OUR COLUMNISTS 'He's Only Human' Is No Excuse Commentary by Matt Friedeman If the forces of evil can weave a web of deceit in the minds of someone like of David Seamands, then those forces can likely do it in ours as well. And our only defense against such treachery is the grace of God. One-Stop Shopping Commentary by Jane Jimenez Comprehensive sex education ... it's being sold all over America. The best thing about comprehensive sex education, we parents are told, is that it teaches our children everything. That's right ... everything. Finding Wonderland Commentary by Brad Locke Our sense of wonder is a gift from God that should be tenderly nurtured and closely guarded. Retaining the ability to be amazed is what helps us hold on to truth. Amnesia Commentary by David Sisler What would it be like to wake up and not remember the evil that you had done, the people you had hurt, the sins you had committed? What would you pay for a little selective amnesia? God's Name Is Not to Be Misused Commentary by Mark Creech "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." It's the third of God's Ten Commandments and Bill Grantlin, a retired insurance salesman of Raleigh, North Carolina, takes it seriously.

...A memo has surfaced, written by Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, in which he warned the Reagan administration to steer clear of the Religious Right and also criticized a leading Christian figure. John Lofton was editor of the Conservative Digest at that time and was preparing a series of stories on the hiring practices of the Reagan administration. "I was to meet with the Attorney General William French Smith," Lofton notes, but before that happened, he says John Roberts wrote Smith a memo, instructing him "as to how to obfuscate the issue, basically -- how to answer the questions that I would raise." In the memo, Roberts advised the administration to distance itself from the Religious Right, and he went on to say that Christian leader Paul Weyrich was "no friend of ours," Lofton adds. However, he protests, "All Weyrich was trying to do, and myself and many other conservatives, was to make Reagan and his administration keep the promises they made when they were elected. That's all." The former Conservative Digest editor feels that kind of fair-weather friendship has been the predominant attitude of the GOP towards its Christian base. "We've been wined and dined before the election," he says, "but the minute they're elected, suddenly we're not one of them." Lofton says that is one reason why he is no longer working for the Republican Party. [Bill Fancher]

...A Christian activist contends that the American Civil Liberties Union is getting rich off its many lawsuits, filed allegedly to protect citizens' rights. Don Swarthout, founder and president of Christians Reviving America's ValuEs (CRAVE), says his study of ACLU cases leads him to the conclusion that the organization has a nice racket going. "They can sue whoever they want to," he points out. "If they win, then you pay their supposed costs. If they lose, you still pay your costs, and nobody helps you with that." Phyllis Schlafly of Eagle Forum agrees with Swarthout and wants Congress to pass a law that forbids the ACLU from making huge profits with its lawsuits. [Bill Fancher]

...The Indiana Court of Appeals has voided a judge's ruling that two Wiccan believers must shield their son from their "non-mainstream" faith. The appeals court says state law gives a custodial parent authority to determine a child's religious training, although a judge could intervene to prevent physical or emotional harm. Judge Cale Bradford had added the religion language to a divorce decree he granted last year to Thomas Jones and Tammy Bristol of Indianapolis. Jones is a Wiccan activist who has coordinated "Pagan Pride Day" in the city. A court report found that both parents are pagans who send their now ten-year-old son to a Catholic school. In May, Jones said neither he nor his ex-wife had taken the boy to any Wiccan rituals since the order was issued. [AP]

...A recent statement from the American Psychological Association has acknowledged that exposure to violence in electronic games is bad for kids and calls on the video game industry to scale back the violent content in its products. The APA statement referenced research indicating that exposure to violence in video games increases aggressive thoughts, feelings of anger, and aggressive behavior among young people; and at the same time, such exposure reduces helpful behavior and increases physiological arousal in children and teens. The statement also cited studies finding that video and interactive games depict perpetrators of violence going unpunished 73 percent of the time. An Associated Press report quotes psychologist Elizabeth Carll, co-chair of the APA Committee on Violence in Video Games and Interactive Media, as saying that the effect of showing violence without consequences teaches youth that violence is an effective means of conflict resolution, while seeing pain and suffering result from violence can inhibit aggressive behavior in kids. The APA is recommending that the entertainment industry make an effort to link violent behaviors with negative social consequences in the games, and that a rating system be developed that accurately reflects video game and interactive media content. [Jenni Parker]

...The Metropolitan Community Church of Greater New Orleans, which affirms homosexuals, has been kicked out of a building owned by the Roman Catholic diocese. A spokesman for the Archdiocese of New Orleans says the one-year lease with the church was terminated because, quote: "This particular group blesses gay unions, which we do not support." Dexter Brecht, pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church, calls that "another blatant example of the homophobic policies present in the Archdiocese of New Orleans." The Catholic Church teaches that homosexual sex is "intrinsically disordered." [AP]

...After being warned against restricting students' free-speech rights, school officials in a northern California city have dropped a ban preventing teens from wearing t-shirts with messages in support of traditional marriage. Not long ago, members of a student Conservative Club at a Rohnert Park high school decided to express their traditional values in opposition to what they experienced as a constant barrage of messages that ran contrary to their beliefs. Working with attorneys and affiliates of Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), the students selected a t-shirt message that clearly stated their support for traditional marriage, including a quote from the Bible. The t-shirt message was one PJI legal consultants deemed respectful, non-threatening, and legally defensible; however, because school officials had threatened the students with suspension if they wore t-shirts expressing their values, PJI sent a letter to the school administrators explaining the students' First Amendment rights and citing legal precedents supporting them. After PJI sent the letter on the Rohnert Park students' behalf, the school officials abandoned their former position, allowed the shirts, and made no further attempts to discipline the young conservatives for exercising their rights to wear them. "As we begin another school year," PJI president Brad Dacus notes, "it's important to remember that students and teachers do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gates." [Jenni Parker]

...A California-based immigration reform activist says it is not right for lending institutions to offer home mortgages to illegal aliens, yet many banks seem more than willing to do so. The Los Angeles Times reports that, in California, there are real estate agents who openly and actively seek out illegal alien business. Meanwhile, the FDIC is urging banks to target Latinos as potential customers, even if they are in the U.S. illegally. Diana Hull, president of Californians for Population Stabilization, feels banks that give loans to illegal immigrants "are violating the law, because aiding and abetting an illegal alien in any way is a federal felony." However, she notes, "the whole situation here is aggravated markedly by the billion-dollar annual fraudulent document industry." And Hull says even low-wage undocumented workers are able to get houses financed. "They don't live one family to a house," she notes. "That's one of the big neighborhood problems, that you can have maybe a two- or three-bedroom house and have five families living in it." The immigration laments the lack of responsibility taken by financial institutions and officials in addressing these problems. She says those private banks and quasi-public entities like FDIC claim it is not their job to determine people's immigration status or to report that they are not here legally. Instead, Hull says, they "get around all that" by saying their job is just to lend money. [Chad Groening]

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