2005: A year of informing Christians and confronting the culture
2005 was a year of continued expansion of opportunities to inform Christians and confront the culture on the important moral issues of the day. Here is a list of non-profit actions FPN was able to accomplish this year:
REGARDING FAITH:
1.Continued providing free “In God We Trust” posters to public schools in Virginia, to assist them in complying with a state law (sought by FPN from ’99 to ’02) requiring all schools to post the national motto in a prominent place. (Materials distribution)
2.Alerted Ohioans to a failed effort by a library in Newton Falls to block the use of their facilities by citizens wanting to defend traditional marriage. (Website)
3.Alerted citizens to a threat to religious liberties posed by the IRS considering whether to revoke a California’s tax-exempt status because it opposed the war in Iraq. (Website)
4.Informed Californians of a successful lawsuit by a Seal Beach woman who won the right to attend a religious service on Sunday without being charged with a vacation day by her employer. (Website)
5.Alerted North Carolinians to efforts by one of the state’s congressional delegation who was fighting the suppression of Christian prayers in the U.S. Military. (Website)
6.Educated citizens on the undeniable impact Christianity has had on American history (Website)
7.When it was learned that a popular pro-homosexual website in Washington, D.C. had linked to FPN’s site to criticize its contents, a link was added to the front page of FPN’s website to promote a link to FPN’s “Hope for Homosexuals” website, which educates homosexuals about how to find forgiveness and redemption through a relationship with Jesus Christ. (Website)
8.Educated Californians about a lawsuit vs. the state university system for discriminating against students with Christian private school diplomas in admissions decisions on the basis that the students’ religious freedom had been violated. (Website)
9.Informed citizens of a federal lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Virginia for accepting “In God We Trust” prints from Family Policy Network to place in public schools throughout the state. (Email, media relations, website)
10.Educated Christians about the implications of two Ten Commandments cases heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005. (Email, website)
11.Informed the public about the significance of a 6th Circuit Court of Appeals decision declaring “there is no ‘wall of separation’ between church and state. (Email, website)
12.Educated churches and families on the Christian history of Thanksgiving. (Email, website)
13.Celebrated the true meaning of Christmas by posting the text of Luke 2 and a link to an audio reading of the birth of Christ on the front page of familypolicy.net. (Web)
14.Informed Californians of lawsuit against the state, defending the religious liberties of a Sacramento woman whose Christian views regarding homosexuality were restricted by the large state agency she was working for at the time. (Website)
15.Alerted Virginians to the controversy in the Methodist denomination involving a South Hill pastor who was placed on unpaid leave for denying a homosexual man membership in his church. (Website)
16.Informed Virginians that the same United Methodist minister was exonerated. (Website)
17.Informed Christians of two decisions by the United Methodist church’s highest court to affirm Biblical doctrine regarding the sinfulness of homosexuality. One decision affirmed ministers’ right to deny membership to homosexuals. The other decision affirmed denying a ministry position to an avowed homosexual. (Website)
18.Paid tribute to the life and ministry of a respected Virginia pro-family leader who passed away in 2005. (Email, website)
19.Alerted Maryland citizens to Montgomery County Schools’ attempts to selectively prohibit Christian fliers from being distributed on school property. (Website)
20.Informed Pennsylvania residents of a lawsuit against the Landsdowne Burrough Council for ejecting a Christian activist for reading the Bible during a meeting. (Website)
21.Alerted Californians to a lawsuit against the Byron Union School District for teaching 12 years olds “how to become Muslims.” (Website)
22.Informed Maryland residents of the ACLU’s objection to an anti-drug program for school children, because the performers also lead evangelistic services off campus. (Website)
23.Informed Pennsylvania residents of a lawsuit against the city of Philadelphia, where 11 Christians were arrested for singing Christian hymns during a pro-homosexual street festival. (Website)
24.Publicly defended a lawsuit FPN initiated in 2002 against the University of North Carolina over forced Islamic indoctrination in a campus newspaper there. (Media relations)
25.Alerted Californians to a controversy over a public school student’s desire to dance to a Christian song. A lawsuit was avoided when the Torrance Unified School District permitted a Christian song to be played after being threatened by Constitutional attorneys. (Website)
26.Informed Virginia citizens of a lawsuit against Fort Defiance High School for denying a 15 year-old student’s right to free speech by forbidding her from passing out religious tracts on school property. (Website)
27.Told Pennsylvania citizens about a group of Christian students at Girard High School in Erie, who repeatedly petitioned their principal for permission to pray on school campus. The principal finally relented after learning that students at other schools had been given such permission. (Website)
28.Publicly questioned whether a new minor on Christianity at the University of North Carolina will be objective, and whether it is merely a public relations move to repair damage felt by an FPN-initiated lawsuit over forced Islamic indoctrination from 2002 and/or a student-led lawsuit over the religious liberties of Christian campus organizations in 2004. (Email, media relations, website)
29.Alerted Tennessee citizens to a Knoxville school principal’s decision to prevent a student from reading his Bible in school. (Website)
30.Criticized a wire story from Associated Press for its obvious liberal bias when reporting that the child of a lesbian was expelled from a Christian private school in California and provided citizens with a way to contact the school’s headmaster to provide encouraging feedback for his appropriate actions. (Email, media relations, website)
31.Educated Texas citizens about a legal controversy that erupted over a Dallas woman’s actions to evangelize school children on a public sidewalk. (Website)
32.Reported on the theological considerations being given to the timing and magnitude of Hurricane Katrina, given the immoral nature of many of the public celebrations that take place in New Orleans, and stimulating Christian thinking regarding how much the Church tolerates governmental acceptance and celebration of sin and immorality. (Email, media relations, website)
33.Alerted Virginia citizens to the suspension of a Methodist pastor for refusing to grant membership to a homosexual in his South Hill congregation. (Website)
34.Reported to California residents that the overwhelming majority of citizens there favored transferring the Soledad Cross monument to federal control. (Website)
35.Reported to Californians that a Rancho Cucamonga school had relented to a legal threat from parents of a boy who won the right to wear a t-shirt that read, “Tolerance is the virtue of believing in nothing,” and “Truth is truth “” homosexuality is wrong.” (Website)
36.Alerted citizens to a court victory for Christian students at the University of North Carolina, where school officials had previously barred student clubs from following scriptural guidelines in choosing their members and leaders. (Email, website)
37.Reported on a victory in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled schoolchildren may recite the pledge of allegiance to the flag, as long as there is an option to not participate. (Website)
38.Informed Pennsylvanians about a Presbyterian Church-USA minister who presided over a so-called same-sex “union” there. (Website)
39.Alerted North Carolina citizens to a controversy over the state’s ACLU chapter demanding court witnesses be permitted to use non-Christian “scriptures” like the Quran, Old Testament, and Bhagavad-Gita when swearing to tell the truth on the witness stand. (Website)
40.Educated nearly 7,000 Internet users about the hope that homosexuals have to be redeemed through Jesus Christ. (Website at www.hopeforhomosexuals.com)
41.Organized airplane banner flyovers at a major outdoor AIDS Walk in Detroit, Michigan to promote FPN’s hopeforhomosexuals.com website to tens of thousands of people (Advertising, Email, website)
42.Alerted Christians to the effectiveness of economic boycotts by informing them of the retail industry’s speedy reactions to protests over formerly banning “Christmas” from their stores and advertising. (Website)
43.Informed Christians of the decision by Lowe’s home improvement centers to reverse their decision to sell “holiday trees,” opting to instead sell “Christmas trees” once again. (Website)
44.Informed North Carolina citizens about a North-Raleigh McDonald’s restaurant that, with the support of the national office in Atlanta, placed a bold witness for Christ on their outdoor marquis, proclaiming “Jesus is the Reason for the Season.” (Website)
REGARDING THE FAMILY:
1.Educated citizens about the truth behind a 2002 study claiming the children of homosexual couples are just as happy as children in real families, exposing the activist lesbian activities of the study’s author. (Media relations, website)
2.Alerted California families to a state court decision overturning the voters’ choice to make marriage the exclusive union between a man and a woman because, according to the judge, “no rational purpose exists” for limiting marriage in the Golden State to people of opposite genders. (Email, website)
3.Informed parents of a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision, saying that parents have “no fundamental right” to control their kids’ upbringing by introducing them to sexual information “in accordance with their personal and religious values and beliefs.”
4.Educated citizens and legislators in Tennessee on the need for state marriage amendments to do more than merely protect the word “marriage” and requested citizen-lobbying efforts to oppose the current proposal to amend the Tennessee Constitution to do just that. (Coalitions, email, lobbying, website)
5.Urged Christians in Tennessee to pray that a poorly-worded proposal to amend the Tennessee Constitution to protect the word “marriage” would fail because it would do nothing to preserve the traditional definition of the family. (Email, media relations, website)
6.Alerted Tennessee families to an ACLU-sponsored court challenge to the poorly-worded Tennessee Marriage Amendment. (Email, website)
7.Publicly criticized a poorly crafted version of an amendment to the Virginia Constitution to protect the definition of marriage, based on the constitutional concerns expressed by noted pro-family attorneys in several states. The language FPN criticized was eventually jettisoned in favor of the Virginia Marriage Amendment FPN endorsed. (Coalitions, email, lobbying, website)
8.Emailed Virginia legislators a detailed, point-by-point critique of a poorly crafted version of a marriage amendment to Virginia’s Constitution. (Lobbying, website)
9.Published the names of hundreds of Virginia citizens who endorsed the Virginia Marriage Amendment. (Coalitions, email, website)
10.Alerted Virginia citizens to an attempt by liberals in the General Assembly to weaken the Virginia Marriage Amendment by adding a provision to explicitly permit so-called “civil unions” and/or “domestic partnerships.” (Coalitions, email)
11.Reported the failure of liberals to amend the proposed Virginia Marriage Amendment by adding a provision to permit “civil unions” and/or “domestic partnerships,” and urging citizens to lobby lawmakers to support the better of two amendment proposals. (Email, lobbying)
12.Reported that the Virginia General Assembly had approved a well-worded amendment to the state constitution that establishes one-man, one-woman marriage as the only legal union that can be recognized or created by the state. (Email, website)
13.Alerted Virginia citizens to passage of legislation permitting marriage-like insurance benefits to homosexual couples, and urging citizen involvement in the defeat of a homosexual adoption bill. (Email, lobbying)
14.Criticized politicians who are enjoying the accolades of conservatives for supporting the Virginia Marriage Amendment, while they simultaneously eroded marriage’s preeminent place in society by supporting marriage-like insurance benefits and adoption rights for homosexual “couples.” (Email, media relations, website)
15.Informed citizens in Ohio of a lawsuit by a state-based pro-family group to stop state universities from extending marriage benefits to same-sex couples in violation of the Ohio Marriage Amendment, which was approved by voters in 2004. (Website)
16.Educated California residents on the legal significance of the state supreme court’s ruling unanimously that businesses must treat same-sex “domestic partners” the same as married couples. (Website)
17.Reported to California citizens that the state supreme court decision on behalf of a lesbian “couple” in a “domestic partnership” who demanded a golf club membership essentially mandates all California businesses must treat same-sex “domestic partners” the same as married couples. (Website)
18.Encouraged Texas citizens to attend the “Family-Friendly Legislative Day” at the state capitol auditorium in Austin on March 2. (Email)
19.Warned Tennessee families about a legislative proposal to require home-schooled students to take the same state-mandated achievement tests as their peers in the state’s public schools. (Email)
20.Educated California Christians on the vital differences between two very different state marriage amendment proposals. One proposal would merely protect the word “marriage,” while the other would also ban government recognition of look-a-like arrangements like “civil unions” and/or “domestic partnerships.” (Coalitions, email, website)
21.Alerted Virginia residents to a bill that passed the state legislature for the purpose of providing marriage-like insurance benefits to homosexual “couples.” (Email, website)
22.Reported a decision by the California Supreme Court that essentially grants dual parenthood to lesbian “couples.” (Website)
23.Alerted Christians to a Methodist conference at Lake Junaluska in North Carolina, that focused on how to lobby to overturn the church’s teachings on marriage and sex, and lobby for the acceptance of same-sex “marriage” and practicing homosexual clergy. (Website)
24.Reported a unanimous endorsement for so-called “gay marriage” by California’s Democrat delegation to the state legislature. (Website)
25.Alerted California residents to the passage of a “gay marriage” bill in the state Senate, which subsequently would be considered in the State Assembly. (Website)
26.Informed California residents that the “gay marriage” bill passed both house of the state legislature in Sacramento, and would subsequently be vetoed or signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. (Website)
REGARDING HUMAN SEXUALITY:
1.Opposed efforts by federal legislators to add “sexual orientation” to the Federal Hate Crimes Act. (Coalitions, Media interviews, Email, web site, lobbying)
2.Alerted Virginians to an Episcopal church’s decision to leave the Presbyterian Church”“USA as a result of the denomination’s affirmation of homosexuality and its “abandonment of Holy Scripture.” (Website)
3.Informed Californians of the L.A. Times exploitation of the porn business through the sale of advertising in their paper. (Website)
4.Alerted Pennsylvania citizens to a controversy involving a Duquesne University student who was punished for calling homosexuality “sub human behavior” on a private website. (Website)
5.Informed California citizens of US Senator Barbara Boxer’s attempts to establish a pro abortion litmus test for State Department employees. (Website)
6.Educated citizens on the legal definition of obscenity and a Third Circuit Court of Appeals case testing that definition. (Website)
7.Informed Virginia residents of state legislation that would have barred school-based clubs and/or distribution of literature focused on sexual behavior in Virginia’s public schools. (Email, website)
8.Alerted California, Pennsylvania and Tennessee citizens to the ACLU’s attempts to ban abstinence only education from public schools. (Website)
9.Informed Ohio citizens of a legislative proposal in Columbus that would give townships the authority they need to regulate local porn retailers. (Website)
10.Alerted Christians to the pro-homosexual disposition of the national PTA, which granted convention access to a so-called “gay rights” group while denying access to a group of ex-gays. (Media relations, website)
11.Reported to Pennsylvania residents that a federal judge had overturned an obscenity prosecution there on the grounds that, “the government can no longer rely on the advancement of a moral code — i.e., preventing consenting adults from entertaining lewd or lascivious thoughts — as a legitimate, let alone a compelling, state interest.” (Email)
12.Informed Maryland citizens of a federal lawsuit against Montgomery County Public Schools for attempting to indoctrinate children with religious acceptance of homosexuality. (Website, email)
13.Alerted Virginians to a controversy in Midlothian over a homosexual porn website owner that had previously been scheduled to speak to students at a public high school. (Media relations, website)
14.Alerted Virginia residents to proposed legislation that would have that would barred access to public schools any groups focused on “supporting, assisting, or justifying any lifestyle involving sexual behavior.” The legislation did not pass. (Coalitions, email, website)
15.Alerted Pennsylvania efforts to a state-wide organization’s efforts to shut down a Mercer County strip club. (Website)
16.Reported on the efforts of a San Diego Christian activist who exposed the involvement of convicted pedophiles working for the three-day San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Festival. (Website)
17.Reported to Pennsylvania citizens that a pro-family legal challenge to the state’s ‘hate-crimes’ law was thrown out of court. (Website)
18.Informed Christians that President Bush kept in place a Clinton executive order giving special workplace protections to federal employees who engage in homosexual conduct. (Website)
19.Alerted Maryland citizens to the court-required action by the Montgomery County School Board to scrap a controversial program designed to teach acceptance of homosexuality is somehow found in the Bible. (Website)
20.Reported to Maryland citizens that a judge had ruled Montgomery County School Board must stop an instructional program designed to teach acceptance of homosexuality is taught in the Bible. (Website)
21.Educated citizens both state-wide and nationally regarding U.S. Senator George Allen’s actions to promote homosexuality in Washington, D.C. (Coalitions, Email, media interviews, web site)
22.Informed citizens of the growing frustration from pro-family leaders over the Bush administration’s lack of obscenity law enforcement. (Website)
REGARDING HUMAN LIFE:
1.Alerted Tennesseans to a legal battle over the constitutionality of the “Choose Life” license plates. (Website)
2.Informed California residents of Planned Parenthood’s opposition to Proposition 73, which would require parental consent for minors to have abortions. (Website)
3.Exposed a $100 million agreement between Morning-after Abortion Pill maker Barr Laboratories and abortion provider Planned Parenthood, who would distribute only the abortifacient pills made by Barr if the pharmaceutical giant could gain the Food and Drug Administration’s permission to sell the pills without a prescription. (Coalitions, email, website)
4.Reported on the decision of the Food and Drug Administration to withhold approval for “Over-the-Counter” distribution of the Morning-after Abortion Pill (MAP) unless and until it can find a way to do so that would NOT simultaneously make it readily available for minors. (Website, email)
5.Alerted Tennessee residents to a legislative proposal to require all hospitals to provide Morning-after Abortion Pills to rape victims upon request. (Email, website)
6.Informed Christians that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) had changed his position to now support destroying human embryos for research purposes, angering James Dobson and other pro-family leaders. (Email, website)
7.Reported on the flip-flop by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), who now supports embryo destruction for purposes of research. (Website)
8.Warned parents about a scheme by the United Nations that preys upon children to raise money for the pro-abortion “UNICEF” agency while trick-or-treating on Halloween. (Email, website)
9.Alerted Tennessee residents to a lawsuit brought by Liberty Counsel to defend the state’s “Choose Life” license plates. (Website)
10.Encouraged pro-life citizens in Tennessee to attend a rally for life at the state capitol in Knoxville. (Website)
REGARDING POLITICS:
1.Provided a post-election analysis of the failed Republican attempt to win the Virginia Governor’s Mansion by betraying pro-life, pro-family voters. (Email, media relations, website)
2.Educated churches and families about immoral positions held by otherwise conservative lawmaker George Allen. (Policy paper, media interviews, web site)
3.Informed citizens of Senator George Allen’s change in policy, from supporting to now opposing legislation to add “sexual orientation” to the list of federally-recognized ‘hate crimes’ categories. (Media interviews, email, web site)
4.Alerted Californians to the selection of an avowed lesbian Democrat activist to be the chief of staff for Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (Website)
5.Publicly endorsed the Texas Marriage Amendment, which would establish one-man, one-woman relationships as the exclusive union qualifying for marriage contracts, and banning government recognition of non-marital relationships. (Email, lobbying, website)
6.Informed citizens throughout the U.S. of the 76% to 24% vote in Texas to ban so-called “gay marriage.” (Email, website)
7.Reported to Californians that the state’s Democrat Party had officially endorsed “gay marriage.” (Email, website)
8.Alerted North Carolina residents to the underhanded way the new state lottery was passed into law. (Website)
9.Informed North Carolina residents of ethical concerns that arose regarding selection of leaders to run new state lottery, less than a month after the Legislature approved it. (Website)
10.Informed Pennsylvania residents that the head of a state pro-family organization predicted Senator Rick Santorum was making his re-election bid more difficult by betraying conservatives on social issues. (Website)
11.Publicly urged U.S. Senator George Allen to finally keep a promise he broke previously, to oppose adding “sexual orientation” to the list of federally-recognized “hate crimes.” (Coalitions, email, lobbying, media relations, website)
12.Informed California residents that although Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had vetoed a “gay marriage” bill from the legislature, he expressed support for creating so-called “gay families” by other names. (Email, website)
13.Alerted California citizens to a Christian radio host’s frustration with pastors who failed to mobilize their members to support a ballot referendum to require parental consent for minors who want to have abortions. (Website)
14.Distributed a critique of First Lady Laura Bush’s April 30 speech to the Washington press corps, in which she made several inappropriate jokes about sexually-deviant topics. (Email)
15.Educated California Christians on the vital differences between two very different state marriage amendment proposals. One proposal would merely protect the word “marriage,” while the other would also ban government recognition of look-a-like arrangements like “civil unions” and/or “domestic partnerships.” (Coalitions, email, website)
16.Educated Christians nationally about concerns over the President’s nomination of Judge John Roberts as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court because of his involvement in a landmark “gay rights” case and his apparent willingness to permit abortion to remain in force as “established law.” (Coalitions, website)
17.Urged organizational leaders of ally organizations to postpone decisions regarding supporting or opposing President Bush’s selection of Harriet Miers as a nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court. The request was not intended to act as support or opposition for her nomination. Rather, it was intended to give the groups a chance to learn more about her nomination before making a decision about her selection. (Coalitions)
18.Distributed pertinent information about Supreme Court nominee Harriett Miers’ support for special workplace rights for people engaging in homosexuality to ally organizational leaders, without any statements endorsing or opposing her nomination. (Coalitions)
19.Informed Tennessee residents of the ACLU’s intention to keep a state constitutional amendment to define marriage as the exclusive union between a man and a woman off the statewide ballot in 2006. (Email, website)
20.Reported the passage of a weak Tennessee Marriage Amendment to residents of the state, along with FPN’s criticism of its weak language. (Email, website)
21.Informed Pennsylvania residents to conservative U.S. Senator Rick Santorum’s efforts to defend and support pro-abortion, pro-homosexual Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA). (Email, website)
22.Alerted Pennsylvania residents to Senator Rick Santorum’s statements, defending his support for liberal Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA). (Email, website)
23.Reported to Virginia residents that a lesbian “pastor” had “prayed” the invocation for the House of Delegates, invoking God’s help in convicting conservative lawmakers for attempting to “harm” homosexuals and decried the double-standard that bars invoking Jesus’ name in public prayers at the same microphone. (Website, media relations)
24.Informed Christians of social conservatives’ concerns over the nomination of John Roberts to the U.S. Supreme Court. (Website)
25.Reported a scheme by liberal Republican Senator Arlen Specter to keep Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court so she could eventually replace William Rehnquist (who at the time was expected to soon retire) as the Court’s Chief Justice. (Email, website)
26.Reported on the retirement of Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O’Connor. (Website)
ADMINISTRATIVE ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
1.In addition to existing state chapters in Virginia and Tennessee, FPN has begun to establish new state chapters in Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Each new chapter has its own web site, telephone number, an experienced state director and a statewide email list of between 500 and 3,500 active participants.
2.To improve the effectiveness of FPN’s ability to educate and mobilize Christian activists on important issues in the public square, several new technological updates have been accomplished this year. From a fully-integrated, database driven web portal; to an advanced, in-house email broadcast system with 35,000 members; to a new, national PBX t telephone communications system; FPN is more capable than ever of deploying large numbers of conservative activists into action without straining administrative resources or personnel.