FREE MINDS: As politically correct efforts to censor free speech, prohibit the free exercise of religion, and otherwise impose leftist thought control on students continue, Rep. Jack Kingston (R.-Ga.) has introduced a bill to encourage colleges and universities to adopt an Academic Bill of Rights. On October 22, co-sponsor Rep. Joe Pitts (R.-Pa.) said, "We hear a lot about diversity on our nation’s college campuses these days. But despite all the talk about it, the most important form of diversity-intellectual diversity-is largely ignored. Most only get half the story." The Academic Bill of Rights encourages colleges to take politics out of the curriculum and foster intellectual diversity as they foster racial diversity.
SECOND CIVIL WAR: In a series of articles called "The Second American Civil War," conservative Jewish columnist Dennis Praeger wrote this month, "Whatever your politics, you have to be oblivious to reality to deny that America today is torn by ideological divisions as deep as those of the Civil War era. . . . The left believes in removing America’s Judeo-Christian identity, e.g., removing ‘under God’ from the Pledge, ‘In God we trust’ from the coins, the oath to God and country from the Boy Scouts Pledge, etc. The right believes that destroying these symbols and this identity is tantamount to destroying America. The left regards America as morally inferior to many European societies with their abolition of the death penalty, cradle-to-grave welfare and religion-free life. . . . The left believes that criticism of Christianity is important and that criticism of Islam is bigoted."
SAVE THE COMMANDMENTS: Another conservative Jewish leader, Orthodox Rabbi Daniel Lapin, is campaigning against leftist judges’ efforts to remove the Ten Commandments (and other religion-based items) from America’s public buildings. He attended a rally backing Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue’s (R.) effort to keep the Commandments displayed in a Georgia county courthouse. "Some Jewish leaders, most notably Orthodox Rabbi Daniel Lapin, believe public displays of the Ten Commandments are a reminder of America’s roots," reported the Atlanta Jewish Times on October 20. "Lapin, head of Toward Tradition, a national organization of Jews working with Christians, jumped into the fray recently by endorsing Perdue’s stand. Toward Tradition board member Lewis Kaufman, who spoke at the Perdue rally, said his group wanted to make it clear that ‘the secular fundamentalists’ opposing display of the commandments ‘do not represent all Jews and especially not the Judaism of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’"
PEDOPHILIA NEXT: As the homosexual rights movement continues to grow in strength, so does the campaign to lower the age of consent. The latest: Now the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) wants to legalize sexual relations between "age-mates." Reported the Culture of Life Foundation on October 14, " The Center for Reproductive Rights, an abortion-rights advocacy group, has sought to redefine the legal meaning of sex abuse in order to reduce the legal responsibility of family planning clinics to report cases of abuse to the government. According to CRR, only sexual activity between an adolescent and ‘a much older partner’ should be deemed statutory rape, and therefore necessary to report. . . . CRR shows particular concern for protecting ‘a range of consensual sexual activity between adolescents under age 16 and persons of similar age.’" According to the foundation, CRR does not "define the limits of what constitutes ‘age-mates’"-but refers to "much older partners."
ANTI-AMERICAN VIOLENCE: Many media reports about the murder of three Americans in Gaza on October 15 said or implied that Americans have rarely been the victims of Palestinian terrorism. "To find out the real situation, one has to go to such sources at the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), Palestinian Media Watch, and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy," wrote Dr. Daniel Pipes on his weblog. "CAMERA’s Eric Rozenman points to a long history of the PLO targeting American officials (Ambassador to Sudan Cleo A. Noel Jr. and his colleague George C. Moore in March 1973; U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Frances E. Meloy and his colleague Robert O. Waring in January 1977). It notes that approximately 103 American citizens have been killed by Palestinian terrorists in Israel and the disputed territories since 1968; and at least 39 Americans have been murdered in the past three years."
