Urban Outfitters Drop Condom Sales

American Life League releases the following from Sodom’s retail sector. Memo to Urban Outfitters: Get out of the gutter.

Washington, DC (13 August 2010) – American Life League’s Stop Planned Parenthood International (STOPP) project is pleased to announce that, one day after parents were asked to contact Urban Outfitters and object to its sale of Planned Parenthood condoms, the youth-oriented retailer has ceased its online sale of condoms.

A very brief message on the web site, confirmed by an Urban Outfitters representative, explained that the product “is no longer available.”

“Thank you to all the parents who took the time to contact Urban Outfitters and to the folks at Urban Outfitters who took immediate action to discontinue selling the condoms,” said Rita Diller, STOPP’s national director.

Condoms have a typical-use failure rate as high as 36 percent among teens, and Planned Parenthood’s condoms scored at the very bottom in a 2005 Consumer Reports trial of condom effectiveness.

A recent CDC study shows that most teens are sexually abstinent. The rise in the number of sexually abstinent teens and the downturn in teen pregnancy rates coincide with the availability and popularity of abstinence speakers and educational material.

“Parents and consumers can make a difference when they let their voices be heard,” Diller said.

American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Urban Outfitters: Keith Haring for Proper Attire – Condom 3-pack
http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=18606921&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&color=000&parentid=SEARCH+RESULTS&isProduct=true&preference=NorthAmerica&navAction=jump&cm_mmc=NorthAmerica-_-NorthAmerica-_-NorthAmerica-_-NorthAmerica&search=true&availableOptions=availableOptions

American Life League: Parents Asked to Oppose Urban Outfitters Condom Sales (11 August 2010)
http://www.all.org/article.php?id=12948

LifeSiteNews: Pro-Life Group Urges Boycott of Urban Outfitters Condom Sales (11 August 2010)
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/aug/10081109.html

Sears Puts Final Nail in Its Coffin

Commentary by Ingrid Schlueter

If you want to find lots of parking at our local mall, head to the end where the ugly dinosaur of a Sears store sits, and you will find plenty. Once a place that was bustling with customers, it often feels like a warehouse for ghosts of the past.  If you want customer service, forget about it. The entire second floor of the store is sometimes completely vacant of clerks or customers, and that’s at Christmas.

The identity crisis for Sears retailing in recent years is confusing enough for potential customers. (Why are they selling upscale Land’s End products as a store within a store? Who in the world thought that putting shopping carts ala Wal-Mart in a department store would make the place more appealing? But then, that’s another post.)

Now, after sending their customers elsewhere to shop by their clueless retailing, they now are apparently attempting to make up the shortfall by offering…no joke…p*rn. The American Family Association is blowing the whistle after attempting to handle their concerns quietly before going public. The arrogance of Sears leadership has now led to what I believe may be the final nail in their coffin. With back-to-school shoppers hitting the stores, those with an intact moral compass will go elsewhere to spend their money. Our family certainly will. If you have to go to the gutter to generate revenue and drag the once honorable name of Sears through the depths, it’s time to shut the lights off and call it quits. There are still millions of American families that are not going to knowingly support this kind of merchandising of filth.

Memo to Sears: Clean up your act or get the For Sale signs ready.

WND: Kagan’s Notes Blasted Homeschoolers

Worldnetdaily reports on Elena Kagan’s hostility to home educators as written in her own notes:

Elena Kagan, whose nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court likely will be before the full U.S. Senate for a vote soon, has suggested state regulations are “little” burden for homeschoolers, according to notes she made on a case while she was clerking for Justice Thurgood Marshall.

According to documentation uncovered by the Home School Legal Defense Association, Kagan advised Powell during the 1980s when a court case developed in Ohio in which a Christian family decided to homeschool their child.

The parents were convicted of not getting the superintendent’s permission, and the case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, whose justices refused to intervene.

As part of that work, Kagan reviewed the arguments for Marshall and suggested an outcome.

“[Petitioners] are self-described born-again Christians who adhere to a literal interpretation of the Bible and have little sympathy with the secular world,” she wrote. Read the full story here at Worldnetdaily.com.

Christian Women, Are You Causing Men to Sin?

This video is a rare glimpse of a pastor actively addressing the modesty issue, not as a ranting legalist, but as a loving pastor, concerned for his flock. Ideally, these issues should be taught by older women to the younger. But if that isn’t happening in a church, then the pulpits need to address it. John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim’s Progress, once wrote on the low-cut dresses of his day and how they caused men to sin. Some things never change.

ALL: Montana Kindergarten Sex Ed Will Hurt Children

Washington, DC (13 July 2010) – Jim Sedlak, vice president of American Life League, issued the following statement concerning the proposal to teach comprehensive sex education in grades K through 12 in the Helena, Montana, public schools:

“Parents in Helena are right to be upset about these proposed sex courses in their schools. Sex education is a value-laden subject, and information must be conveyed to each child at a level consistent with his or her mental maturity. Supporters of such classroom programs typically talk about presenting material that is ‘age-appropriate.’ But that criterion does not apply in this context.

“Because children mature at widely differing rates, one child may be ready for a great deal of information at 11 years of age or earlier, while another child, even in the same family, might not be ready for the same information until he or she is 14-years-old.

“School classrooms group children by the same chronological age, but they will each be at varying stages of mental maturity. In fact, the lower the grade level, the greater the disparity is among the children. It is impossible to design a classroom sex education course that is appropriate for all of the children in the class.

“As Dr. Melvin Anchell has pointed out for decades, the consequences of teaching sex education in elementary school are harmful and far-ranging. By introducing the subject of sex during this period of a child’s maturity process, we interfere with his natural learning abilities and his development of social qualities such as compassion.

The children who are unfortunate enough to be thrust into this kind of curriculum will suffer in countless ways, both academically and socially.

“American Life League encourages parents in Helena to continue to oppose these programs and demand that their public schools stop these social engineering schemes and instead use teachers’ limited and valuable time to return to teaching basic academic subjects.”

James W. Sedlak, M.S., is a former high school physics teacher and author of the book Parent Power!! How Parents Can Gain Control of the School Systems that Educate Their Children. In 1993, he was identified by Planned Parenthood Federation of America as one of the 15 “most active” fighters against its sex education programs. He currently serves as vice president of American Life League and has been a consultant to parents’ groups nationwide in their fights against classroom sex education programs.

More information from Fox News.

Fewer Than One in 10 Women Believe Premarital Sex is Wrong

Canada.com has a story today that illustrates how thoroughly the West has lost any vestige of Christian morals. It’s interesting that the only book cited in the article as having a positive impact on young girls regarding premarital sex is the vampire series, Twilight. The Bible didn’t make the cut. What a profound statement about the loss of Christians as salt and light in the West.

Fewer than one in 10 Canadian brides-to-be believes in abstaining from sex until their wedding night, despite a “save yourself” drumbeat that in recent years has reverberated through everything from school programs to pop-culture phenols such as Twilight and Glee.

The 1,241-person survey, published this month by Canada’s Weddingbells magazine, reveals that only eight per cent of engaged women agree with the statement “sex before marriage is not a good idea,” with just four per cent saying they feel strongly about it.

Researchers say the findings suggest perceptions of virginity are finally aligning with the reality of what’s been happening behind bedroom doors for decades. In other words, the behaviours aren’t new to women so much as newly outwardly approved by them. Read story here.

Supreme Court Decision Based on International Law

PURCELLVILLE, Va., May 18 /Christian Newswire/ — Yesterday, by a 6 to 3 vote the Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for the United States to sentence juvenile offenders to life in prison without parole in non-homicide cases in Graham v. Florida, released May 17, 2010. The Court cited the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and other international law to buttress its constitutional interpretation.

“It is bad enough for the Supreme Court to engage in judicial activism. It is far worse when the justices employ international law in support of their far-reaching edicts,” said Michael Farris, chairman of HSLDA. “We have not ratified the UN child’s rights treaty–its provisions should not be finding their way into Supreme Court decisions.”

Farris was the author of a brief in Graham v. Florida on behalf of 16 members of the U.S. House of Representatives. The majority opinion twice references Farris’s brief in its discussion of international law. Farris is also the chancellor of Patrick Henry College where he teaches constitutional law.

“There is simply no place for international law or practice in interpreting the American Constitution. International law has its place in deciding truly international cases–but a case involving juvenile offenders in Florida is a domestic case through and through,” Farris said. “It was plainly gratuitous for the majority to employ international law in this context.”

Farris’s brief was filed in direct response to a brief from Amnesty International which had urged the Court to use international law as a binding rule.

Amnesty also argued that the United States was the only nation in the world to sentence juveniles to life without parole. “The materials submitted by Amnesty International included a hodgepodge of letters and emails supposedly on file in Amnesty’s offices. Such ‘evidence’ would not be admissible in a traffic court; it is shocking that the Supreme Court relies on such data to make constitutional decisions,” Farris said.

“Our brief demonstrated that the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (the UN’s official monitoring body) had found that dozens of nations were in violation of the juvenile sentencing standards of the UN child’s rights treaty. It is simply fiction to say that the United States is the only nation which authorizes such sentences.”

Senator Jim DeMint (South Carolina) introduced a resolution (S. Res. 519) last week that urges President Obama to refrain from sending the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to the Senate for ratification.

“S. Res. 519 seeks to put the Senate of the United States on record that American law and only American law should govern our families and our juvenile courts,” Farris said. “I hope that every American who believes that we should remain a self-governing nation will call their Senators today to urge them to become a co- sponsor of S. Res. 519.”

Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) is a 27- year-old, 85,000 member non-profit organization and the preeminent national association advocating the legal right of parents to homeschool their children.

Other Resources
(Read the section of the Graham case dealing with international law, starting at section D.) (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Read Sen. Jim DeMint’s S. Res. 519 (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader).

Christian Newswire

Parents’ Rights Amendment Reaches 135 Co-Sponsors

April 27, 2010 // Washington, D.C. – A constitutional amendment introduced by U.S. Representative Pete Hoekstra (R-MI)to protect the parent-child relationship has reached 135 co-sponsors in the House.

“The number of members of Congress continues to grow because of the growing understanding of the threats to the parent-child relationship by government and foreign organizations,” Hoekstra said. “Protecting the ability of parents to raise their children how they best determine is absolutely necessary in the current environment of encroaching government interference into our private lives.”

Michael Farris, a constitutional lawyer and president of ParentalRights.org which champions the amendment, agrees. “We appreciate the growing number of Congressmen who are willing to have open-minded conversations with their constituents on this issue,” Farris said. “These thoughtful conversations are leading an increasing number to the conclusion that it’s time to support parental rights.”

The Parental Rights Amendment would state explicitly in the U.S. Constitution that parents have the right to raise their children as they see fit, while protecting against abuse and neglect. Such threats to the parent-child relationship include potential U.S. ratification of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The proposed amendment says:

SECTION ONE: The liberty of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children is a fundamental right.
SECTION TWO: Neither the United States nor any state shall infringe upon this right without demonstrating that its governmental interest as applied to the person is of the highest order and not otherwise served.
SECTION THREE: No treaty may be adopted, nor shall any source of international law be employed to supersede, modify, interpret, or apply to the rights guaranteed by this article.

See ParentalRights.org for more information.

**Updated: Dr. Mohler Responds** Dr. Al Mohler Needs to Retract “Failed Adoption” Column

Dr. Al Mohler has sent me this response to my post regarding his column on failed adoptions.

Dear Mrs. Schlueter:

I am just now getting to email after a board meeting all day. I read your column with great interest. Thank you for your kindness in calling my office with your concern. Upon reading your article I was convinced that I had erred in making my argument. Frankly, I think I handled the issue better on my radio program than in the article.

After reading your column, and hearing from some kind and concerned adoptive parents, I was prompted to write the addendum to my article you see pasted below. I will refer listeners to it on radio and send notice by Twitter and my email list.

Thank you again for your kindness in sending the column to me and for making such a personal response in a public setting. I honor you and your family for showing a God-honoring commitment under such difficult conditions. I am not a stranger to the syndromes and disorders you document. I have the honor of working among wonderful Christian couples who are loving such children with bravery and tenacity — couples who might have to make the decisions you have had to make, but, like you, would never put a boy on a plane and simply send him back.

Thank you again for your courtesy and assistance to me in this matter. May God bless you and your family, and all others who are showing the love of Christ in this powerful way.

Faithfully,
Albert Mohler

Please feel free to use this communication in any way that will best serve adoptive parents.

Dr. Al Mohler Needs to Retract His Column on Failed Adoptions

By Ingrid Schlueter, Commentary

Dr. Al Mohler’s latest column may have been written with the best of intentions, but his piece on “failed” adoptions is a gross disservice to the body of Christ. For those Christian families that have had adoptions “fail”, the last thing they need is more guilt for having “denied” or “slandered the gospel.”

Dr. Mohler is in deep need of education on the realities of adopting those children who, through no fault of their own, have been damaged permanently through maternal alcohol, drug use, neglect and abuse.

Mohler’s column is based on the sensational news story recently regarding the American adoptive mother who sent her troubled son back to Russia on a plane. Quite obviously, when you learn that your adopted child has massive psychological issues, you should not put him on a plane and send him back. There are other options to pursue.

For Mohler, however to say that the ‘gospel is slandered’ when an adoption fails is a very serious charge to make. Our family adopted two children from Eastern Europe 12 years ago. We have lived both the joy and the gut-wrenching, grief-inducing struggles that followed. For one of our children, we have struggled to find the needed help for the extensive damage suffered from neglect and abuse in formative early years. Many of these post-institutionalized children have gone through abuse and neglect on a scale that is unimaginable. Intensive counseling, or in some cases, alternative living settings are sometimes the only option for the sake of the child and the family.

While some agencies do a good job at educating prospective adoptive parents, not all families are given honest information, cautions and preparation for parenting post-institutionalized children. Many Christian families, some with biological children, have adopted deeply troubled children with no idea of the issues they would face or how that would impact or endanger their families. They spent tens of thousands of dollars to reach out to an orphan child, only to find out that they were lied to or misled.

Al Mohler needs to be introduced to Reactive Attachment Disorder and its horrific effects on a family. Then there is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Is it a denial of the gospel when a child threatens the adoptive mother with a knife and has to be removed? Is it a denial of the gospel when the Christian family that reached out can no longer parent a child who is jumping off the roof, starting fires in wastebaskets and smearing his/her own feces on the walls of the house? Is it a denial of the gospel when the adopted child kills the family pet, steals everything that isn’t locked down, hordes food and lies as a matter of practice? Yes, it is a failure, Dr. Mohler, but is a failure of that child to function normally within a family. That failure should not be blamed on the parents who, at great cost, have given of themselves to try to help a child.

In a perfect world, all adopted children would be able to adapt, overcome the horrific scars of abuse and neglect and fit seamlessly into the life of a family. It does not always work that way. Just as God does not always choose to heal children from physical diseases, He also does not choose to heal all children from the emotional and psychological scars of mistreatment, no matter how much love and prayer goes into it. Sometimes this means adoption disruption or a new placement. This is an area that Dr. Mohler does not choose to address with his very romanticized view of adoption. He prefers to call such “failure” a “slander” of the gospel.

As a former adoption program director, I can tell you that orphanages do not always give honest information on the children made available for adoption. Facilitators rely on orphanage descriptions to promote waiting kids, and much can be left out for a variety of motives. This has produced some spectacular disasters. The trauma well-meaning adoptive parents go through with RAD and FAS kids has been written about extensively in adoption literature. It can destroy families and marriages as homes are turned into war zones. Beyond RAD and FAS, there can be behavioral issues and attachment problems in many other children that create learning and relational challenges all their own. Few agencies sufficiently prepare adoptive parents for this potentiality or provide help when things go wrong. That last phrase is key. Agencies are good at placing children, and often terrible at follow-up support and offering resources for troubled children.

Dr. Mohler needs to be educated on this subject. For families struggling with daily guilt and grief over a “failed” adoption, his piece will only place further add to the burdens on their backs. It is a slander of Christian adoptive families who in many cases have spent all the resources they had to help a needy child and still, as Mohler terms it, “failed.” If we believe in the sovereignty of God, we know that God is working behind the scenes, working to accomplish His perfect will in the lives of our families and our children, adopted or otherwise.

Dr. Mohler needs to retract his column and talk to some of the godly families who have walked through the nightmare of an adoption gone wrong. It would change his perspective dramatically.

California Poised to Punish Free Speech at Schools

It seems that California’s teetering on the brink of bankruptcy has been no deterrent to passing a bill that is guaranteed to end up in the courts. There must be extra money lying around specially earmarked for legal fees. While ACR 82 finishes up the final hurdles before being passed into law, civil liberties attorneys like Randy Thomasson are warning that this bill will effectively outlaw free speech in California schools.

In a Save California letter to lawmakers, Thomasson cited a number of statements that could be punished if the resolution passes, including:

Being bisexual is not genetic

It’s wrong not to abstain from sex until marriage

Going outside the Bible’s standards on sexuality is sin

Marriage is only between a man and a woman

Homosexuality is the primary transmission mode for HIV/AIDS
“This is a severe attack upon free speech, specifically the moral beliefs of children, teachers and even parents who step foot on campus,” he said.

He said the proposal is expected to be given final approval as early as Monday. Although it remains a “resolution” at this point, it has the weight of the legislature behind it.

Thomasson said it will be the newest tool for homosexual-rights activists to pressure schools to claim “discrimination-free” status and “corral the children more into their agenda and brainwashing.”

In a state choked with Christian megachurches, this bill still sailed through the legislature. In that most evangelical Christians continue to send their children to public schools, some parents are in for a rude surprise.