LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY dkmnow)

Yes, the Phelps Klan is at it again, and being just as crass, opportunistic, and bloody-minded as ever. They have just issued a flyer announcing their next Holy Offense:

NEWS RELEASE

Thank God for Bridge Collapse

WBC to picket the funeral of Sherry Lou
Engebretsen - at 10:45 a.m., Wed., Aug. 8 - at
Incarnation Lutheran Dog Kennel, 4880 North
Hodgson Rd., Shoreview, Minnesota - in religious
protest and warning: "God is not mocked." Gal.
6:7. God Hates Fags! & Fag-Enablers! Ergo, God
hates Minneapolis and Minnesota -
Land of the Sodomite Damned.

WBC will also picket the other funerals of those
whom God drop-kicked from the Bridge into Hell...

[blah, blah, blah]

They died at the Bridge for the fag sins of Minneapolis in persecuting WBC's missionaries...

[and so on]

Full flyer (PDF) at:
http://www.godhatesfags.com/fliers/aug2007/20070806_sherry-lou-engebretsen-funeral.pdf


Heartwarming, isn't it?

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY navytron89)

 </a></b></a>http://www.americablog.com/2007/08/virginia-ex-gay-group-can-promote.html

Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) believes that it can "help people with unwanted same-sex attractions (SSA) realize their personal goals for change -- whether by developing their innate heterosexual potential or by embracing a lifestyle as a single, non-sexually active man or woman."

It wanted to take its message to the public schools as a counter to Gay-Straight Alliances, which allow students to openly discuss issues about their orientation without fear of reprisal. When the school board in Arlington County refused to allow PFOX access to distribute flyers, the ex-gay org filed a lawsuit. There has been a settlement. (365gay):

The agreement reached between the two sides to end the legal action gives PFOX the same access given to other groups and says the group can submit fliers for distribution to middle and elementary school students if it wishes.

A PFOX spokesperson said it is not planning on targeting younger students at this time. The school system said that it is not making a judgment on the message contained in the PFOX material.

The American Psychological Association last year issued a stinging rebuke of the so-called ex-gay movement. "There is simply no sufficiently scientifically sound evidence that sexual orientation can be changed," it said in a statement.

An attorney in Norfolk, Virginia, Michael Hamar, was appalled by the decision and fired off a letter to the Arlington County School Board. He sent it to me with permission to post it.

From: Mike Hamar
Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2007 10:41 AM
To: 'schoolbd@arlington.k12.va.us'
Subject: School System Allows Group To Promote 'Gay Conversion' To Students

Ladies and Gentlemen:

It was with great distress that I noted your decision described in the linked article ["School System Allows Group To Promote 'Gay Conversion' To Students"].  As one who has studied the fraudulent nature of these "conversion" programs in depth and helped expose "ex-gays for pay," I believe that you have opened a Pandora's Box of potential liability on the part of the school division in respect to youth who may be harmed by these programs and/or pushed to suicide.

In 2006, the American Psychological Association issued a stinging rebuke of the so-called ex-gay movement following a demonstration by members of several organizations that claim homosexuality is a choice that can be cured.  In fact, the APA is now considering a total ban on conversion therapy under the APA's ethical and clinical guidelines.  In short, if the school division gets sued, the legitimate mental health experts will testify against these programs.  I hope you have discussed this issue with the school division's liability insurance carrier.  I suspect your carrier will not be pleased.  Whether or not you endorse these programs, the fact that the school division allows the materials to be distributed will give them an appearance of legitimacy that they do not deserve.  Unsuspecting youths and/or parents may be misled accordingly to their detriment.

I know I would happily represent a youth in your school division or his/her family who is harmed as a result of these fraudulent programs.  Perhaps Arlington County will have the opportunity to provide the "test case" that will put these bogus "ministries" out of business once and for all.

I truly hope you will rethink this extremely foolish decision.

Sincerely,
Michael B. Hamar
Attorney at Law

Many of you by now have heard about the "Great Boldout"--the followup to the Great Strikeout of 2007 (the Strikeout having been initiated by Warriors for Innocence, whom we're reported on before)--and how fandom communities are being rather specifically targeted.

One particular official post from an LJ employee on the lj_biz community seems to indicate, among other things, that communities promoting anorexia (and by "promoting", we mean "giving explicit instructions on where to get pills and how to binge/purge") are okay under the argument "Bad advice isn't illegal".

For what it's worth, I saw the bit on their new TOS prohibiting "child abuse of any sort"...what I found in a search was that it's apparently not just anorexia they are supporting.

( Evidence suggests that communities supporting some of the most egregious forms of 'Bible-based' baby-beating and starvation are perfectly acceptable on Livejournal )

I have reported this to Livejournal (in both the thread over on lj_biz and in two formal abuse complaints (#797388 concerning trainupachild and #797391 concerning babywise. We'll see if anything is done; I seriously doubt it.

EDIT 12 AUGUST 2007:

As of today, Livejournal Abuse has still done nothing in regards to the two abuse complaints in question.

There is also some very disturbing information to suggest that we may be dealing with a pattern of favouritism towards dominionists in the US Government as well. Specifically (via the following post from Jihad Against "Innocence"), the New York Times has reported that the Department of Justice is in essence outsourcing its internet obscenity and indecency complaints to a dominionist group:

In the last few years, 67,000 citizens’ complaints have been deemed legitimate under the program and passed on to the Justice Department and federal prosecutors.

The number of prosecutions resulting from those referrals is zero.

That may help explain why no one — not Justice Department officials, not Mr. Wolf, not even the religious antipornography crusader who runs the program — seems eager to call the project a shining success.

The department Web site invites citizens to report material that they believe is obscene so it can be investigated and, perhaps, prosecuted. Clicking on the site to make a report takes the user to ObscenityCrimes.org, which is run by Morality in Media, the grant recipient.

Morality in Media is a conservative religious group that has worked since 1962 to “rid the world of pornography"...

Morality in Media is in fact a group founded by dominionist leaders which has an agenda going far, far beyond merely banning the obscene. Among other things, they've tried to force supermarket chains to remove Glamour and Cosmopolitan magazines from the shelves (and have those magazines treated the same as "Playboy" or "Penthouse" elsewhere), has tried to force hotel chains to stop offering adult channels altogether (as of now, most hotel chains do but they WILL gouge you for it), and have tried to yank commercials for Carl's Jr./Hardee's and television shows well within most of America's "community standards" off the air (and was one of two dominionist groups behind the FCC's decision--later ruled unconstitutional--to fine radio and TV stations up to $500,000 per incident in regards to material considered "indecent" (the FCC of course refused to define what was "indecent") after "Boobiegate").

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY lullabypit)

Jim Booth has a great (and fairly disturbing) piece on sponsored fundie proselytizing at Scholars & Rogues. Worth the read. Link here.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY amethyst_hunter)

I need a short link or links to information concerning the 'child-discipline-by-beating' (as in, 'chastening rods', physical abuse, that type of thing). Is Dobson a proponent of that, or do I have him mixed up with someone else? I need the info to reply to a question someone asked. Thanks for your help. :)

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY catvincent)

Dave at Orcinus brings the bad news...

' If this story from Max Blumenthal in The Nation doesn't shake you to your core, then you may not appreciate fully what's happening to this country. It opens with an update on the most recent exploits of actor Stephen Baldwin (one of the Baldwin brothers, mostly known for their liberal politics):

Baldwin became a right-wing, born-again Christian after the 9/11 attacks, and now is the star of Operation Straight Up (OSU), an evangelical entertainment troupe that actively proselytizes among active-duty members of the US military. As an official arm of the Defense Department's America Supports You program, OSU plans to mail copies of the controversial apocalyptic video game, Left Behind: Eternal Forces to soldiers serving in Iraq. OSU is also scheduled to embark on a "Military Crusade in Iraq" in the near future.

"We feel the forces of heaven have encouraged us to perform multiple crusades that will sweep through this war torn region," OSU declares on its website about its planned trip to Iraq. "We'll hold the only religious crusade of its size in the dangerous land of Iraq."

The Defense Department's Chaplain's Office, which oversees OSU's activities, has not responded to calls seeking comment.

Think about this:

By making this proselytization part of official DOD "outreach," we begin the process of making the Christian conversion of American soldiers official military policy.

And then we are sending these converts into a Muslim war zone with visions of crusades dancing in their heads.

Can things possibly get any more insane?

Well, yes they can. Read on... '

Ah well... Baldwin's not done anything good since The Usual Suspects, so I guess starting a crusade keeps him busy.