Also, the audiences for plays, art galleries and art films are generally sophisticated and well-educated – not likely to go out and destroy society because of something seen in a play or at a gallery. Mass-audience entertainment is something else. Movies, TV shows, the Internet and pop music are seen and heard by tens of millions, including huge audiences of impressionable children and teenagers. Minimal standards of decency make sense for these larger venues – and that is one of the reasons we have the rating system for movies. Putting all the responsibility on parents may have made sense 40 years ago, but today a third of America’s children are in one-parent homes – and with welfare reform booming, that parent probably is at work when the children are watching Jerry Springer or something worse after school. All these ventures do practice censorship, including MTV, cable TV, network TV and movies (to avoid the NC-17 rating or to make the PG-13 rating if that will help at the box office). Newspapers and magazines practice censorship, including MTV, cable TV, network TV and movies (to avoid the NC-17 rating or to make the PG-13 rating if that will help at the box office). Newspapers and magazines practice self-censorship (the best kind). A tougher rating system – perhaps one not managed by Valenti, who is very cozy with Hollywood – would help. Valenti said recently that Natural Born Killers was based on the infamous murder spree by Nebraskan Charles Starkweather. But in fact, Killers was a gross distortion of the Starkweather events, glamorizing and glorifying two killers. It should have been rated X. Better yet, it shouldn’t have been made – but that would have required AFA Journal • August, 1999 family By William Raspberry How can families thrive? ■ A two-fold, common sense solution to social ills I can summarize in two sentences my prescription for combating the social problems that occupy so much of our time and attention these days: Restore the family. Renew the community. So much of what has gone wrong in America – homelessness, hopelessness, school failure, teen pregnancy – can be traced to the disintegration of the family structure and the loss of that affiliation we call community. Everybody knows it, but too many of us have been reluctant to talk straight about it. We know that children need intact families that include fathers, but we fear to say it lest we appear to be blaming hard-pressed single mothers for the very problems they are struggling to overcome. We know that families thrive best in cohesive functioning communities. Just listen to us as we get all dewy-eyed talking about how communities used to be. But we hesitate to make restoration of community a central part of our social policy – partly because we think it’s not possible and partly for fear that someone will accuse us of blaming the residents of dysfunctional communities for their own problems. But my purpose is not to assign blame but to encourage analysis that can lead the way to solutions. American families are in trouble, and the social problems that concern us tend to be worst where families are in the worst shape. And yet we are not likely to undertake policies that might restore family integrity so long as we persist in talking about the explosion of female-headed households as a mere change in lifestyle. Nathan and Julia Hare put it this way in their book, The Endangered Black Family: “There is nothing wrong with being a black female single-parent, and one rightfully makes the most of any situation in which she finds herself. But there is something William Raspberry, a Pulitzer Prize winning columnist, is syndicated by Washington Post. 18 wrong with why a black woman is so much more likely to experience the single-parent situation. “Also, there is something wrong with glorifying this problem instead of rising up to change it. People will speak here of ‘options,’ but forced or unintended options must be called by some other name.” That’s from a pair of radical black social scientists. Now hear this from white ethologist Phon Hudkins: “The family is the only social institution that is present in every single village, tribe or nation we know through history. It has a genetic base and is the rearing device for our species.” Or the conservative Richard John Neuhaus, editor of the Religion & Society Report: “Millions of children do not know, and will never know, what it means to have a father. More poignantly, they do not know anyone who has a father, or is a father…It takes little imagination to begin to understand the intergenerational consequences of this situation. It is reasonable to ask whether, in all of human history, we have an instance of a large population in which the institution of the family simply disappeared. It is reasonable and ominous, for the answer is almost certainly no. There is no historical precedent supporting the hope that the family, once it has disappeared, can be reconstituted.” It strikes me as it strikes these writers – as it struck Daniel Patrick Moynihan a quarter century ago – that children unlucky enough to be born into fatherless households may not be doomed, but they tend to be at serious disadvantage. A lot of our talk about family these days is driven by economic considerations. The biggest single category of poor Americans is the children of single mothers. Black families headed by husband and wife have, on average, three times the income of households headed by single white women. But I think it goes beyond the matter of having a second income to enhance the family budget or a second person to help with rearing the children. Our big danger is not that some families will be headed by single women. We’ve always had families headed by single women – whether divorced, widowed or never married. What is new is the loss of the sense that marriage is important. And when marriage stops being important, young men stop being as valuable as they might be, and then they become positively dangerous. Neither our communities nor our women will be as well off as they need to be until we learn how to solve the problems of our men. Some people who don’t understand what I’m talking about will think I am exalting men over women in some forlorn attempt to return to the old days when women knew their place and kept it. What I am trying to say is something quite different. Let me tell you what my secret agenda truly is. It is simply to return children to the center of things. While we are working out the roles for men and women in our society, and while individual men and women are working out their own private and intimate relationships, we need to keep clear that this whole marriage/bonding enterprise is not primarily about the gratification of men and women but about maximizing the life chances of children. Thus when I talk about my prescription – restoring families and renewing commuAFA Journal • August, 1999 nities – it is the children I have in mind. Time was, when we spoke of children in trouble, we meant primarily inner-city black and brown children: the drop-outs, the dope dealers, the gang bangers, the social menaces. Now the phrase “children in trouble” evokes not the ghettos and barrios but places like Paducah and Pearl and Jonesboro and Springfield. You will note a few things about the violence those place names evoke. They all involve white people, which is to say they remind us that it is not minorities but Americans who are in trouble. They all involve children, though their victims are boys and girls, men and women – a reminder that when our children are in trouble, we’re all in trouble. And the shooters are all boys, which should remind us of what we already know: our children are in trouble, but our boys are in the most trouble of all. And I think they are in trouble because they are losing their sense of a valued place in our society. As with the problems Moynihan pointed out 30 years ago, the symptoms of placelessness first manifest themselves in the most vulnerable populations, but they soon spread through all populations. It makes sense to me, therefore, to do what we can to reclaim our boys and men and return them to their socially useful roles – as husbands, as fathers, as protectors of families and defenders of communities. When I was a boy growing up in rural Mississippi, I considered myself a pretty smart fellow. Then came the time when I decided I must be brilliant. That was the day I thought I had caught God Himself in a mistake. You see, we had been fooling around with some wild bees, and we made the discovery that when a bee stings you, it dies. And I thought: What sort of defense mechanism is that? This surely has to be some sort of design error, to give an animal a defense system that he can employ only at the cost of his life. When I went to tell my father about my discovery, that wise and patient man explained to me that a bee doesn’t sting you to protect itself; a bee stings you to protect the hive. For bees, the hive is the thing, and the baby bees are the focus of the hive. That is the way bees perpetuate themselves. That’s the way it used to be in our neighborhoods, where children used to be AFA Journal • august, 1999 The Charitable Gift Annuity Responsible and wise giving is the challenge facing men and women of faith who wish to be trustworthy stewards of the financial resources God has given them. A charitable gift annuity is one way AFA supporters can practice good stewardship, contributing to the long term security of AFA while assuring for themselves a guaranteed, fixed income for the rest of their lives. It is a wise way to give! A charitable gift annuity to AFA works like this: you (the annuitant) transfer an asset (securities, cash, land, mutual fund shares, etc.) to AFA. In return, AFA makes payments to you for life, or to you and another annuitant for both lives. Here is an example of how a charitable gift annuity might work: Bill is 78, his wife Sarah is 75. They both desire to be good stewards recognizing God as owner of all their wealth. Bill and Sarah decide that at their death, they want AFA to receive around $25,000. A gift annuity allows them to make their gift today without giving up the use of their money and provide income for both Bill and Sarah until the last survivor goes to be with the Lord. Here’s an illustration of how a $25,000 two-life gift annuity funded with a check would work: • Tax deductions: $8975 in the year the gift annuity is established • Annual payout: $1850 (7.4%) • Tax free amount: $1039.72 for life expectancy • Effective payout rate: 10% • Monthly payout: $159.17 • At death of last surviving annuitant, balance transfers to AFA avoiding probate, adminstrative expenses and estate taxation. For more information or a personal illustration, complete and return Name_____________________________________________________________________ __ 2nd name if Two-Life Gift ____________________________________________________ Address ____________________________________________________________________ City/State/Zip ______________________________________________________________ Telephone ( _____ ) ________ ________ Date(s) of Birth ___/___/___ 2nd person ___/___/___ ➤ I am interested in funding an annuity in the amount of: ❑ $5,000 ❑$10,000 ❑ $30,000 ❑$50,000 ❑$ __________ ➤ I plan to fund my annuity with ❑ personal check ❑ Transfer of stocks and bonds ➤ I wish to receive my income payments ❑ annually ❑ semi-annually ❑ quarterly ❑ monthly (Requires $25,000 minimum for monthly income option) ➤ For Deferred Annuities Only: Please defer my payment until I reach age ______ . (Income can be deferred to any age beyond 50.) Mail to: AFA Foundation • P. O. Box 3933 • Tupelo, MS 38803 19 Homosexuality By Jerry Bergman, Ph. D Homosexual orientation: does it really ex■ A psychologist challenges popular thinking In my decade of working at various psychology clinics, I have queried all of my “homosexual” clients as to if they were erotically attracted to the opposite sex. All of them said that they were. I have always found it intriguing that virtually all of those “gays” that I have known did not fit the common definition of homosexual – a person sexually attracted only to his own sex – but all were to some degree bisexual. Many were once married and most had sexual encounters with the opposite sex. Furthermore, Masters and Johnson’s scientific studies of both persons labeled homosexual and lesbian have found that both groups consistently listed heterosexual encounters as highly erotic, actually at the top of a list of their erotic fantasies. In one study, both male and female homosexuals listed a “heterosexual encounter” as their third most common sexual fantasy! *(McCutcheon, 1989). This finding also supports the conclusion that most persons labeled gay are, at best, in varying degrees bisexual – especially in view of the fact that many also have heterosexual relations, and many were once married and had families. The generalization that exclusively homosexual persons who have no attraction for, and are sexually repulsed by the opposite sex is thus erroneous. Only homosexual behavior exists. Studies of adolescents find that many young persons – 22% according to one study – involve themselves in homosexual behavior, especially in early adolescence (Chilman, 1983). Further, a large number of prison inmates and married males become involved in the so-called tea room trade which involves homosexual behavior (Humphreys, 1975). And none of these persons would define themselves as gay (Lockwood, 1980). Freud concluded that homosexuality was a stage that most boys grow out of, and that adults who involved themselves in homosexual behavior simply have never matured beyond this developmental stage. 20 This position once was the dominant view in the West. Greenberg (1988) concluded from his historical study that the “homosexual” category is a late-nineteenth-century invention. Prior to that time, people did not refer to “homosexuals” as a class of persons. homosexual exists. They simply reject, ignore or distort the enormous amount of empirical evidence against their position. Further, from a Biblical standpoint, it is not only homosexual behavior that is objectionable, but also much of the sexual behavior common among homosexuals. The generalization that exclusively homosexual persons who have no attraction for, and are sexually repulsed by the opposite sex is thus erroneous. Only homosexual behavior exists. The percent of the population that is exclusively homosexual has traditionally been placed at 10%, partly as a result of the now rejected Kinsey 1940s studies. Numerous new empirical studies reveal the number varies from .9% in Norway to 2.8% in the USA, indicating that cultural factors are likely very influential. Furthermore, according to a Minnesota adolescent health survey, only .6% of the boys and .2% of the girls surveyed identified themselves as “most of 100% homosexual,” .7% males and .8% females as bisexual, and 10.1% of the males and 11.3% of the females were “unsure.” This indicates that many individuals do not have a firm sexual orientation even as an adolescent, and reveals the importance of social and sexual experiences in development (Muir, 1993). Although many factors are involved, it is my experience that a person is not a prisoner of his or her sexuality and to some degree chooses a homosexual lifestyle (Bergman, 1981). A clear need exists to understand why people adopt this lifestyle in spite of the difficulties of doing so in most societies. The unfortunate factor in this debate is that it is very difficult to reason about this topic with those who advocate the idea that a “sexual orientation” called From a medical standpoint, male homosexual behavior is fraught with health dangers including infections, bleeding and disease transmission problems. Bell et al. found that 43% of white male homosexuals reported having sex with more than 500 partners, and a whopping 28% with over 1,000 partners. Consequently, studies reveal that homosexual behaviors produce a venereal disease rate as much as 22 times higher than the national average. The major anatomical problems with sodomy are generally not a problem in heterosexual relationships. Thus, the evidence from medical research supports the creationists’ design interpretation. The Biological Influences The claim is often made that those who involve themselves in homosexual behavior cannot help the way that they are, and are biologically attracted to the same sex, not the opposite sex. No gene causing homosexuality has yet ever been found, nor has any clear evidence of a biological basis been located (Satinover, 1997; Birke, 1981). LeVay concluded that the cytogenetic, endocrinological, or neuroanatomical See Homosexual on page 22 AFA Journal • August, 1999 ALABAMA Enterprise Carrollton (WALN) Ozark (WAQG) Selma (WAQU) Sheffield (WAKD) Troy 90.5 89.3 91.7 91.1 89.9 91.1 ARIZONA Fredonia Holbrook Mesa Winslow 89.1 90.3 89.1 91.3 ARKANSAS Arkadelphia Bentonville Blytheville Clarksville Crossett El Dorado Fayetteville Forrest City Fort Smith (KAOW) Jonesboro (KAOG) Piggott Pocahontas Prescott Sheridan (KANX) Warren 91.9 88.1 91.5 89.9 91.7 91.9 90.1 91.5 88.9 90.5 88.1 91.1 88.9 91.1 91.3 CALIFORNIA *Quincy (KNLF) COLORADO Trinidad 95.9 91.7 FLORIDA *Florida City (WMFL) 88.5 *Key Largo (WMKL) 91.7 GEORGIA Americus Cordele Cuthbert Dublin *Griffin (WMVV) Waycross (WASW) ILLINOIS DeKalb (WWGN) Effingham Flora Kankakee Mt.Vernon (WAPO) Ottawa (WWGN) Pana Salem INDIANA *Greensburg (WAUZ) Michigan City Plymouth Vincennes Terre Haute (WAPC) 90.3 90.3 89.3 91.9 90.7 91.9 93.3 91.3 88.5 88.1 90.5 88.9 88.5 91.3 89.1 88.5 91.3 89.9 91.9 AmeriFamRadio KANSAS Arkansas City Beloit Enterprise 89.7 91.3 88.7 Great Bend 89.7 Hays 89.7 Independence (KARF)91.9 Marysville 91.7 Norton 91.5 Ottawa (KRBW) 90.5 Salina (KAKA) 88.5 Topeka (KBUZ) 90.3 Wichita (KCFN) 91.1 KENTUCKY Ashland 91.1 Campbellsville (WAPD) 91.7 *Central City (WMTA) 1380AM Mt. Sterling (WAXG) 88.1 LOUISIANA Alexandria (KAPM) 91.7 Jonesboro 89.7 Jonesville 91.9 Lafayette (KSJY) 90.9 Many (KAVK) 89.7 Monroe 94.9 *Russell Springs (WIDS) 570AM Ruston (KAPI) 88.3 St. Joseph 89.9 MINNESOTA Montevideo Windom Worthington 89.7 90.9 88.1 MISSISSIPPI Ackerman Brookhaven Cleveland (WDFX) Columbia Duck Hill (WAUM) Forest (WQST) Gulfport (WAOY) Hattiesburg (WAII) Laurel (WATP) McComb (WAQL) 96.9 90.5 98.3 90.9 91.9 92.5 91.7 89.3 90.7 90.5 IOWA Creston 90.9 Fairfield 88.7 Ottumwa 88.1 Sioux City (KAYA) 91.3 *Affiliate Station – may not carry all AFR programming. All stations listed are FM unless otherwise indicated. Natchez Oxford Starkville Tupelo (WAFR) Vicksburg West Point 91.1 101.3 88.9 88.3 93.3 96.9 MISSOURI *Birch Tree (KBMV) 1310AM Brookfield 91.5 Cabool 89.9 Kennett (KAUF) 89.9 Memphis 91.5 *Mountain Grove (KELE) 1360AM Park Hills 91.1 *Piedmont (KPWB) 1140AM Springfield (KAKU) 90.1 NEBRASKA Chadron Hastings Hubbard (KAYA) Valentine 89.3 91.7 91.3 89.3 NEW HAMPSHIRE *Manchester (WLMW) 90.7 Ahoskie Beaufort Mt. Airy New Bern (WAAE) Sanford 91.9 91.5 90.3 91.9 88.7 NORTH DAKOTA Devils Lake Harvey Jamestown Watford City 89.9 91.1 90.7 89.1 Williston 91.7 OHIO Martin’s Ferry Steubenville Shelby (WAUI) 91.1 88.9 88.3 OKLAHOMA Ada Ardmore Atoka Durant Elk City 88.7 91.9 91.7 89.3 91.9 Aberdeen Spearfish 90.1 90.1 TENNESSEE *Alcoa (WBCR) 1470AM Bristol 90.5 *Columbia (WMRB) 910AM Dyersburg 89.7 Hohenwald (WAUO) 90.7 Jackson (WAMP) 88.1 Lawrenceberg Milan Savannah Shelbyville Spencer Tullahoma (WAUT) Waynesboro 89.9 99.1 88.1 91.3 90.1 88.5 89.9 TEXAS Abilene (KAQD) Alpine Amarillo (KAVW) Big Spring Bonham Borger (KAVO) 91.3 90.9 90.7 91.5 91.1 91.5 Breckenridge Brownfield Crockett Dalhart Del Rio Dumas Hereford Huntsville (KAXF) Kermit Lamesa Levelland Lockhart Midland Morton Pampa (KAXH) Pecos Plainview Stephenville Van Horn Victoria 90.7 90.7 91.9 91.7 89.9 91.7 90.7 88.3 91.5 91.3 91.9 88.5 89.5 91.1 90.9 91.3 90.7 90.5 89.9 88.5 UTAH St. George 88.7 VIRGINIA Bristol Culpeper (WARN) Elkins (WBHZ) 90.5 91.5 91.9 WASHINGTON Sunnyside (KAYB) 88.1 WEST VIRGINIA Elkins (WBHZ) 91.9 WYOMING Gillette (KAXG) 89.7 Alberta, CANADA Three Hills (PBC) 89.9 from sea to shining NEW MEXICO *Carlsbad (KAMQ) 1240AM Clayton 91.3 Clovis (KAQF) 91.1 *Farmington (KPCL) 95.7 Hobbs 91.5 Las Vegas 90.3 Raton 90.1 NEW YORK Batavia NORTH CAROLINA 89.5 Idabel 91.9 Norman 89.3 *Okmulgee (KOKL) 1240AM Poteau (KARG) 91.7 Stillwater 89.7 Weatherford 90.5 OREGON Baker City Grants Pass (KAPK) 90.7 91.1 PENNSYLVANIA Franklin (WAWN) 89.5 *Youngsville (WTMV) 88.5 SOUTH DAKOTA Homosexual…from page 20 research has “largely failed to establish any consistent differences between homosexual and heterosexual individuals” (1991, p. 1034). Of the multi scores of studies that have searched for biological factors, the only ones done so far that indicate a biological cause have implicated abnormal hypothalamus development and hormonal imbalance (Bailey and Pillard, 1991). Unfortunately, the mass media often reports tentative studies as if they have proved beyond a doubt that homosexuality is biologically determined (Maddox, 1993). And all of these studies suffer from major methodological problems (Horgan, 1995). If LeVay’s research is valid, it indicates that homosexuality is caused by a biological pathology. LeVay found that the INAH 2 and 3 was much smaller in homosexuals compared to normal heterosexual males, indicating homosexually is caused by disease, hormone imbalance, or another abnormality. Disease and Homosexuality Many venereal and other diseases are far more a problem with homosexual than heterosexual behavior. For non-promiscuous couples who take proper cleanliness measures, the transmission of disease There’s a major league difference in AT&T and LifeLine long distance servicWhen AT&T talks about LEAGUE, they are not talking baseball. At the communications giant, LEAGUE means Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay and Transgendered United Employees – a group that has the enthusiastic support of the company. LEAGUE calls AT&T “THE company without closets!” LifeLine is in a different league. LifeLine is the Christian long distance company that was formed to fund God’s work. In fact, when you join the LifeLine team, 10% of your long distance bill can be given back to American Family Association. It’s easy to sign up. Simply make a free phone call to 1-800-684-3991 and tell the operator you want 10% of your long distance billing to go to AFA. The switch over is free and there is no loss of service. Then the next time AT&T calls to pitch their service, tell them you’ve caught a new vision – LifeLine. 1-800-684-3991 1-800-684-3991 22 among heterosexuals is extremely rare, and then usually almost always due to poor hygiene. As a group homosexuals are far more apt to have many diseases such as rare bowel diseases which are lumped together under the designation “gay bowel syndrome.” Estimates of their total infectious disease rate is about 10 times higher than that of the general population – not only venereal diseases, but also hepatitis B and others. Other common diseases include urethritis, viral herpes, pediculosis infestation and others (Rueda, 1982:52-53). One study indicated that one half of homosexuals eventually contract the colon disease parasitic amebiasis; and rectal gonorrhea, infectious hepatitis A, and amoebic colon infections are far higher among this population. In a summary of the biological research, Byne concluded “what evidence exists thus far of innate biological traits underlying homosexuality is flawed” (1994, p. 50). Even if a biological factor exists, it is a secondary question as to whether homosexual behavior is desirable or even acceptable. Change is admittedly difficult, but the level of success in treating other sexual disorders such as pedophilia is also extremely low. The latter individuals also claim that they have strong attractions for young children, and have minimal or no attraction to adults of the opposite sex. In the cases where homosexual behavior is precipitated by developmental abnormalities, the focus should be on understanding the abnormality and developing ways of treating or preventing it. The homosexual movement vigorously opposes this response, producing the almost unparalleled situation in which, assuming the biological factors are confirmed, a clear pathology or abnormality is defended as desirable, and efforts to correct this resisted or even condemned. Summary The extant empirical research supports the hypothesis that homosexuality is due either to social or physiological pathology. This supports the conclusion that the creator designed a sexual response which fulfills the goal to reproduce, multiply and bond, and that other sexual responses are not designed, but are the result of patho*Reference notes to this article are available. Call 662-844-5036, X215. AFA Journal • August, 1999 [email protected] The eternal battle: Who shall be BY TIM WILDMON • American Family Association Vice President Fall will soon be here. Which means what? Come on, what happens in the fall? I’m talking the thing that defines the season? The clock is running out on you (a hint). Okay, I can’t believe I have to tell you. The correct answer of course is: FOOTBALL. For me, especially college football. The ol’ pigskin will be flying through the crisp cool air and Americans will fill campus stadiums all over the country to cheer on their favorite team. One of the reasons I enjoy football – and other sports – is that there is always a final outcome. For all the talk and fanfare, one thing is certain. Three hours after the two teams take the field you are going to find out who wins and who loses. When the clock says 0:00, one team walks off the field feeling great and the other walks off depressed. One set of fans is going to be cheering and the other school’s fans are going to have a sick feeling for awhile – at least until they start getting ready for the next game. In contrast, the battle in which the American Family Association is engaged – the culture war – never ends. We win a skirmish and two more break out. There are times you want to give up and quit. Recently Pat Buchanan said: Ultimately, our culture war is about one question: Is God dead, or is God king? For centuries this issue has been critical. If God is dead, as Nietzsche wrote, everything is permissible, and eventually, one will logically reach the conclusion of Paris’ student radicals of 1968: The only thing that is forbidden is to forbid. But if God is king, men have a duty to try, as best they can, to conform their lives to His will and shape society in accordance with His law. Defection and indifference are not options open to us. We are commanded to fight… For the culture war is at its heart a religious war about whether God or man will be exalted, whose moral beliefs shall be enshrined in law, and what children shall be taught to value and abhor. With those stakes, to walk away is to abandon your post in time of war… Perhaps T. S. Eliot was right when he said there are no lost causes, because there are no won causes. The struggle is eternal. I think that sentiment motivates most of us who are concerned AFA Journal • august, 1999 about what kind of country we are leaving our children and grandchildren. We care. It matters. We hear a lot of talk about our environment and how we need to take care of nature for future generations. No doubt about that. But we hear far less about the consequences of polluting our moral environment. Recently AFA launched a major effort to help clean up one part of our moral environment – the Internet – with American Family Online (AFO), our new full-service AFA-sponsored Internet service provider. With the development of the Internet a whole new world of information became available to anyone who had access to a computer and modem. It is literally changing the way we communicate, both personally and in business. But as with most advances in technology, there is a very dark side to the Internet. (Did you know that there are over 10 million pornography sites on the Internet? And another 1000 go on-line everyday.) We receive stories every day of people, sometimes children, running into hard core pornography on the world wide web. The number of men and boys hooked on this stuff is tragic. But now families all over the nation can be protected from the objectionable content on the Internet. With AFO, objectionable and harmful material is filtered out before it gets to your home. And our porn blocking software can’t be overridden with a password. Local dial-up numbers are available in over 1,100 communities across America. If you’re already online, you can get a list of cities at www.afo.net. Or you can call AFO at 1-888-817-9314. When it comes to the Internet, it’s better to be safe than sorry. But when it comes to third down and 10 yards to go, it’s better to pass than run the ball. But that’s another story. __________________________________________________ Tim and Mark Wildmon will host an 11-day tour of the Holy Land and Greece, including one full day cruise to the islands of Porus, Aegina and Hydra. The tour departs New York City on March 15, 2000. For a free brochure about the tour : Holy Land Tour, c/o Tim Wildmon, American Family Association, P. O. Drawer 2440, Tupelo, MS 38803 or 601-844-5036 X228 or [email protected] 23 the gospel in action AFA Journal • august, 1999 Community meets Manson fans with message of Christ’s love ■ Concert goers get pizza instead of protests When shock-rocker Marilyn Manson was scheduled to play Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on April 28, the climate was ripe for a confrontation, since only a few days earlier the band’s music had been linked to the Columbine High School shootings. According to Mark Forstrom, Youth Pastor at New Covenant Bible Church, a local movement had begun to oppose the concert with pickets and protests. Local law enforcement and media seemed to be poised for an ugly scene. “The outlook was grim,” Forstrom wrote in an “official praise report” after the concert. Then something amazing happened. Through E-mail exchanges “…another local movement suddenly sprang to life – that the only way to truly change our moral climate [is] to soften hard hearts. (The hearts of Manson fans have been hardened by their perception that Christians are mean-spirited, hateful, and judgmental.) Thus, the idea was birthed to unravel that stereotype by encouraging Christians to show the pure love of Christ to these fans in tangible ways.” As the concert day arrived, tension filled the community, Forstrom said. “Some [Manson] fans had actually expressed being fearful of going downtown because of what the “Christian freaks” might do to hurt or harass them.…” But what happened surprised nearly everyone. “Scores of Christians from churches all over Linn County and as far away as Des Moines (two hours away) converged on the sidewalks outside the Five Seasons Center, to do two positive things: pray, and to show unmistakable love,” Forstrom reported. People prayed in huddles on the sidewalk. Others conducted prayer walks around the arena. Churches around the city held special prayer meetings. Youth groups met for special times of prayer. People all over the U. S. were praying. As many as 20 pastors and Christian leaders went into the 24 concert arena to pray.…” Meanwhile outside the concert hall, Christians gave away over 100 pizzas, 1200 drinks and candy to fans standing in line. A local pastor told a newspaper reporter, “We want the kids here to know not all Christians are judgmental or hate-mongers. Our desire is…to reach out to them with the love of Christ and to let them know we care about them.” Forstrom said that a local youth group even collected money to pay for parking fees of the Manson fans. “We’re Christian and we’d like to show you God’s love by paying for your parking tonight,” they would tell concert goers. The testimony was powerful, Forstrom said. “Many [Manson fans] showed a ‘this does not compute’ look as they scratched their heads in bewilderment,” he wrote. At least three people came to faith in Christ. Inside the concert arena, Forstrom writes that God was at work as well. “After only an hour, Manson abruptly ended the concert early. During his Nazi/antichrist stage set, he suddenly flew into a rage: he threw his microphone to the ground, knocked the drum set off its platform, and stormed off the stage, never to return!… The crowd shouted, ‘Manson, Manson, Manson,’ but he never returned…. “…News reports say he went into an absolute rage when he saw a large smiley face on a stage prop that had been placed by one of his own crew members, presumably as a joke on the last concert of the tour. Some fans then became so angry with him [for] cutting short the concert that a riot erupted.… In the end the police had to use riot control tactics to bring order and 23 of them were arrested over this incident….” Forstrom said he received over 400 encouraging E-mails after the concert. Comments included: “I have never been prouder to be in the body of Christ than I was this last week. Praise God!” “Jesus affected people by His love, and so should we. I surely have been convicted about my attitude towards non-Christians.” “…if we, as the church will clearly communicate the love of Christ wherever we American Family Association P.O. Drawer 2440 Tupelo, Mississippi 38803 Internet websites www.afa.net www.afr.net www.afo.net Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 36 Gordonsville, VA change service requested VERY IMPORTANT: If your mailing address has changed because of the 911 program, please send AFA your correct address. The U.S. Postal Service will not send us your address correction nor forwardAFA your Journal after one year. Journal • August, 1999
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