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BBC News, 2003-01-23
Reaction to anti-gay comments made by a Catholic bishop at the World Meeting of Families
Gay rights activists in the Philippines have accused the Catholic Church of fanning "anti-gay hatred", following
comments made at the World Meeting of Families conference in Manila. Addressing the conference, Church leader Cardinal Jaime
Sin said that Christian family values were being "put into question by proponents of same-sex marriages".
But Oscar Atadero, spokesman for gay rights group Progay Philippines, said that the attack by Cardinal Sin was unwarranted.
He told the BBC that family life was central to most Asians, gay or not. He also said that if same-sex marriages were legalised,
it would "be a great help in achieving the same aims that the Catholic Church were so keen on pushing: stable monogamous
families". He also emphasised the key role that gays and lesbians played in the economy, by supporting their families
financially.
Gay activists said that they were not allowed to attend the conference.
But organisers said that gays and lesbians were welcome as long as they did not attend as couples.
Philippine laws do not prohibit ceremonial unions of same-sex couples, but they are not legally recognised either.
Catholicism is practised by 83% of Filipinos and the Church has a paramount role in most people's daily lives. Although gays
and lesbians are generally tolerated within Philippine society, there are still widespread cases of discimination.
Webmaster's comment:
The Catholic Church keeps singing the same old song. Meanwhile, some gay activists are naive enough to think that the
Church's priority is to support stable relationships. In fact, what it seeks to preserve is control: if relationships
which lie outside the sphere of Catholic legitimacy are legally recognized, then the Church loses power.
Washington Post, 2003-01-23
American President George W. Bush lends his support to anti-abortionists.
President Bush yesterday cheered on thousands of abortion foes gathered at the Washington Monument, commending them for
"working and marching on behalf of a noble cause and affirming a culture of life." On the 29th
anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, Bush spoke via a live telephone hookup from West
Virginia to tens of thousands gathered for an annual rally and march to protest the historic Roe v. Wade decision.
...
After almost an hour and a half of speeches by various members of Congress and the clergy, including Catholic Cardinals
Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington and Edward Egan of New York, the protesters marched under a cloudless, sunny sky
from 15th Street and Constitution Avenue NW to the Supreme Court building.
Hours after the march, a different sort of demonstration formed at the court building. A crowd of abortion-rights activists
lit candles in a vigil and waved their own signs, some of them reading, "Keep Your Laws Off My Body."
The crowd was addressed by Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women. A handful of people from the
earlier group was nearby and exchanged shouted slogans.
"The danger to us is clear—George Bush is trying to stack the courts" with antiabortion appointees,
Gandy told more than 350 people gathered last night, as her two daughters clutched her waist.
Webmaster's comment:
Further evidence, as if we needed any, that the Christian Right has taken over the American government,
including the presidency.
Deseret New — Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, 2003-01-16
Local atheists are pledging to keep the Pledge of Allegiance out of Utah schoolrooms.
Members of the Salt Lake Valley Atheists are considering a lawsuit against a 3-year-old state law requiring
all Utah elementary school students to recite the pledge. They are also gearing up to fight a bill that would
make it mandatory for all Utah junior high and high school students.
It is the phrase "one nation under God"—inserted into the Pledge in 1954—that rankles atheists. "It ties
patriotism to religion, and I don't believe in that," says Mike Rivers, the Utah director of American Atheists.
If legislators want schoolchildren to be more patriotic they should fund enhanced history classes, he says.
Utah Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, has filed a bill requiring a recitation of the pledge "at least once a
week" in secondary schools. "Nobody is going to order you to say it," Buttars explains.
"If you don't want to stand up, nobody will say a thing to you. I have a real problem, in fact I'm totally amazed,"
he adds, "that anyone in this country would be opposed to having our American kids say the Pledge of Allegiance.
Like it or not, this is a Christian country. It was founded on Christian principles."
Webmaster's comment:
The Utah Senator is ignorant of the history of his own country. The USA was NOT "founded on Christian principles."
It was founded on the principle of separation of church and state, i.e. that governments must remain neutral on matters
of religion.
The Onion, 2003-01-15
Tulsa, Oklahoma:
In a major coup for the growing field of creation science, the perfectly preserved remains of a
5,000-year-old Tyrannosaurus Rex were delivered Monday to Tulsa's Creationist Museum of Natural History.
"The Good Lord has, in His benevolence, led us to an important breakthrough for scientific inquiry,"
Creationist Museum of Natural History curator Dr. Elijah Gill said. "Our museum has many valuable
and exciting exhibits that testify to Creation and shine light on the Lord's divine plan. But none have been
as exciting—or anywhere near as old—as this new T. Rex specimen named "Methuselah."
This skeleton, which dates back to roughly 3,000 B.C., offers the most compelling proof yet that the
Earth was made by God roughly 10,000 years ago."
...
Said Gill: "I have even received an exciting letter from a paleontologist at UCLA asserting that Methuselah
could be even older than 5,000 years. Who knows, it might even date back to the Sixth Day of Creation."
The T. Rex skeleton will be on public display at the museum beginning Feb. 3. Conversions will be
performed every two hours at the museum's baptismal font, located in the Apologetics wing.
Webmaster's comment:
They wish!
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