August 30, 2004 by s.z.

Monday's Religious News 1.  God Counters With Book Called "So Help Me Roy!" From the Southern Baptist Press News: Broadman & Holman Publishers has announced the acquisition of former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy S. Moore’s upcoming book, “So Help Me God!,” slated for release next March. [...] Noting that Moore is a West Point graduate and combat veteran, [Kenneth H. Stephens, president of Broadman & Holman] said the Alabama judge “has demonstrated his character as a true patriot and defender of liberty. By taking a stand, at considerable personal cost and sacrifice, Not to mention the cost to Alabama's taxpayers: about $500,000. . . . on the issue of the state’s acknowledgement of God, he has demonstrated his faith as a devout Christian as well as faithfulness as a public servant to the intent and guarantees of our Constitution.” Yeah, I love that part in the Constitution where it says that you have the right to bring your own personal boulder into public buildings in the dead of night, and leave it there until you've got tons of publicity, leading to a book deal. Broadman & Holman plans a national publicity campaign in conjunction with the March book release. The publisher has successfully published New York Times best-sellers “Payne Stewart: The Authorized Biography,” along with two novels by Oliver North, “Mission Compromised” and “The Jericho Sanction.” This fall B&H will release “Twice Adopted” by Michael Reagan, son of late President Ronald Reagan. Broadman & Holman Publishers: for when your manuscript isn't good enough for Regnery. 2.  Family News in Focus warns "Gay 'Marriage' Only the Beginning" If homosexual activists succeed in redefining traditional marriage, the next step is making it a crime to speak God's truth about homosexuality. God's truth being that gay men should be stoned to death -- just like adulterers and disobedient children. Anyway, author Robert E. Reccord claims that homosexuals were never slaves, so they can't claim they want equal rights.  No, they must want special rights -- and that's pretty greedy of them, since they already have above-average incomes, and lives that include lots of travel and Judy Garland records.  Compare their cushy situation with the plight of the poor, persecuted Christians, and you'll see who really deserves those special rights! The recent spate of illegal gay marriages around the nation illustrates how our legal system grants homosexual activists special treatment. City officials in California, Oregon, New York, New Mexico and elsewhere have knowingly and intentionally broken the law by granting the licenses. To the relief of most Americans, courts have finally stepped in to halt these proceedings, but the truth is, most of the lawbreaking officials were allowed to carry on for days or even weeks without any court action against them. In contrast, when Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore refused to remove a monument to the Ten Commandments from the lobby of his courthouse, federal courts immediately stepped in, and he was charged with ethics violations and removed from office. Um, let's review a few items from the Moore Chronology: July 31st, 2001: Moore installs Ten Commandments monument in the rotunda during the night without telling the eight associate justices, but allowing a Christian television ministry to film it . October 30th, 2001. Lawsuits are filed on behalf of three lawyers seeking removal of the monument from the Alabama Judicial Building. November 18th, 2002: U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson of Montgomery orders the monument removed for violating the constitution's ban on government establishment of religion. August 14th, 2003: Moore says he has "no intention" of removing the monument , and lawyers suing to have it moved file a complaint against Moore with the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission for defying a federal court order August 22nd, 2003: State Judicial Inquiry Commission charges Moore with violating six canons of ethics for disobeying a federal court order to move the monument. He is suspended with pay pending trial before the Alabama Court of the Judiciary So, the Federal Courts "immediately" stepped in, four months after Moore installed the monument, and Moore was "immediately" removed from office, two years later.  Contrast that to the month it took the California Supreme Court to stop San Francisco from granting same-sex marriage licenses, and the six months it took for the state to declare the liscenses invalid (Oregon granted licenses for about 6 weeks, while New Mexico's and New York's runs were much shorter).  Yup, those gays DID get special treatment! Where will this special treatment lead? If we look to Canada, our neighbor to the north that led us down the aisle to homosexual "marriage," freedom of speech is the next target. Canada led us astray!  I don't think we should hang out with it anymore, because it's a bad influence on us! Canada's House of Commons passed Bill C-250 last fall, which adds homosexuals to the list of those protected from "hate speech." (The bill has not yet been voted on by the Senate). Sweden already has a similar law. And just how is "hate speech" defined?  In June 2001, the Saskatchewan Human Rights Board of Inquiry ordered one of its residents to pay a $4,500 fine for running an ad in a local newspaper which referred to verses from the Bible that condemn homosexual practices. The verses weren't even quoted. And that's one case, and it happened before the "hate speech" bill was even voted on -- proving that if same-sex marriage is made legal, then you will be unable to preach about gays roasting in hell, even in the privacy of your own church.  Also, your minister will have to preside over "gay" "marriages," your children will be required to experiment with homosexuality, and you will no longer be permitted to laugh at effiminate characters in old movies.  Under penalty of law. Robert E. Reccord is the president of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Which isn't to be confused with NAMBLA. 3.  Checkin' Out This Guy Jesus -- and His Accessories David E. alerted us to this NY Times article which deals with the release of The Passion of the Christ on DVD. Twentieth Century Fox, which passed on a chance to release the controversial movie in theaters, has been wooing pastors at 260,000 churches to buy the movie in bulk and targeting more than six million Christian households with e-mail messages. The studio's home-entertainment unit describes the campaign - which is emphasizing sales in the South and Midwest, where the movie was most popular - as its most exhaustive Christian marketing effort ever. [...] Churches that ordered the film in bulk were invited to buy slipcovers imprinted with the name of their congregation or a two-line message of their choice. The slipcovers are supposed to be in churches' hands next week. To stir interest, Fox distributed 10,000 limited-edition lithographs depicting Jesus, the cross and other religious images to church officials. I think I'd choose the two-line message: Hi to S.Z. from your pal Jesus.  If you like my movie, check out my book: the novelization of the "Passion" screenplay. Family Christian is selling "The Passion" as part of an educationally themed package. The company is offering a free copy of "Jesus: Fact or Fiction," an instructional DVD used by churches, with each purchase of Mr. Gibson's film, as well as a 20 percent discount on a future purchase. Buy "The Passion" and get a a discount on (plus complete forgiveness for) your next R-rated movie purchase. Fox has been sending up to 50,000 e-mail messages daily to Christian households and has been showing trailers of the movie at Christian music festivals around the country. The spamming of the Christ. "The Passion," which elicited strong emotional reactions among many viewers, can now be viewed privately at home, which [David Chrzan, chief of staff at Saddleback Church in Orange County, Calif.] said would "attract a lot more attention with the curious.'' He added, "Then they can maintain their anonymity.'' He continued, "There are a lot of people checking this guy Jesus out, and it is not necessarily a communal experience." Who's the Semitic guy who gets the worst beating of all time? Jesus! They say this guy Jesus is one bad .... Shut your mouth! Just checkin' out Jesus, the Son of God, our Lord and Savior, a figure revered and worshipped by many Christians, some who find this marketing blitz pretty tacky. Then I can dig it!  But only in the privacy of my own home, on my new Fox DVD. 5:37:12 AM

Convention Dish Lloyd Grove of the NY Daily News has all the pre-convention gossip in a column entitled "GOP has dol-fun with Dems."  And yes, Peggy Noonan's name comes up! Briefly, here's the juicy stuff: If you see folks on the streets of New York in dolphin suits, and wonder why they're wearing heavy, airless, synthetic-fiber getups in the killing summer sun, here's the answer:The Republican National Committee has deployed staffers and volunteers to impersonate Flipper, the beloved dolphin who starred in the 1960s television series. Sorry, this isn't the item that mentions Peggy.  Anyway, it seems that the RNC bought ten of the costumes, at $500 each, and got staffers and volunteers to wear them, despite the fact that the temperature could reach 110 degrees inside, in order to make fun of John Kerry for being a "flip-flopper."  Oh, my aching sides!  And I don't know if comparing Kerry to Flipper is much of an insult, since, as everyone knows, "They call him Flipper, Flipper, Flipper, faster than light'ning.  No one you see, is smarter than he."  Gospel singer Donnie McClurkin - who'll perform Thursday night at the Republican Convention before President Bush's acceptance speech - is ex-gay and proud. [...] Actually, the 44-year-old McClurkin calls himself a "reformed bisexual." "I was involved at one time in bisexuality, but it was God that delivered me from that," McClurkin told Lowdown. "Those that want help, I am here to help. There may be someone at the convention that the message could reach."McClurkin said a staffer from First Lady Laura Bush's office first asked him if he'd sing in Madison Square Garden. "My response was, 'Anything for the President,' " he said. "I'm going to pray with the President. We'll shoot the breeze and we'll say a general prayer." For McClurkin, maintaining a strong heterosexual identity has been a continual struggle. Um, Donnie, when you're shooting the breeze with George and he says you have a pretty face, you may want to pray for strength in your ongoing struggle. McClurkin sure isn't afraid of controversy.  He's quoted on the Christian Broadcasting Network's Web site as harshing homosexuals: "I'm not in the mood to play with those who are trying to kill our children." McClurkin's publicist, Erma Byrd, insisted yesterday that the incendiary comment has been taken out of context Gee, what kind of context could make that remark acceptable?  Here's the portion of the 700 Club article where the remark appears: The recent limelight on the homosexual agenda has Donnie stirred. "The gloves are off," he says. "And if there’s going to be a war, there’s going to be a war. But it will be a war with a purpose." He is very concerned that the Christian community is not outraged at the recent homosexual high school in New York. "This is not a privately funded school. It is a public school funded by taxpayers' money. Why isn’t anyone else speaking out?" he asks. Donnie believes that it actually puts the children more at risk than if they were attending a regular high school. "Everyone knows that everyone at the high school is homosexual. That makes for an easy target." His main purpose, though, is to help sexually confused children. "How do they know that they are homosexual?" asks Donnie. "If you ask them and go back far enough, it’s usually a pinpoint place." For the ones that want help, Donnie is there for them. There are young boys who weep at the altar. "They want help," says Donnie. "That’s what I’m there to do." The gay community is saying that Donnie is a threat and that he is trying to convert young children or control their minds. "I’m not in the mood to play with those who are trying to kill our children. Someone has to be the voice for them, and the children are only hearing one voice right now," he says. Yes, that made all the difference!  No wonder Laura Bush's office thought he'd be the perfect entertainment for the convention.  LOOSE-TONGUED SPEAKER? Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert - having already enraged some New Yorkers with his remarks about local office-holders' "unseemly scramble" for federal money after 9/11 - yesterday opened a second front. On "Fox News Sunday," the Illinois Republican insinuated that billionaire financier George Soros, who's funding an independent media campaign to dislodge President Bush, is getting his big bucks from shady sources. "You know, I don't know where George Soros gets his money. I don't know where - if it comes overseas or from drug groups or where it comes from," Hastert mused. An astonished Chris Wallace asked: "Excuse me?" The Speaker went on: "Well, that's what he's been for a number years - George Soros has been for legalizing drugs in this country. So, I mean, he's got a lot of ancillary interests out there."Wallace: "You think he may be getting money from the drug cartel?" Hastert: "I'm saying I don't know where groups - could be people who support this type of thing. I'm saying we don't know." You know, I don't know where Dennis Hastert gets his money.  I don't know if it comes from the stable of 'hos that he might have working out of his office, or from possibly blackmailing Newt Gringich about Newt's score of affairs with underage boys.  I mean, back in 1992, Dennis was revealed to have had 44 overdrawn checks written on the House bank -- and then he suddenly paid them off.  Makes you think, doesn't it?  Plus, his ancestors are from Luxembourg, and you know what the Belgians are like: just as bad as the French, only stupider!  Or say some say.  So, maybe Dennis gets his money from selling our secrets to Iran.  He has a lot of ancillary interests out there, and they might include gun running, internet porn, and Amway.   I'm just saying that we don't know. PARTY PEOPLE: Talk about a power dinner. Rush Limbaugh, Peggy Noonan and Matt Drudge - Talk about Sartre's definition of hell! Republican sympathizers all - hosted a glittering affair at Patsy's last night, headlined by Vice President Dick Cheney and wife Lynne, Gov. Pataki and wife Libby, Republican National Committee ChairmanEd Gillespie, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and the ubiquitous Mary Matalin (sans her Democratic firebrand husband, Ragin' Cajun James Carville). A restaurant source told me that a surprised guest was CNN anchor Daryn Kagan, who I hear is friendly with recently separated fellow broadcaster Limbaugh. Oooh la la!  So it's Rush and Daryn Kagan, sitting in a tree . . . In case it doesn't work out with Daryn, I want to let Rush know about this Family News in Focus headline: True Love Waits at the Acropolis Okay, maybe Rush doesn't read FNIF -- so here are the highlights: While Olympic organizers distributed 130,000 condoms to athletes at the Games, hundreds of thousands of young people from around the world—in striking contrast—made clear their dedication to lives of purity.   Many of those teens hiked up Philopappou Hill in the 95 degree sun, with the entirety of Athens spread out before them in a panorama. Each person carried a large plastic cube stuffed with cards from around the world. They represented nearly a half-million pledges to be abstinent until marriage. At the top, the young people found whatever shady spots they could and prayed: "Lord . . . bring someone into their life, Lord, that would help them; God, draw them towards purity, towards holiness and towards You."  So, Rush, true love awaits you in Athens -- but it's praying that you'll meet someone who will keep you abstinent.  I know the rest of us are probably praying the same thing. 5:21:17 AM