World Family Policy Center Newsletter
*News relative to protecting the family worldwide*
Volume 7 Issue 163 - October 10, 2007
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Quote of the
Day: “Children have the best chance
for a normal
life by living with a mother
and a father, of different genders.
This ideal does not spring
from religion or prejudice. Common
sense dictates such.
Thousands of years in a lab of innumerable
cultures and faiths support
the proposition. . . . Marriage
exclusively
between a man and a woman is
a violation of no one’s civil rights.
Governments have uniformly
reached consensus on that limitation
for self-preservation
reasons. Those with biological
capabilities
for procreation warrant
special status for the role they will play
in preserving society by
repopulating it with responsible citizens[.]”
—Marianne M. Jennings, professor of legal and ethical studies, Arizona State University
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Today’s Contents:
A. Featured Scholar: Charles J. Reid,
Jr.
B. Featured News Articles
1. TV ad campaign attempts to sway the undecided on
same-sex marriage
2. Gay couple seeks divorce in home state
3. Latest TV Cold Case episode called 'bigoted' toward
Christians
4. Teen girls embrace a new fashion trend: modesty
Related
Article: Unhappy moms protest skanky dolls
C. Coming Events
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FEATURED SCHOLAR
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Charles J. Reid, Jr. Associate Professor of Law,
University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis, USA
The following is portion of the Introduction to the chapter by Charles
J. Reid, Jr. in the book The Family in the New Millennium, Vol. 2.
Marriage in the Western Legal Tradition: A Product of
Natural Law or a Creature of the State?
The propositions that marriage has a transcendent dimension and is the
product of natural law; that marriage come into being before the state itself
and is the foundation upon which state and society is constructed; and that
marriage consists of a series of interlocking rights and duties in which the
public has an interest and which the parties are not free contractually to
alter have been understood to be at the heart of legal definitions of marriage
for most of the last millennium of Western history.
Only in the last four decades has it been decisively asserted by the
courts that marriage is a creation of the state. Only in the last four decades
has natural law been derided as a source of marital obligation. Only in the
last four decades has the judiciary come to label as is irrational traditional
efforts to distinguish legally between the rights of married partners and the
rights of the unmarried in matters of responsibility for children or norms for
sexual conduct. The roots of these ideas
can be found as far back as the 1870's and 1880s, but they have carried the day
only in the last forty years.
To obtain a copy of The Family in the New Millennium, Vol. 2
contact Praeger Publishers, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06991.
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FEATURED NEWS ARTICLES
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1. TV ad campaign attempts
to sway the undecided on same-sex marriage
By Jesse Hamlin
San Francisco Chronicle,
October 9, 2007
A lovely brunette bride
breaks a heel on her way to the altar. A tree branch snags off her veil. Then a
grandma type sticks her cane out and trips the distressed bride as the groom
watches in dismay.
"What if you couldn't
marry the person you love?" reads the tagline to a 60-second TV spot that
begins airing in the Bay Area, Los Angeles and other major California markets
on Thursday. "Every day, gay and lesbian couples are prevented from
marrying. Support the freedom to marry."
That's the message of a new
multimillion-dollar educational campaign called Let California Ring, created by
the gay rights advocacy organization Equality California Institute in
association with dozens of other gay and civil rights groups. Cooked up by the
Seattle office of the advertising giant DDB Worldwide, the ad is a key element
in the effort to convince undecided Californians that couples of all sexual
orientations should have the right to affirm their love and commitment in a
legally sanctioned marriage.
The Ring campaign, which
includes a string of "house parties" around the state to help
"spark a million conversations" about the freedom to wed, is the
latest volley in the divisive national fight over gay marriage.
In the next few days, Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to veto a measure the state Legislature
passed last month that would allow same-sex marriages in California. He vetoed
a similar law two years ago, saying he was upholding "the will of the
people," referring to the landslide victory of Proposition 22, the 2000
ballot measure that says "only marriage between a man and woman is valid
and recognized in California."
Next year, the state Supreme
Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of banning same-sex marriage
in a case stemming from the invalidation of marriage licenses issued by the
city of San Francisco in 2004 under the aegis of Mayor Gavin Newsom.
"This campaign is about
changing the climate in California around this issue," Seth Kilbourn,
Equality California's political and policy director, said as he sat in his
upper Market Street office.
He cites polls showing
Californians almost evenly split on the issue. A 2000 poll by the Policy
Institute of California found that voters opposed same-sex marriage 55 to 38
percent; a poll by the same group last year showed a major shift: 48 to 46
percent.
This campaign is intended to
move the state "over the tipping point," Kilbourn said. "We
wanted to connect to the people of California on an emotional level, on a level
they can identify with."
To read entire article:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/09/MN8PSM5ES.DTL
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2. Gay couple
seeks divorce in home state
By Eric Tucker
Washington Times, October 9,
2007
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – A
lesbian couple married in Massachusetts should have the same right as
heterosexual couples to divorce in their home state of Rhode Island, lawyers
for the women told the state's highest court today.
Cassandra Ormiston and
Margaret Chambers were married in 2004 after same-sex "marriage"
became legal in Massachusetts. Last year, the couple filed for divorce in Rhode
Island.
Rhode Island law is silent on
the legality of same-sex "marriages."
If the women can't divorce in
Rhode Island, their lawyers said the only legal avenue available to them would
be for at least one to move to Massachusetts and live there long enough to
obtain a divorce.
"It is an absolutely
unfair burden," Ormiston said outside Rhode Island's Supreme Court.
"It is a burden no one else is asked to bear, and it is something I will
not do."
Lawyers for the women told
the Supreme Court the only question to consider was whether Rhode Island could
recognize a valid same-sex "marriage" from another state for the sole
purpose of granting a divorce petition.
To read entire article:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071009/NATION/110090092/1001
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3. Latest TV
Cold Case episode called 'bigoted' toward Christians
Allie Martin and Jody Brown.
OneNewsNow.com, October 5, 2007
The
Culture and Media Institute says Hollywood is trying to portray Christians who
practice abstinence as hypocritical, as Congress debates abstinence education.
In the most recent episode of
the CBS crime show Cold Case, supposedly devout Christian teenagers --
all member of Hearts Wait, an abstinence club -- were portrayed as sexually
active. Also, the young people were shown stoning a member of their group who
had joined their club shortly before her death. Supposedly the character was
attacked so the group's sins would remain secret.
The
Culture and Media Institute (CMI), an arm of the Media Research Center,
describes the episode as "a ham-handed attempt to influence this fall's
Congressional debate on abstinence education programs" by depicting
abstinence-only education as "useless, if not actively harmful" --
and "an exercise in bigoted, Christophobic fantasy." Kristen Fyfe, a
senior writer for CMI, says the program shows Hollywood has an agenda.
"Do
I think that the producers deliberately put this story on to coincide with that
debate? No. But definitely, part of the liberal agenda, part of Hollywood's
agenda, is all about sexualization of children," says Fyfe. "And
abstinence education, which is another context of this particular story, is not
something they are on board with."
In
the opening scene of the episode, a high school "health" teacher is
portrayed telling her class that school policy prevents her from telling them
about various methods of birth control and how they work. CMI calls it one of
several "gratuitous slaps at abstinence-only education," and notes
that Congress is currently debating funding for such programs.
To read entire article:
http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/10/latest_cold_case_episode_calle.php
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4. Teen girls
embrace a new fashion trend: modesty
BY HANNAH SAMPSON
Miami Herald, October 6, 2007
Andrea Chavarro, model and
beauty pageant winner, loves fashion. But the Pembroke Pines 14-year-old also
likes to dress modestly.
That's why she wanted to join
the South Florida chapter of a group called Pure Fashion, a program in its
second year locally that trains girls ages 14 to 18 to model -- with an
emphasis on modesty.
''It's like the answer to my
prayers,'' said Andrea, a freshman at Everglades High School who refuses to
accept modeling jobs that require her to wear revealing clothes.
''Right now she's a model,''
said Andrea's mother, Pilar Chavarro. ``But I want her to be a role model.''
As body-flaunting starlets
like Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan fall from grace, a move
toward modesty is getting its own attention.
Pure Fashion, based in
Atlanta with more than 20 chapters throughout the United States and
internationally, is only one example of the push toward wholesome but stylish
clothing.
''The fashions have become so
much more risqué and provocative over the last 10 years,'' said Brenda Sharman,
Pure Fashion's national director. She said everything from the pouty Bratz
dolls to Hollywood celebrities are portraying women as sex objects.
''I think a lot of women are
seeing so much of it nowadays and they're saying enough is enough,'' she said.
``This is really not elevating the place of women in our culture and our
world.''
To read entire article:
http://www.miamiherald.com/tropical_life/story/261173.html
Related
Article: Unhappy moms protest skanky dolls
By Karina Bland
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 8, 2007
Moms are hunting through toy
aisles for more wholesome-looking dolls, concerned that the scantily clad Bratz
dolls with their Party Palace and Magic Make-up Studio are sending their daughters
the wrong message about how they should dress and act.
With their heavily made-up
faces, short shorts and halter tops, Bratz are the No. 2 best-selling dolls in
the country, just behind Barbie, but creeping up on her with their own lines of
clothing, school supplies, video games and, most recently, a live-action movie
playing in theaters.
Moms are not happy about it.
"I don't want my
daughter viewing herself that way," says Gloria Baca of Tempe, who has
steered her daughter, now 10, away from Barbie and Bratz in favor of an
American Girl doll by Mattel named Josefina.
Discerning moms are buying
dolls that are hip-looking but without the fishnet stockings and crop tops. And
they're finding a growing number of more-wholesome dolls to choose from.
"There is definitely a
backlash against this girls-gone-wild syndrome. Parents are asking, 'Do I
really want this for my daughter?' " says Len Simonian, whose
award-winning line of preteen fashion dolls, Only Hearts Club, actually looks
like girls and does the things that girls do - dance (not on a platform in a
Party Palace), ride horses, have sleepovers and take care of pets.
To read entire article:
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1008dolls1010.html
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COMING EVENTS
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NINTH WORLD
FAMILY POLICY FORUM
July 7 - 9, 2008
Provo, Utah
Sponsored by the World Family Policy Center, Brigham Young
University. Participation and attendance
at the Forum is by invitation only. For
further information, contact Sarah Stewart
801-422-5192
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Note: The Featured Articles 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
(www.worldfamilypolicy.org)
J. Reuben Clark Law School
Brigham Young University
Acting Managing Director: A. Scott Loveless
Newsletter Editors: Joy S.
Lundberg and Gary B. Lundberg
If you have any articles, editorials, or papers you would like
circulated through the WFPC News network, you may submit them to
lundberg@lawgate.byu.edu
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