World Family Policy Center Newsletter
* News relative to protecting the family worldwide *
Volume
3 Issue 36 - October 12, 2004
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Quote of the Day:
"Be wary, therefore, when some demand
public
tolerance for whatever their private indulgences are!"
—
Neal A. Maxwell
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Today’s Contents:
A. Featured Articles:
1.
Safe-sex activists oppose abstinence-only texts in Texas
2.
California Official Rules on Gay Marriage
Related
Article: Employees urged to support homosexual agenda
Related Article: Gay Marriage: A
Campaign Wedge Issue
Related
Article: LA Judge Throws Out Gay
Marriage Ban
3.
Japanese schools use computer chips to keep tabs on children
4. Focus
on the Family reaches out to Hispanics
5. New
CrossCurrents Data Brief On Early School Success
and
Child Well-being!
B. Coming Events
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FEATURED ARTICLES
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1. Safe-sex activists oppose
abstinence-only texts in Texas
By George Archibald
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
October 12, 2004
Texas education officials and activists on all sides
of the sex-education debate are battling over the adoption of new health
textbooks for the state's 7,800 public schools.
Texas law
enacted in 1995 is emphatic: "Any course materials and instruction
relating to human sexuality, sexually-transmitted diseases, or human
immunodeficiency virus or acquired immune deficiency syndrome ... must present
abstinence from sexual activity as the preferred choice of behavior in
relationship to all sexual activity for unmarried persons of school age."
But Planned
Parenthood Federation of America lobbyists and safe-sex advocates are fighting
against middle- and high-school textbooks that teach the benefits of sexual
abstinence instead of advocating condom use by sexually active teenagers.
To read entire article:
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20041012-123417-4413r.htm
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2. California Official Rules on Gay Marriage
October 8, 2004
By Lisa Leff, Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO - Laws limiting marriage to a man and a
woman do not run afoul of California's constitution, Attorney General Bill
Lockyer declared Friday in a long-awaited legal opinion that sought to avoid
offending either side in the gay marriage debate.
In answering two lawsuits seeking to put California on
par with Massachusetts, where gay marriage is legal, Lockyer said it was up to
voters or the Legislature to decide whether to change "the common and
traditional understanding" of matrimony that "pre-dates the founding
of this state or nation."
"There is simply no deeply rooted tradition of
same-sex marriage in California or in any other state," he said, while
acknowledging that "committed and loving relationships between two
individuals deserve recognition under California law."
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041009/ap_on_re_us/gay_marriage_6
Related Article: Employees urged to
support homosexual agenda
Bank directs workers to display rainbow triangle to
combat 'homophobia'
October 6, 2004
WorldNetDaily.com
The largest bank in Canada has directed its employees
to "be supportive" of "gay, lesbian and bisexual issues"
and to show that support by displaying the homosexual movement's rainbow
triangle symbol in the workplace.
The Royal Bank of Canada made the statements in the
first edition of a new newsletter called "Rainbow Space." [.pdf
version] The publication is meant to highlight "the importance of sexual
preference as one of RBC's primary diversity elements." In making the
appeal to its employees, the bank urged them to display a rainbow-colored triangle
sticker on their "desk, cubicle or office."
"Voluntarily displaying this sticker shows gay,
lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered co-workers that they can feel safe with
you, and shows unsupportive co-workers that you won't tolerate
homophobia," states the newsletter.
The Canada Family Action Coalition characterized the
directive as "discrimination and intolerance."
To read entire article:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40771
Related Article: Gay Marriage: A Campaign Wedge Issue
October 05, 2004
By Peter Brownfeld
WASHINGTON — Editor's note: This article is the third
in a series on issues in the 2004 presidential campaign.
Gay marriage is a wedge issue that many voters care
about, and for some heading to the polls on Nov. 2, it is the key issue. If the
election is decided by a razor-thin margin, the candidates' stark differences
on gay marriage (search) could be the reason for victory or defeat.
President Bush wants a constitutional amendment
barring gay marriage; John Kerry wants to leave the decision up to the states.
Bush's position has helped solidify his position among Christian conservatives,
and his political operatives say they hope it helps boost turnout among this voting
bloc. But gay Republicans and others in the community vow Bush will lose a
significant number of the gay votes he received in 2000.
To read entire article:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134442,00.html
Related Article: LA Judge Throws Out Gay Marriage Ban
October 05, 2004
BATON ROUGE, La.
— A state judge Tuesday threw out a Louisiana constitutional amendment
banning gay marriage (search), less than three weeks after voters
overwhelmingly approved it.
District Judge William Morvant (search) said the
amendment was flawed as drawn up by the Legislature because it had more than
one purpose: banning not only gay marriage but also civil unions.
Anti-gay marriage groups expressed outrage, and
attorneys vowed to appeal.
"We have judges acting in arrogance to usurp the
actions of the Legislature and deny the voters of Louisiana who voted
overwhelmingly to support the protection of marriage," said Tony Perkins,
president of the Family Research Council in Washington.
To read entire article:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134545,00.html
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3. Japanese schools use computer chips to keep tabs on children
Sep 28, 2004
TOKYO (AP) - Cutting class just got harder but schools
are safer thanks to computer chips that help track students, Japanese officials
say.
Some schools here this month began trial runs in which
students carry chips that have tiny antennae and can be traced by radio, with
some of the kids attaching the tags to their backpacks. The chips send signals
to receivers at school gates. A computer in the system shows when a student
enters or leaves.
School officials say rising concerns about student safety
prompted the idea.
"More than 70 per cent of parents supported the
trials . . .
To read entire article:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2153&ncid=2153&e=9&u=/cpress/20040928/ca_pr_on_od/japan_tagging_kids
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4. Focus on the Family reaches out to Hispanics
Launches 'Vote your Values' campaign to get voters to
polls
October 7, 2004
WorldNetDaily.com
Focus on the Family has launched a voter education
effort targeting Hispanic-Americans.
Using the slogan "I vote values," the
Hispanic Voter Education Initiative seeks to reach voters through
Spanish-speaking media, including TV, radio, print and the Web.
Yuri Mantilla is director of International Government
Affairs at Colorado-based Focus on the Family.
"We know that 93 percent of our people are
Christians," said Mantilla. "The two pillars of our organization are
family and faith. We want to serve our constituents by bringing them the tools
they need to vote their values, while mobilizing the Hispanic community into
the most powerful pro-family influence in the United States."
To read entire article:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40793
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5. New CrossCurrents Data Brief On Early
School Success
and Child Well-being!
Child Trends
October 7, 2004
A Statistical Portrait of Well-being in Early
Adulthood, a new CrossCurrents data brief from the Child Trends
DataBank, examines indicators of well-being and development among children
entering kindergarten and describes changes in these indicators as children
move from kindergarten to first grade. The brief pays particular attention to
differences in children's progress on these indicators by gender, race and
ethnicity, language spoken at home, disability status, and socioeconomic
status. For example, it reports that differences on these indicators among
socioeconomic and demographic subgroups of children not only persist between
kindergarten entry and the end of first grade, but also, in some instances, are
widening.
To view this data brief:
http://www.childtrendsdatabank.org/PDF/ECLS-K.pdf
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COMING EVENTS
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October 11-13, 2004
The Asian/Pacific Dialogue
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
A gathering of renowned speakers including
researchers, academicians, policy makers and programme implementers from more
than 20 countries in the Asia Pacific Region and other parts of the world will
be invited to present their views on family issues in preparation for The Doha
International Conference for the Family.
Some of the speakers who will be presenting at the
plenary session and workshops are:
Dr. Huang Wei-Jen, USA YM Dr. Tengku Aizan Tengku Abdul Hamid
Dr. Don Browning, USA Malaysia
Prof. Ilhan Yildiz, Turkey Dr. Euston Quah, Singapoer
Prof. Cristian Conen, Mexico Dr. Eun Ki Soo, South Korea
Mr. Paul Henderson, New Zealand Dr. Ekawati S. Wahiuni, Indonesia
Dr. Gavin Jones, Singapore Dr. John Keown, UK
Dr. John Harvey, USA
Who should attend:
Researchers and academicians
Policy analysts and programme implementers
Social Services professionals and Family experts
Counsellors and Educators
Representatives of social and community support groups
Members of the community committed to family issues
To register online: www.lppkn.gov.my/apfd
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November 29-30, 2004
The Doha International Conference for the
Family
Doha, Qatar
The Doha International Conference for the Family
follows upon the
celebration of the International Year of the Family
and will be a
two-day conference in Doha, Qatar, under the patronage
of Her
Highness Sheikha Mouza Bint Nasser Al-Misnad., Consort
of His
Highness The Emir of Qatar and President of Supreme
Council for
Family Affairs, State of Qatar.
The conference represents an international assemblage,
bringing
together international VIPs, governmental and
non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), scholars, academicians, and
civil society
leaders who will be invited by the State of Qatar to
participate in
a family conference.
This conference will call upon all nations of
the world to restate the principles related to family
life embodied
in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to
adhere to
values and endeavor to promote the role of the family
as it is the
natural and fundamental group unit of society and is
entitled to
protection by society and state.
To register online: www.dicf.org.qa
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Note: The preceding article excerpts are highlights of
current events and
do not necessarily represent the views of the World
Family Policy Center
or Brigham Young University.
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Newsletter created and distributed by:
World Family Policy Center
J. Reuben Clark Law School
Brigham Young University
Managing Director:
Richard Wilkins
Executive Director:
A. Scott Loveless
Newsletter Editors: Joy S. Lundberg and Gary B.
Lundberg
If you have any articles, editorials, or papers you
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circulated through the WFPC News network, you may
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