Dubious Decisions at Wal-Mart

 The world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart is risking losing a significant share of its market with two poor choices – an alliance with a homosexual pressure group and an initial refusal to acknowledge Christmas.Last week Wal-Mart Stores announced a partnership with the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. The retailer has agreed to step up its purchasing from gay- and lesbian-owned businesses and to make other concessions to the homosexual community, even though it has never been found guilty of discrimination against homosexuals. Clearly, the company bowed to the strong-arm tactics of a pressure group, which will only make it more vulnerable to similar actions from some other representative of an “oppressed” minority.

Wal-Mart’s subsidiary, Sam’s Club, also made a misstep recently, avoiding the use of the word “Christmas” in its in-house magazine. They referred to “holiday cards,” “holiday ribbon” and “holiday gift bags” without mentioning the name of the holiday they make billions of dollars from. Wal-Mart has ignored pro-family groups’ overtures asking that they acknowledge Christmas.

There’s a market in the retail community for a company that isn’t afraid to cater to those who proudly celebrate Christmas. It’s too bad that Wal-Mart doesn’t want a piece of that economic pie. CMC urges Christians to pay attention to which stores acknowledge Christmas and which ones don’t, and support with their business those that understand the reason for the season.

Source:  www.centerformoralclarity.net

FDA Caves In to Abortion Industry, Approves Plan B

 The federal Food and Drug Administration last week caved in to pressure from pro-abortion groups and approved the dangerous Plan B drug for distribution to women over 18 without a prescription. Incredibly, this victory isn’t enough for the abortion industry – they want teenagers to have access to the abortifacient as well.

CMC asks its members and all believers to protest this misguided decision. Click here to send an e-mail to Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, acting commissioner of the FDA.

“This is an outrageous decision that will put more women at risk of serious complications and even death,” said Pastor Rod Parsley, founder and president of the Center for Moral Clarity. “And because Plan B does nothing to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, it will give sexually active men and women even more reason to engage in risky sexual behavior.”

“What’s amazing to me is that the pro-abortion lobby is pressing to make this dangerous drug even more widely available, by removing all age restrictions. It’s bad enough that they have been playing politics with women’s health; to extend their fanaticism to teenagers is beyond the pale.”

The Center for Reproductive Rights, a pro-abortion group, said last week that its lawsuit to make Plan B available without a prescription to all ages would continue despite last week’s decision.

Most prescription drugs have side effects – that’s why they are only available after consultation with a physician. Plan B’s side effects have been horrific – the deaths of at least seven women since 2000, and more than 800 additional cases of severe complications.

Plan B is actually a combination of two drugs, taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex. The first destroys a baby’s connection to its mother’s placenta, or keeps it from forming. The destruction of the placental connection itself causes heavy bleeding – and another property of the drug makes the bleeding even worse. The second drug causes the uterus to contract, expelling the baby from the womb.

It currently costs between $20 and $40 with a prescription, and Barr Pharmeceuticals, its manufacturer, has said Plan B would cost slightly more over the counter. The drug will be sold only in stores with pharmacies.

Since 2003, the FDA had resisted pressure to make Plan B available over the counter. What’s different now? It’s impossible to ignore the connection between the debate over the drug and the confirmation battle over Dr. von Eschenbach. Two prominent Democratic Senators, Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Patty Murray of Washington, had promised to block Dr. von Eshenbach’s confirmation as FDA commissioner until a decision on Plan B was made.

Even if Plan B was not proven to have disastrous side effects, it should be unavailable in this nation on moral grounds, because it causes an abortion. Thankfully, doctors and pharmacists who respect the sanctity of human life currently decline to prescribe or dispense it.

The FDA should not have made this dangerous drug more widely available; instead, it should pull Plan B from the market until and unless it can be shown to be safe. A bill in the U.S. Senate, called Holly’s Law, would take the medication off the market until and unless it can be proven to be safe.

To send an e-mail protesting this decision to the FDA, click here.

Source:  www.centerformoralclarity.net

Prepare to Do Your Duty in November – Register to Vote!

 In 1997, Sydney Nixon was seated as a state representative in Vermont after apparently winning election by the closest of margins – 570 to 569. Soon after taking office, however, he resigned because a recount showed that he actually lost to his opponent, Robert Emond, 572 to 571.

No matter what candidates you vote for or what issues you hold dear, your vote matters a great deal. CMC urges you to register to vote before your state’s registration deadline.

“Voting is one of our nation’s most precious freedoms,” said Pastor Rod Parsley, founder and president of the Center for Moral Clarity. “It’s especially important for Christians to make their voices heard at the polls. Jesus said we are salt and light, and voting is a prime opportunity to use our influence to benefit our city, county, state and nation.”

Most states require that eligible voters register anywhere between the day before the election and 30 days before the election (information for your state is available here).

In most states, you can complete an online form, print it and mail it to state authorities to register by mail. CMC makes that service available here.

Churches interested in registering voters during their church services should contact your local board of elections or secretary of state’s office to obtain voter registration forms and instructions in how to complete and return them. You can also set up a laptop computer and printer in the foyer of your church and register voters from the CMC website before and after services.

Above all, be sure to take the time to understand the issues you’ll be seeing on Tuesday, Nov. 7, and to vote on Election Day!

Source:  www.centerformoralclarity.net

Take Action Now to Stop Pro-Homosexual Bills in California!

Pastor Rod Parsley is asking CMC members, especially those who live in California, to take action this week to prevent two pro-gay agenda bills from becoming law in the state. The bills are sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Sheila Kuehl, a former child TV star who was the first openly homosexual member of the California assembly. They are:

• Senate Bill 1441, which would prohibit discrimination in any publicly funded program based on sexual orientation. It’s an expansion of existing state law, which already forbids discrimination by race or gender. Both houses of the California legislature has passed the bill and it is awaiting action by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
• Senate Bill 1437, which would forbid classroom instruction or textbooks that “reflects adversely” on groups because of their sexual orientation. The bill passed the California Assembly (akin to many states’ House of Representatives) on Monday and now awaits action in the state Senate. The Senate is expected to concur with the Assembly’s amendments to the bill, then send it to Gov. Schwarzenegger.

“Both of these bills are bad public policy, and Californians should reject them,” said Pastor Parsley. “The only purpose of these bills is to advance the radical agenda of the homosexual community, and expand the power of government to enforce that agenda. Gov. Schwarzenegger should veto the bill that’s already on his desk, and the state Senate should make sure he never gets the opportunity to veto the other one.”

SB 1441 is particularly dangerous, Pastor Parsley said, because it expands the definition of discrimination under state law to include the perception that a person is homosexual, or is associated with an actual or perceived homosexual. “Government should not be permitted to act against its citizens because of how the government perceives their behavior,” he added. “It would apply this standard to services like police and fire protection, financial aid, social services and food stamps.

“The practical effect of this bill would be to force anyone who does business with the state to submit to the radical homosexual agenda as a condition of continued business. Christian organizations that take a biblical view of the family could be shut out of business with the state just because they don’t accept the legitimacy of the homosexual lifestyle. Gov. Schwarzenegger should veto this bill.”

The California Assembly approved SB 1437 by a 47-31 vote this week. It would to ban materials and activities in schools that discriminate against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons.

The bill has been stripped of its most harmful provision – a requirement for textbooks used in the state of California to include the historical contributions of homosexuals – but still does too much to endorse the gay agenda, Pastor Parsley said. “A ‘bias-free’ curriculum necessarily incorporates bias in favor of the homosexual agenda,” he added. “The vast majority of parents in California and elsewhere don’t want that information coming from the schools – it should be done in the home. If the Senate concurs with the Assembly’s amendments, as expected, I hope Gov. Schwarzenegger will support families by vetoing this bill as well.”

If you live in California, you can send an e-mail to Gov. Schwarzenegger about these bills by clicking here. If you live elsewhere, click here to write an e-mail to the governor asking him to veto the bills, using the information above.

In addition, please call these offices to register your opinion, whether or not you live in California:

• 213-897-0322 (Los Angeles)
• 559-445-5295 (Fresno)
• 951-680-6860 (Riverside)
• 415-703-2218 (San Francisco office)
• 202-624-5270 (Washington, D.C.)

You can also register your opinions electronically at these numbers:

• 916-445-2841 (Sacramento)
• 619-525-4641 (San Diego)

Thank you for making your voice heard on these important issues!

Source:  www.centerformoralclarity.net

Colorado Joins States Voting on Marriage – Will Illinois Be Next?

 Colorado last week became the seventh state to qualify an amendment for the Nov. 7 ballot to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

The issue will appear on Colorado’s ballot as Amendment 43. Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin already had marriage amendments slated to appear on their respective fall ballots.

Organizers for the Colorado amendment gathered 130,000 signatures, nearly double what was needed to qualify for the ballot. More than 400 churches were enlisted to gather signatures.

“I’m pleased that Colorado voters will have the chance to affirm marriage as the union of one man and one woman,” said Pastor Rod Parsley, founder and president of the Center for Moral Clarity. “Every time voters have had the chance to affirm God’s design for marriage, they have done so – 20 times out of 20. This fall, I’m sure the total will rise to 27 out of 27. I’m hopeful that this will send a powerful message to our federal legislators of the need and desire among the grassroots for a federal Marriage Protection Amendment.”

Meanwhile, marriage advocates in Illinois are pursuing a court challenge that could add that state to the list of those taking the marriage issues to the voters in November. The state board of elections ruled Aug. 11 that the referendum could not appear because a random sampling of the signatures submitted estimated that 91 percent of them were valid. Under state rules, 95 percent of the signatures submitted must be valid for the issue to qualify for the ballot. A federal district court judge has already affirmed the board’s decision, but the amendment’s sponsors, Protect Marriage Illinois, have appealed to the Seventh Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. Protect Marriage Illinois claims that the state’s process for putting issues on the ballot constitutes an unconstitutional hardship on the people’s right to petition their government.

Illinois’ issue differs from other state amendments because it is a non-binding resolution, existing to express the sense of the state’s population on the marriage issue. An affirmative vote on the issue in Illinois, itself, would not change the state’s constitution.

As in many states, political leaders of both parties appear eager for the court challenge to fail. Both Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who is seeking re-election this fall, and his Republican challenger, state treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, have expressed opposition to a marriage amendment for Illinois. Each candidate claims that a 1996 state law prohibiting same-sex marriage is sufficient for the state.

Here are websites for groups supporting this fall’s state marriage amendments. Click on them to learn more about the issue in your state, and to get involved in the effort to protect marriage!

• Colorado.
• Idaho.
• South Carolina.
• South Dakota.
• Tennessee.
• Virginia.
• Wisconsin.

Thanks for making a difference on this vital issue!

Source:  www.centerformoralclarity.net