Christian News from Christians Unite.

[Shammu]

ADF Hails Judgment Upholding Street Preachers' First Amendment Rights

by Ed Thomas
May 12, 2006

(AgapePress) - - A federal district court judge has ruled that actions designed to prevent two Christians from preaching and proselytizing near a homosexual event in a Pennsylvania city park were unconstitutional restrictions of free speech. The declaratory judgment follows a jury's similar finding last December regarding one of the men's subsequent arrest during a 2003 "Pridefest" event in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Prior to the arrest of Pastor Jim Grove, he and Repent America leader Michael Marcavage were prevented from making contact with or preaching to people entering Riverfront Park for the Pridefest celebration while they were inside a permitted festival area that was not being used at the time. Police also tried to enforce an imaginary 50-foot no-speech zone against the two men to keep them away from the homosexual event.

Alliance Defense Fund-affiliated attorney Leonard Brown represents Grove and the Christian organization to which he belongs, Worldwide Street Preachers Fellowship. The lawyer says U.S. District Judge William Caldwell of the 3rd Judicial Circuit ruled that both actions by the police were violations of the Christians' free-speech rights.

"Our clients were outside of the confined area," Brown points out, "in an area of the park that people were using like people normally use a park -- to walk their dogs, to ride their bikes, to jog -- and the police kicked them out because of the content of their message. So that's what the judge said was unconstitutional."

The outcome in this case, Worldwide Street Preachers Fellowship v. Reed, is important to Christians who want to witness at Pridefest and other future events in the park, the ADF-allied attorney asserts. Hopefully, he says, the judge's ruling has helped to "seal the deal" legally on a religious free-speech victory.

There are two parts to the ruling, Brown explains. "We had a jury trial in December, where a jury found the two officers had arrested Pastor Grove in violation of the First Amendment," he notes. "The second part was asking the court for an injunction and declaration, as a matter of law, that what the city was doing violated the Constitution."

The ADF-member litigator says he and his clients are pleased that the court correctly recognized the unconstitutionality of the Harrisburg officials' actions. "Mr. Marcavage and Mr. Grove's right to free speech in Riverfront Park and elsewhere can no longer be hindered by the city's restrictive ordinance," he says.

"Christian speech should not be treated differently than any other kind of speech," Brown insists. He says the ruling in this case clearly shows that other Harrisburg officials violated basic constitutional guarantees when they had a city police officer stop Groves and Marcavage from speaking in the vicinity of the Pridefest celebration.

ADF has won major decisions in two other similar free-speech cases in separate federal districts this year. Brown believes those court victories may have helped to set a precedent for the ruling in the case involving Pastor Groves. The attorney says he hopes this latest win will put an end to any policy of discrimination against public street preachers by the city of Harrisburg.

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[Shammu]

Le Moyne College Condemned for Pulling Student Newspaper's Adviser

by Jim Brown
May 12, 2006

(AgapePress) - - A Catholic college in New York State is being accused of unjustly punishing a student newspaper and its faculty adviser for criticizing the school. A spokesman with the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) says the adviser's dismissal by Le Moyne College in Syracuse reflects a growing trend on U.S. campuses toward administrative control of student press.

Professor Alan Fischler had served as faculty adviser for Le Moyne's student newspaper, The Dolphin, ever since he was chosen by its staff in 1996. Also, just last year he wrote a column for the paper, voicing disapproval over the college's dismissal of graduate education major Scott McConnell after he penned a paper expressing his conservative views.

Le Moyne has now "released" Fischler from his position with The Dolphin, reportedly telling him the school wants a "more hands-on" adviser. The professor, who continues to teach at the college, will be replaced by a faculty adviser selected by the administration, a move that has prompted a strike by the student staff of the campus newspaper in protest.

Greg Lukianoff, president of FIRE, feels Le Moyne is trying to punish The Dolphin staff for criticizing the school's actions in the Scott McConnell matter. FIRE brought public attention to McConnell's case last year, after the school kicked the degree candidate out of its teacher education program for writing a paper advocating corporal punishment and opposing multiculturalism.

Lukianoff believes Fischler has become a scapegoat in Le Moyne's attempt to suppress criticism or dissent from The Dolphin. However, the FIRE spokesman observes, "You're not a very effective student paper if you can't be critical of the university -- particularly one that did something as outrageous as Le Moyne did last year, flatly expelling someone because of his beliefs."

The dismissal of The Dolphin's faculty adviser is part of a rising trend, Lukianoff contends. "We've seen this on a number of campuses," he says, "and it's in violation of what a faculty adviser to a student newspaper has always been, or at least has been for decades now."

Ordinarily, the free-speech advocate points out, the faculty adviser is meant to be "someone that the student paper can go to and ask for advice on professionalism [or] on grammar and spelling." But in most cases, he insists, these advisers "don't have power. They don't have editorial power over the student paper."

The national organization of student newspaper advisers, College Media Advisers (CMA), has sanctioned Le Moyne for attempting to censor The Dolphin. In a May 3 statement, the group said the censure against the school "serves as a warning ... that Le Moyne fails to value the exercise of free speech and the value of a free press on the college campus." FIRE has joined CMA in condemning the school's actions.

Lukianoff says Le Moyne's dismissal of Fischler as newspaper adviser is only the latest example of a pattern of increasing university control over student media. The president of FIRE warns that, if organizations and individuals do not take a stand in opposition to this encroachment, independent student media may become a thing of the past.

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[Shammu]

Virginia County Giving Cowboy Church a Rough Ride

by Ed Thomas
May 12, 2006

(AgapePress) - - A farmer in Bedford County, Virginia, has received a notice of zoning violation from his jurisdiction for allowing a "cowboy church" to hold services inside a barn on his property. In response, the religious-freedom advocate law firm Liberty Counsel has warned County officials of the farmer's basis for a federal lawsuit.

Garland Simmons allows The Cowboy Church of Virginia to hold a service every Thursday night in a barn on his 900-acre property. But a recent notice from Bedford County says the gathering is a code violation because Simmons' farm is not zoned for religious services and permits cannot even be issued to allow them. Simmons has 30 days to appeal -- but the only response thus far has been a letter from Liberty Counsel, written on behalf of the church's pastor, Raymond Bell.

Mat Staver, president and general counsel of that legal group, says the County policy targeting religious use, but allowing any other kind of barn activity, violates federal law.

"You can apparently use barns for all kinds of things. You can use a barn to have a dance to the tunes of Toby Keith or Reba," he suggests, "but a church service, reciting the Psalms of David or praise and worship with Casting Crowns, as an example, [is] prohibited."

Specifically, says Liberty Counsel, the County is violating the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, often referred to as RLUIPA. Staver says the measure was passed by Congress in 2000, just because of such indiscriminate prohibitions against religious gatherings.

"What we found leading up to that Act is that churches were having discriminatory zoning laws applied against them all over the country," the attorney explains. "Some municipalities were saying that churches could not even locate, you couldn't have worship in your home -- or if you already were located, you couldn't expand your ministry. So, as a result, the RLUIPA law ... was passed."

The letter, which alleges the County is also violating Simmons' First Amendment rights, demands officials withdraw the notice of violation and threatens a possibly federal lawsuit. The County, says Staver, is "treading on unconstitutional ground."

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[Shammu]

Compilation a Valuable Resource for Learning to Share the Gospel

by Allie Martin
May 12, 2006

(AgapePress) - - An Alabama-based evangelist is trying to help Christians become better equipped to carry out the Great Commission.

Scott Dawson is president of the Scott Dawson Evangelistic Association. In that capacity he travels the nation and world conducting crusades and holding seminars for fellow believers, and has reached more than half a million people through those venues. Dawson says he has been concerned at the lack of personal witnessing among believers -- which led him to compile The Complete Evangelism Guidebook: Expert Advice on Reaching Others for Christ (Baker Books, 2006).

Evangelist Luis Palau, one of the book's contributors, summarizes in the foreword his own vision of the importance of sharing the gospel. "Evangelism saves people not only from dying without Christ, but also from living without Him. And as they live with Him and for Him, they become salt and light in a world lost in darkness, sorrow, conflict, violence, and fear.

"I cannot imagine anything that helps people more than introducing them to Jesus Christ," Palau writes.

And preparing Christians to do exactly that is the objective of the Guidebook. It features 57 Christian leaders, teachers, pastors, and authors who examine various aspects of personal witnessing. Section headings include "Defining Your Faith," "Demonstrating Your Faith," "Declaring Your Faith," and "Defending Your Faith." Following those sections are breakdowns for witnessing to various groups according to relationship, age group, vocation, religion, race, situation, and gender or sexual orientation.

Every believer, says Dawson, should be involved in evangelism. "The Christian understands that life is not about what you can get; the rest of our life is about what we can give," he shares.

And giving in a community, he asserts, is based on a person's love relationship with God and originates out of their burden and love for other people. He offers a word picture. "Hey, if the bridge was out down the road and you're driving a car, a real friend's going to say, 'Slow up. Slow down. Stop. Bridge is out. There is that negative. There is that sin. There is that punishment that's ahead -- but the good news is, you don't have to go off the cliff.'"

In that light, he says, personal evangelism should be viewed by believers as a privilege rather than a duty. "If we love Christ, the Bible says out of the abundance of the heart the mouth is going to speak," he says, referring to Matthew 12:34. "If we have that dynamic, vibrant love relationship with Jesus Christ, it's going to come out. So that's the number-one reason why it's not a duty, it's not an obligation, but it is a privilege to me to talk about the One that's changed my life."

Contributors to The Complete Evangelism Guidebook include Palau, Josh McDowell, George Barna, Rick Warren, Joni Eareckson Tada, Les and Leslie Parrott, and Dolphus Weary.

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Movie Analyst: Christians Should Not Shrink From The Da Vinci Code

by Dr. Marc T. Newman
May 12, 2006

(AgapePress) - - Seated across the aisle from me on a small regional jet out of Houston, a young woman pulled out a brand new paperback copy of Dan Brown's bestseller, The Da Vinci Code. I had just purchased a copy, confident that Sony would not be providing screenings for Christian cultural analysts (I have since been proven wrong), so I asked her how she liked it. She said that she had picked it up at the airport bookstore: "I just wanted to see what all of the fuss was about."

When books reach the kind of critical mass generated by The Da Vinci Code, they take on a life of their own. People, who ordinarily never would have dreamed of picking this thriller out of a sea of similar titles offered up each year, find themselves drawn to the cultural event. They want to know, what is the big deal? What is it about this book that has generated so much controversy? A desire to be "with it," to be culturally included, has driven Dan Brown's book into the stratosphere, and spawned a blockbuster film, starring Tom Hanks and directed by Ron Howard.

With dozens of books addressing problems with, or defending attacks on, The Da Vinci Code populating the Borders or Barnes & Noble near you, the question remains, "What is all the fuss about?" The question is emphatically not a request for more information; instead it centers on significance. And questions concerning the significance of spiritual things ricocheting across Western culture should excite every Christian that ever wanted to share his faith with the skeptical or otherwise disinterested. Sure, Hollywood may laugh all the way to the bank while the controversy over the film drives the box office. But that should be of limited concern to prepared Christians who will be presented with an evangelistic opportunity that might prove even more potent than that which followed The Passion of the Christ.

The Dangers of Boycotting a Cultural Event
The Da Vinci Code long ago ceased being simply another thriller. With over 40 million copies in print in hardcover it transcends mere book status. Make no mistake: The Da Vinci Code is a full-fledged cultural event. As a result, it has drawn a varied reaction from Christian leaders.

Some, shouting "Blasphemy," are calling for a complete boycott of the film. One of the reasons given is that we should be concerned about putting money into the hands of its makers. I have written often that Christians should vote with their wallets, because what makes money is what gets made. But in the case of The Da Vinci Code, there is no way that Christians can have any meaningful economic impact on the box office.

While no one should see The Da Vinci Code in violation of their conscience before God, I argue that some mature Christians should see this film, accompanied by non-Christians, because it will likely be the best open door to a conversation about the Gospel that will appear on a movie screen this year. Most important, our faith should not be threatened by the preposterous claims of The Da Vinci Code. If Hollywood churns out high production-value films that address spiritual issues and create opportunities to share the truth about the faith, then I am all for that. It is too much to expect that every film will be The Passion of the Christ or The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

A lot of people have read, and will read, The Da Vinci Code. Millions more will see the movie. In a nation as biblically and historically illiterate as our own, some will swallow the film's assertions without stopping to chew. At such a moment, viewers should not be abandoned by the very people who best can challenge the film's false claims. In a bizarre way, The Da Vinci Code may represent the kind of bad behavior that provides what parents recognize as "a teachable moment." The film could create even more opportunity than the book. Reading is a solitary activity. It takes most people days to finish a book. They stop and start, think along the way; it makes it hard to recognize the appropriate time to engage readers in conversation. But movies are group activities. The Da Vinci Code film will start and finish in about two breathless hours, and the discerning Christian can arrange for coffee shop time afterward to talk about the claims of the film.

The Power of Story
Some Christian leaders have claimed that marshalling the facts won't be enough to combat the compelling narrative of The Da Vinci Code. The theory is that stories trump exposition. The odd conclusion some have reached is that we shouldn't bother. Perhaps, if we ignore this film, it will go away? But The DaVinci Code is no Last Temptation of Christ. Boycotting the latter only drew more attention to a poorly made movie. A Christian boycott of The Da Vinci Code will land with an economic whimper -- this film is a pre-sold blockbuster.

And, no mistake, the story that it will tell will have power. We live in a time when people feel free to construct their own versions of the truth -- as paradoxical as that sounds. One of the ways people do so is through the stories they hear and tell. If people are looking for ways to discount the significance of Christ and distance themselves from a need to bow to His authority, then The Da Vinci Code provides seductive cover. The fact that most people are ignorant of world history, Church history, how Christians came by the Bible, and Catholic prelatures makes Brown's explanation of events as plausible to them as any other. Add to that the seductive allure of access to "secret knowledge," and some people will be hooked.

But narrative expert Dr. Walter Fisher notes that in order for stories to be persuasive, they have to be cohesive and have the ring of truth. The problem with The Da Vinci Code's story is that it cannot hang together under scrutiny. It isn't necessary for Christians to craft flow charts and recite dusty details to expose the flaws in Brown's tale -- and there are enough critics picking over minutiae, like mistakes in the angles of buildings Brown describes, to make that possible. Instead we should be willing and able to tell the true story of how things actually happened, focusing on important issues: the deity of Christ and the reliability of the Scriptures.

The Real Leap of Faith
And Christians need not spend all of their time merely defending Christian truths. The other side of this story is that pagan goddess worship is the alternative presented in The Da Vinci Code. The only defense offered in the book for goddess worship is that it is old, that European elites practiced it as part of a secret society, and that it was secretly endorsed by Jesus (who, if he wasn't divine, would have no more credibility on that issue than you or I -- you can't have it both ways). The startling aspect of the book, and I assume of the film, is that everyone involved appears to take all of the pagan goddess worship on faith. It should not get a free pass.

The Bible makes truth claims about God and His dealings with humans in history. Much of the Bible contains historical, testable facts. What claims do the goddess worshippers make that would be open for debate? There is no rationale provided, it is merely assumed. The quality of the truth claims (if you can call what the goddess worshippers believe "truth claims") are not remotely of the same class. Even the "evidence" for the anti-Christian claims is never ultimately produced -- the reader is simply expected to believe that the shadowy Priory of Sion has it. Talk about a leap of faith! It is startling that the book which provided Brown with much of the assumptions on which The Da Vinci Code is based -- Holy Blood, Holy Grail -- was dismissed by historians as pseudo-history as soon as it was published in 1982. Strange, isn't it, how the passage of 24 years, and a best-selling fiction novel, can breathe new life into spurious history? Perhaps the best way to expose the folly of The Da Vinci Code is to comment on how seriously everyone is taking the "arguments" in the book and then laugh about it.

A Backhanded Gift
One of the positive aspects of the release of The Da Vinci Code is that parishioners are probably more open to hearing their pastors teach on church history than ever before. If five years ago pastors announced a Wednesday night sermon series on The Church Fathers, the Council of Nicea, and How We Got the Bible, my guess is that attendance would be down. But now they can teach the same thing, and the pews will be packed. It just has to be called "Breaking, Demolishing, Deconstructing, Exposing and Otherwise Whupping the Tar Out of The Da Vinci Code!"

There is nothing like anticipated opposition to motivate Christians to get ready. More than a dozen books have been written to expose the flaws in The Da Vinci Code. Get a good one and read it. If the existence of the book and the film are what it takes to challenge Christians to learn their own history, then Dan Brown may have given the Church a much-needed gift -- one that will extend beyond anyone's remembrance of his film.

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Pro-Family Critics Blast Overturn of Georgia Marriage Amendment

by Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
May 18, 2006

(AgapePress) - - Pro-family and conservative leaders are criticizing a state trial court judge's decision to throw out an amendment to the Constitution of Georgia defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Nevertheless, many traditional supporters believe that, despite the court's ruling, traditional marriage in Georgia will ultimately be protected.

Attorneys with the pro-family legal group Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) say Judge Constance Russell, the trial court judge who declared the Georgia's "Amendment One" unconstitutional, misused a technicality known as the "single subject rule" that says amendments may not deal with multiple issues and must address one subject only. However, ADF senior legal counsel Mike Johnson believes the judge's contravention of the will of Georgia's voters, who approved the marriage amendment in November 2004, cannot stand for long.

"Georgia's Amendment One has one purpose: to protect marriage from attack," Johnson asserts. "The 76 percent of voters in Georgia who voted 'yes' to the single subject of protecting marriage from all contemporary threats deserve to have their vote respected and not dismissed by radical judges," he says.

The ADF spokesman points out that a situation similar to this judicial reversal in Georgia happened in another state not long ago, when a district court struck down the Louisiana Defense of Marriage Amendment on the same grounds as were used to strike down the Georgia amendment. In both cases, he notes, the trial judges ruled that the amendments were invalid because they addressed two topics -- marriage and civil unions.

Johnson helped defend Louisiana's marriage amendment from that attack. In the case known as Forum for Equality PAC v. McKeithen, the Louisiana Supreme Court unanimously overturned the state district court judge's decision and reinstated the marriage amendment, and the ADF senior counsel is convinced that a similar scenario will eventually play out in Georgia.

"This ruling will be appealed," the pro-family litigator contends, "and the Georgia Supreme Court will understand, just as Louisiana's high court did, that the sole objective of these amendments is to protect marriage and that the language of the amendment is crucial in achieving that single goal."

The state trial court judge who threw out Georgia's Amendment One may try to claim that civil unions and same-sex "marriage" are different subjects, Johnson adds; "but the people of Georgia," he insists, "know better. They understand that protecting marriage means protecting it from all imitations."

    [Photo compliments of American Values]
Gary Bauer
Bauer: State Controversy Proves Federal Amendment Needed
Conservative activist Gary Bauer of the group American Values agrees that Russell's ruling was a seriously flawed piece of jurisprudence. But while the judge's conclusion was based on "a contorted view" of Georgia's single subject law, Bauer observes, the state's political leaders appear to be united in their defense of traditional marriage.

The American Values spokesman notes that even the Democratic Attorney General of Georgia, Thurbert Baker, is calling the trial court judge's ruling "wrongfully decided." Meanwhile, the state's Republican governor, Sonny Perdue, has vowed to appeal the decision. He says he will call a special session of the state legislature to consider putting another marriage amendment on this year's ballot if the Georgia Supreme Court does rule on the issue by August 7.

Judge Russell's action striking down the Georgia marriage amendment is "just one more example," Bauer asserts, "of why we desperately need a federal marriage protection amendment." The United States Constitution is the "supreme law of the land," he contends, "and our public servants in Congress should act now by sending a federal marriage amendment to the states for ratification so the people, not unelected judges, can decide the meaning of marriage in America."

The Senate Judiciary Committee took a meaningful first step today (May 18) toward that end when it voted to approve a constitutional amendment that would outlaw homosexual "marriage." The vote fell along party lines, with ten Republicans voting in favor of protecting traditional marriage and eight Democrats voting against the measure. The approval clears the way for the full Senate to vote on the matter, which is expected the week of June 5.

Alabama Christians Urge Support for State Marriage Amendment
In the meantime, the battle over marriage continues in other areas around the nation. Even now, the Christian Coalition of Alabama is encouraging pro-family voters across that state to turn out in strong numbers next month for a vote on a state marriage amendment.

Senate Bill 109, also known as the Sanctity of Marriage Act, would preserve the definition of traditional marriage as being only between one man and one woman through a constitutional amendment. State law already prohibits same-sex marriage in Alabama, but many conservatives feel the amendment is needed to prevent activist courts from striking state marriage law.

John Giles, president of the Christian Coalition of Alabama, says a big turnout would help the cause tremendously. "When pro-family groups go to lobby the legislature for and against legislation," he notes, "it pretty well lets legislators know who's back home."

By coming out en masse to support biblical marriage, church members can demonstrate to lawmakers just what a "good Christian, conservative audience we have that are part of the voting electorate," Giles points out. With sheer numbers believers can show that they want marriage protected, he says, "and it certainly helps our job in passing good legislation and stopping bad legislation."

The Christian Coalition of Alabama spokesman notes that with courts all across the U.S. issuing conflicting decisions about the definition of marriage, it is important for a state to have its own laws clearly established. When states like Alabama and Mississippi enshrine the definition of traditional marriage in a constitution as being between one man and one woman, those states can more easily refuse to recognize unions from other jurisdictions that do not fit the traditional definition of marriage.

Also, Giles adds, having marriage protected in a state constitution "makes it stronger in the court cases as well." He says Alabama's marriage amendment vote takes place June 6, and pro-family supporters are praying that the proposal will get at least 85 percent of the vote.

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Report Reveals Numerous Child Molesters Working at McD's

by Ed Thomas
May 18, 2006

(AgapePress) - - Patrons of McDonald's have been shocked at the news that convicted child molesters are allegedly working at many franchise restaurants around the country. The story was uncovered as the result of some investigative reporting that began in Nashville, Tennessee.

Nashville NewsChannel 5 reporter Phil Williams uncovered several disturbing revelations concerning child sex offenders and their relationship to local McDonald's outlets. On Fox News' O'Reilly Factor, Williams said the investigation started with the local case of a convicted offender on probation who was discovered to be working under the "Golden Arches."

"He had been ordered not to accept any employment around children, and then he was hired at a local McDonald's, even though he was listed on Tennessee's sex-offender registry," Williams explained. The offender was subsequently re-arrested for possession of child pornography.

Further investigation revealed another convicted child molester who had been re-arrested at the McDonald's in Delaware where he worked. That offender, who faces new sex charges, was among 12 other employees on sex-offender registries in that state. The Nashville reporter told Bill O'Reilly's audience he found a combined total of 27 McDonald's workers on sex-offender registries in two other states -- yet they were all hired.

"We found dozens of convicted sex offenders, many of them ... with offenses against children, who are working at McDonald's restaurants around the country," he said. "And as we started looking at state sex-offender registries around the country, we found about five dozen offenders who are listed in about four or five states."

An official statement from McDonald's corporate office says the company does not knowingly hire sex offenders, and requires disclosure from potential employees. But Williams says the problem appears to originate with inconsistent application of that policy. His investigation indicates that locally owned franchises are given discretion in their employment practices, which has allowed many of them to skip background checks that would discover convicted sex offenders.

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Troops, and Now a Fence -- Capitol Hill's Plan for Immigration Legislation Taking Shape

by Jody Brown and Chad Groening
May 18, 2006

(AgapePress) - - The U.S. Senate has called for the construction of 370 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border to go along with the 6,000 National Guard troops President Bush says he plans to deploy to assist the work of the Border Patrol. While reaction is yet to come from the Mexican government to the Senate's latest move, the Vicente Fox administration has threatened to sue the U.S. if Bush actually does what he says he is going to do.

Immigration reform promises to be a hot topic as the 2006 elections draw nearer. With the Senate's move to construct an actual fence along the border -- and its approval of a provision giving immigrants who have been in the country for more than two years an eventual chance at citizenship -- the White House will likely turn its attention to the House of Representatives, where a contingent of Republicans seems reluctant to support Bush's overall plan. Their support would be critical if an immigration bill is to come out of Congress this year.

The Senate's proposal closely tracks the president's call earlier this week for a comprehensive immigration bill, which includes temporarily assigning several thousand National Guard troops to border hot-spots to provide logistical and other types of support to the U.S. Border Patrol. One report says those troops, if necessary, could be federalized, thereby allowing them to go into the border states over the objections of a state's governor.

Soon after President Bush's announcement proposing the use of Guardsmen along the border, the Mexican government issued a statement saying it will sue the United States if the White House moves forward with the plan. Robert Vasquez -- an American military veteran of Mexican descent who currently serves as a county commissioner in Canyon County, Idaho, and is running for a congressional seat from the state's First District -- says he was appalled by the Mexican government's announcement.

"It's the height of hypocrisy," he says. "The Mexican government has placed its military along its southern border. They have, in fact, been ordered or authorized to use whatever means necessary to stop illegal aliens from entering Mexico along the southern border."

The Idaho Republican sees another double-standard. According to Vasquez, "if you are caught as an illegal alien in Mexico, you are treated far more harshly, with far greater chance of some sort of physical injury, than if you're captured in the United States."

Vasquez says if Mexico takes legal action in the U.N. World Court, it would likely side with Mexico. He says the U.S. should simply ignore any threatened law suits from Mexico. "As far as I'm concerned, they can take whatever they want to the World Court, because it doesn't mean squat to America," he says. "Nor should it." The congressional candidate's website carries the campaign slogan: "Secure our borders -- Secure our future."

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[Shammu]

Attorney: Georgia Marriage Amendment Ruling Proves Federal Measure Needed

by Allie Martin
May 19, 2006

(AgapePress) - - A spokesman with the American Family Center for Law & Policy (AFA Law Center) says the decision of a Georgia judge to strike down that state's ban on same-sex "marriage" clearly shows the need for a federal constitutional amendment to protect marriage.

On Tuesday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Constance Russell ruled that the constitutional amendment protecting traditional marriage in Georgia violated the state's "single-subject rule" because it asked voters to decide on multiple issues in one amendment. A number of pro-family legal analysts and political leaders have criticized the judge's assertion that the amendment violated the rule by addressing both same-sex marriage and civil unions.

Some legal experts believe it is likely that Russell's decision will be appealed and overturned. Upon hearing of the ruling, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue promised to weigh his options to protect the will of the people and has since vowed that he would appeal the decision himself. The governor also said he would call a special session of the state legislature to consider putting another marriage amendment on this year's ballot if the Georgia Supreme Court failed to act on the issue by August 7.

   
Steve Crampton
AFA Law Center chief counsel Steve Crampton, who specializes in American constitutional law, feels Judge Russell's reasoning was based on a flawed reading of the "single-subject rule" and he is convinced her ruling will not stand for long. "I am confident that whether it's at the Court of Appeals or at the Georgia Supreme Court, it will be overturned," he says.

However, Crampton points out, the reversal of the Georgia amendment, which was approved in November 2004 by a 76 percent majority of the state's voters, underscores the vulnerability of state marriage laws across the U.S., even when they have the people's mandate and are enshrined in the state's constitution. What this case does, he asserts, is "it sort of highlights the need for us to take steps to once and for all protect marriage."

The AFA Law Center spokesman notes that this can be a complicated task, given the limitations of state laws. "What they would say in Georgia in this particular case is, 'Oh, well, you can go back, put [the marriage amendment] on the ballot and vote again," he says, "with one amendment for marriage and a separate one for civil unions."

However, Crampton contends, that course of action is not as simple as it might seem. "First of all, that's enormously expensive," he observes. "Second, it is highly inconvenient." Also, even if the Georgia marriage protection amendment were reinstated, the state could still face court challenges from within and could still come into conflict with other jurisdictions where same-sex marriages or civil unions have been approved.

A federal marriage amendment is the only way to ensure the protection of traditional marriage from the attacks of homosexual activists and activist judges, Crampton insists. "The institution of marriage is God's very first social institution," he says. "Protection of the family begins with the protection of marriage, so Congress must act to amend the U.S. Constitution in order to preserve the institution of marriage against the efforts of those seeking to redefine it."

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[Shammu]

Why Ears Itch for the Theology of The Da Vinci Code Film

by Dr. Marc T. Newman
May 19, 2006

(AgapePress) - - Da Vinci Code director Ron Howard was given a tall order. First, how do you make a talky thriller work when nearly your entire pre-sold audience has already read the book, and therefore knows the ending? The Da Vinci Code is not like the films made from the Bourne books, which can sustain their tension on action alone. Let's face it, Dr. Robert Langdon, the "symbologist" protagonist of Dan Brown's bestseller, is no Indiana Jones. Second, your supposedly "fact-based" source material that had faded into relative obscurity is now back on the front pages and everyone is reminded that it is a hoax. The answer? Make significant plot changes to keep 'em guessing and deny, deny, deny.

What is important for Christians to know, if they are thinking of using The Da Vinci Code film as an opportunity to talk about their faith, is that some of the plot changes are rhetorical devices designed to make the arguments in the film appear even more persuasive than in the book. Through these changes, Howard has tried to preempt the hoax criticism, use the conversion of a respected, yet hostile-source, character to bolster the credibility of the film's arguments, and try to blunt reaction from Christians by giving them a place (albeit a much smaller place) at the theological table -- all the while making everyone else feel good about themselves.

Preempting Criticism
When a book as popular as The Da Vinci Code claims that aspects of its story are based on fact, it may as well have thrown down a gauntlet to relentless hordes of apologists and historians. The response didn't take long. The major source material for The Da Vinci Code is Holy Blood, Holy Grail, a book that was dismissed by historians as pseudo-history shortly after its publication in 1982. The entire Priory of Sion hoax had been exposed -- the "organization" did not date from 1099, but from the 1950s, built from thin air by Pierre Plantard and "supported" by forged documents surreptitiously deposited in the Biblioth�que nationale de France in the early 1960s. By the time filming began, the filmmakers must have decided that their two fictional scholars, Langdon and Sir Leigh Teabing, would not be ignorant of the hoax claim.

Unlike the book, in which Langdon is depicted as a collaborator with Teabing, the film version of The Da Vinci Code paints Langdon as an unaffiliated lapsed Catholic skeptic who challenges Teabing's conspiratorial assertions about Church history. After Teabing explains to police cryptologist Sophie Neveu about the shadowy Priory of Sion, Langdon explodes, forcefully asserting that the Priory had been exposed as a hoax. Teabing, matching Langdon's intensity, replies, "That's what they want you to think." Of course, he never identifies who "they" are. I guess that the conspiracy now extends to such "friends of the Church" as all of mainstream academia, the New York Times, and the BBC. Using such an argument, Teabing places the conspiracy beyond dispute. Anyone with counter-evidence is merely a part of the cover-up. It is a classic form of the Begging the Question fallacy. It tries to provide cover for those who want to use these arguments to disparage Christianity.

The Reluctant Convert
Another way that the film attempts to make its arguments more compelling than the book is to cast Langdon as a reluctant convert. In the book, when Langdon brings Sophie to meet Teabing it is out of the respect Langdon has for Teabing's mastery of Holy Grail lore. In other words, Langdon is a fan. But in the film, Langdon and Teabing are portrayed as debaters trying to convince Sophie of alternate views of Church history. And while Langdon is not exactly championing the cause of the Church, he constantly throws cold water on Teabing's conspiratorial assertions by at least presenting the other side.

That the Church's position was given any credibility in the film was a surprise. But to have Langdon making these claims -- even lukewarmly -- was a shocking deviation. It seemed designed to let Christians in the audience breathe a little. But I had read the book, so I knew how this would end.

As I watched the film, I could not discern the precise moment that Langdon becomes a convert, but the longer the film runs, the more Langdon begins talking as if Teabing's assertions now have his Seal of Approval. There is something especially persuasive in seeing a respected person move from hostile source to confederate. It's as if to say, "If someone of Langdon's stature is convinced, then why can't I be more open-minded toward these ideas?"

The Unfulfilling Smorgasbord of Postmodernism
But Howard and company keep hedging their bets. They want to have it both ways, and apparently think that New Age polytheism will be okay as long as Christians have a place at the table. By the end of the film Langdon is waffling -- trying to incorporate a personal religious experience with Jesus into this newfound world of goddess worship. What Langdon essentially says is, "Maybe it's all true. Maybe the human is the divine. All that matters is what you believe." Howard's argument is a perfect example of what New York University professor Thomas de Zengotita describes in his book, Mediated: "Name a topic and, presto, everyone has an opinion, everyone can speculate, everyone has a 'take,' as we say nowadays -- implicitly acknowledging that no one has time for much more than that -- so, what the heck. Mine could be as good as the next one. To each his own worldview. Once again, it's all about you."

Christianity's exclusive claims are odious to those who demand an "inclusive" spirituality. The Bible claims truth, and many in the West echo Pilate, asking dismissively "What is truth?" Christ did not come to soothe the world but to save it. It is a demanding process; it cost Jesus His life. No watered-down version will do. The message of the Gospel is not compromise, but loving, "seasoned-with-salt" confrontation.

The Draw
What is it about these kinds of conspiracy-theory, Gnostic tales that people find so compelling? For some it is just the lure of a good, fast-paced thriller -- which is actually in short supply in the film. But I think that some devotees of the book (who are most likely to see the film early) like the idea that they can vicariously be a part of something larger than themselves. By sharing secret knowledge they enter the "in-group" -- joined to the luminaries of the Priory of Sion: Newton, Da Vinci, and Victor Hugo. If they are especially gullible, it might even make them feel smart.

The Opportunity
Despite the bad theology, false history, rhetorical attempts to make the film's arguments more compelling, and the uninspired filmmaking, The Da Vinci Code still represents a unique opportunity for Christians to engage their culture. Just last night, while checking in at a hotel for an academic conference, I spoke for about 30 minutes with a young hotel desk clerk. She was a Da Vinci Code fan, and said that she planned to take her mother to the film today. She thought there was something to the claims in the book, particularly concerning the authenticity and accuracy of the Bible. I introduced her to arguments I learned more than 30 years ago in From God to Us, by Norman Geisler and William Nix. She had never encountered those ideas before. The odds the conversation would have arisen in that lobby would have been small were it not for the presence of The Da Vinci Code to drive it.

In order to take advantage of this theatrical gift, it is not absolutely necessary to endure the film -- people in your sphere will talk about the film and the book. But reading the book and/or seeing the film will heighten your credibility and give you a greater appearance of objectivity when you discuss it. Now you aren't a crank, you are a fellow reader and viewer. But you must be prepared.

�   
Order The Da Vinci Delusion featuring Dr. D. James Kennedy
There are a number of excellent books and articles that Christians can read to have the answers to the questions that arise from The Da Vinci Code. Greg Koukl, from Stand to Reason, and Dallas Theological Seminary both have outstanding articles and resources. MovieMinistry.com has created a Bible study designed for the film that goes beyond the factual debate. It can be used as an outreach to explore the itchy-ear syndrome that has affected a culture that will not endure sound doctrine, and challenges Christians to do something about it.

Films come and go, but the theater screens remain. Before long, and perhaps not too long, The Da Vinci Code will move from the cinema to the video store and other films will take its place. But Hollywood has seen that films with religious content (not necessarily accurate) can attract an audience. These movies will stir people, anger them, make them thoughtful, and (most important) provoke conversation about spiritual issues that might not arise in other contexts. Christians need to remain on the alert so that we can take advantage of every opportunity.

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[Shammu]

Resource for HS Grads Hopes to Help Them 'Keep the Faith'

by Jim Brown
May 19, 2006

(AgapePress) - - For 15 years, a youth ministry group has been offering a gift for high school graduates that's designed to help them keep their faith strong when they leave their church youth group for college.

"ConGRADulations!" is a "transition tool" for high school seniors that comes in the form of a CD and DVD. This year's CD includes an online graduate devotional journal, interactive scrapbook, links to campus ministries, and 11 contemporary Christian songs that deal with the issues graduates are facing. It is put out by an organization called Interlinc, which works with 60,000 churches helping youth pastors use music and media in evangelism and discipleship of students.

The group's founder and president, Allen Weed, says ConGRADulations! targets young people who often leave their parents' faith to find one of their own.

"Traditionally, books have been given [as graduation gifts]," says Weed. "We've found over the years that kids just -- well, all they need is one more book when their leaving high school. They're going to [think], 'I've been in the books all these years.'"

Weed contends what graduates really need is the content of those books. "But the question is, is there another way to formulate that message in a way that will be relevant to them and useful to them?" he notes. That is where ConGRADulations! comes in.

"It's a real deep project," Weed explains. "It's sort of a book in songs and video. It's got a lot of biblical content that we believe will get used. A kid might leave his books at home when he leaves home to go to school, but he's going to take his music collection and his DVD collection with him."

Weed says this year's project is titled "It's Time for Me to Fly," and features music and advice from bands like MercyMe, Building 429, P.O.D., and SuperChic[k]. It is sold in all Family Christian Stores and in the DaySpring card section of other Christian bookstores.

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[Shammu]

Open Doors Wonders: Is Mistreatment of Believers in India Being Ignored?

by Allie Martin
May 19, 2006

(AgapePress) - - The president of a ministry that serves persecuted Christians worldwide is expressing shock that a government agency has not named India as a country of "particular concern" when it comes to religious freedom.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended the U.S. Department of State keep India off its list as a country of particular concern, or CPC -- despite the fact that attacks on Christian churches and individuals have been on the rise throughout that nation. A press release from the Commission states that, even though "significant developments" affecting freedom of religion and belief have taken place, it is "closely monitoring the situations" in India, categorizing it as a nation that is "under scrutiny." Other nations with that designation are Russia and Sri Lanka.

Open Doors USA, which serves the persecuted Church worldwide, has documented 75 cases of persecution against Christians throughout India this year alone. Carl Moeller, president of Open Doors, says the U.S. government must put pressure on India to stop persecuting Christians.

"We need to pray for the persecuted Church in India, but we also need to pray for our representatives in the U.S. government, that we would take the high moral ground and stand for religious freedom," he urges, "even when this is an economic trading partner and a good friend on many levels. We need to keep putting religious liberty at the center of our foreign policy."

Moeller says the United States must not ignore documented abuses simply because India is considered an ally. "It's the world's largest democracy, and so it's surprising on the one hand because of the volume of incidents and the U.S. government not paying attention to that or the Commission not paying attention to that," he observes.

"But on the other hand, because [India] is a friend, I think it's not surprising [to find it is not on the list]," he continues. "We're all too willing often to look the other way when our friends do these things rather than those countries [where] we'd like to see change [in] their governments."

The State Department will make its 2006 CPC designations in September. Countries being recommended at this time by the USCIRF for that list include North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Pakistan, People's Republic of China (Red China), Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam.

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[Shammu]

Porn Industry Insiders Undone Over 'Rule 2257'

by James L. Lambert
May 19, 2006

(AgapePress) - - Lawyers defending the smut industry are concerned about "Rule 2257" (18 U.S. Code 2257) which requires pornographers to provide physical evidence that porn performers are of age (18 years or older). The newly updated federal code effects video, still images, and Internet content produced since July 3, 1995.

Jeffrey Douglas of the Free Speech Coalition -- a porn industry advocacy legal group -- feels the law places an "undue burden" on the industry. The group has filed a lawsuit in a Denver court asserting the code violates the industry's First Amendment rights.

Porn industry lawyer Paul Cambria conducted a seminar earlier this year at the Sands Convention Center in Las Vegas instructing industry producers of the nuances of Rule 2257. Adult Video News reports that during the seminar Cambria explained that "performers in sexually explicit material need to provide government-approved forms of identification." He also clarified the difference between the "primary" and "secondary" producers as it pertained to the newly updated code.

Comments by District Court Judge Walker D. Miller indicate that the thrust of the newly updated federal code is generally in compliance with the court's opinion. Walker indicated that the industry coalition has yet to establish "a strong likelihood of success in their First Amendment claim" (Wall Street Journal>). It is generally understood that the Justice Department will begin to enforce Rule 2257 after years of stonewalling by the porn industry.

Dr. Judith Reisman, author of the upcoming Kinsey's Attic: The Shocking Story of How One Man's Sexual Pathology Changed the World (WND Books, November 2006), recalls that the U.S. Commission on Pornography recommended in 1986 that adult performers should be 21 years or older. However after several years of debate, Congress lowered the age to 18. Reisman believes that U.S. agencies "that have pledged and are paid to protect the health and welfare of the American public have failed us." In making a case for a lower age of consent, pornographers can exploit and entice young girls who are desperate and in need of money so that they perform in adult venues, explains Reisman.

After Congress passed the consent and identification law in 1988, it was soon challenged by the porn industry. It has taken more than 17 years of legal challenges to get to the point where the law might finally show some teeth. According to the Wall Street Journal, "first-time violators can face prison sentences up to five years."

U.S.C. 2257 derives from the Child Protection and Obscenity Enforcement Act of 1988.

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[Shammu]

As Code Draws Huge Crowds, Christians Question Film's Spiritual Impact

by Jenni Parker and Chad Groening
May 22, 2006

(AgapePress) - - Despite protests from the Christian community, moviegoers flocked to see the screen adaptation of Dan Brown's controversial novel The Da Vinci Code, the fictional plot of which depicts church conspiracy and cover-up, murder, and mysterious clues about a marriage between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. The film took in $224 million worldwide over its opening weekend.

Reactions to the film have been mixed, even among Christians. One conservative news and entertainment industry watchdog, Michael Chapman of the Media Research Center, is echoing the concerns of many believers who fear The Da Vinci Code will lead many people astray from the true biblical tenets of Christianity. He feels Brown's book and the film based on it are dangerous in that, if a person does not have a solid foundation in the Christian faith, he or she is vulnerable to being misled by the blasphemous assertions of the fictional plot.

Already, Chapman points out, some readers of the novel have been negatively influenced. "If you look at some of the surveys that they've done of people who have read the book, people are walking away and thinking it's true that Jesus did marry Mary Magdalene, that she did have a child," he says. He believes the movie could have the same effect.

"I think that was fully the intention of Dan Brown with the book and also with this movie," the MRC spokesman asserts, "to confuse, because he mixes truth with error. And that's the most dangerous, especially for young people, who only maybe know a little bit about Christianity but also those people who are not solid in the faith and in the Bible and [do not] know what they need to know."

The Da Vinci Code is a dangerous book because it "seeks to undermine and discredit everything that Christianity represents," Chapman adds. And the film based on it, he contends, is just "another tool for anti-Christian forces to damage Christianity and hurt the faith of millions of people and also lead millions of people astray."

Catholic Reaction: 'One of the Most Inane Films I Have Ever Seen'
However, some Christian leaders feel the spiritual impact of The Da Vinci Code book and movie may be less serious than feared. William Donohue, head of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, saw The Da Vinci Code last Friday and described it as "one of the most inane films I have ever seen," a cinema narrative with a "slumbering style" that failed to sustain momentum and with "one of the most thoroughly anti-climactic endings ever to grace the screen."

At the showing he attended, Donohue says only three or four people in the audience clapped when the film ended. Three or four others hissed, he notes, while most "just walked out in a zombie-like fashion, eerily mimicking the characters on the screen."

As for the film's much debated anti-Christian content, the Catholic League spokesman says it is a credit to movie director Ron Howard that he "softened the edges" of the anti-Catholic invective in The Da Vinci Code. Specifically, the Catholic leader explains, the conversation about the divinity of Christ and about religious belief in general was portrayed more sensitively in the film than in the book version, with the result that "the film may have lost some of its punch."

Had the movie been a success, Donohue adds, its effect would have been more troubling. "But because it fails to persuade," he asserts, "this is one movie practicing Christians have nothing to worry about."

Barna Survey Shows Code Confirming Preconceived Beliefs
A new nationwide survey conducted by Christian pollster George Barna's research group also seems to suggest that The Da Vinci Code may have fairly limited impact on those exposed to its anti-Christian ideas. The Barna Group study found that, of the 45 million adults who have read the Dan Brown novel, only 5 percent -- that is, about two million of them -- said any of their beliefs or religious perspectives had changed because of the book's content.

Many people reading The Da Vinci Code encountered information that confirmed what they already believed, Barna explains. "Few people changed their pre-existing beliefs because of what they read in the novel," he says, "and even fewer people approached the book with a truly open mind regarding the controversial matters in question, and emerged with a new theological perspective."

"The book generates controversy and discussions," the Christian researcher says, "but it has not revolutionized the way that Americans think about Jesus, the Church or the Bible.' If the movie has a similar level of influence on movie-goers as the book has had on adult readers, he notes, about a half-million adults could be expected to change one or more of their religious beliefs based upon the movie's content.

Still, Barna points out, "any book that alters one or more theological views among two million people is not to be dismissed lightly." And the most significant impact of The Da Vinci Code, he warns, could be on young people who see the film, since their belief systems are still being developed and are more susceptible to the influence of new teachings.

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[Shammu]

Idaho Resident: Remove Sexually Graphic Books from Children's View

by Jim Brown
May 22, 2006

(AgapePress) - - Parents in an Idaho city want their local public library to remove from the shelves several books containing graphic images of heterosexual and homosexual sex and place them out of the eyesight of children.

At question are nine books in the non-fiction section of the Nampa Public Library, including titles such as The New Joy of Sex, The Joy of Sex Toys, and The Joy of Gay Sex. Nampa resident Randy Jackson filled out a complaint form at the library and even addressed the library's board of directors in January, but the board said the books would remain so that the needs of the whole community would be represented.

Jackson, who recently brought his concerns before the Nampa City Council, says parents are especially horrified with the book The Joy of Gay Sex.

"There's a chapter entitled 'Daddy-Son Sexual Fantasies' where it talks about two people having sex while pretending that they're father and son," the local resident explains. Another chapter in the book that he finds disturbing teaches teens how to surf the internet for homosexual sex -- and then cover their tracks.

"They have a chapter entitled 'Teenagers,'" he continues. "It explains to teenagers how they can go into online chat rooms on the Internet and how to meet people for sex in online chat rooms. It encourages them to learn to [delete] their web browser history so their parents won't be able to find out where they've been to on the Internet."

Jackson says the presence of the sexually explicit books is even more troubling given the recent rash of child enticement cases in the western Idaho community. He adds that a city council member plans to meet with the library board in June in hopes of resolving the issue of the books' accessibility to children.

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