Friday, March 31, 2006

THINLY DISGUISED ANTI-CHRISTIAN PROPAGANDA

A Leftist church (probably with a minute membership) was ostensibly trying to advertise itself but did so only by misrepresenting the great majority of Christian churches. No follower of Christ rejects anyone from Christian services -- any more than Christ rejected lost sheep -- but some churches will endeavour to point the way to more biblical standards of behaviour. Deceptive advertising is rightly banned and this ad was grossly deceptive and defamatory

The nation's major television networks have rejected an ad that shows a gay couple and others being banished from a church, saying it violates their rules against controversial or religious advertising. The 30-second commercial for the United Church of Christ will begin airing on cable networks and Spanish-language stations next week. The ad, called "Ejector," shows a gay couple, a single mother, a disabled man and others flying out of their pews as a wrinkled hand pushes a red button. Text on the screen reads, "God doesn't reject people. Neither do we," and a voiceover says, "The United Church of Christ. No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you're welcome here."

The church tried to run a similar ad in December 2004 in which bouncers outside a church stopped gay couples, racial minorities and others from entering. The networks also rejected that ad. The decision by CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox to decline the latest advertisement shows the networks have a narrow view of acceptable images of gays and lesbians, church leader Ron Buford said Monday. "They are saying, 'You can entertain on 'Will & Grace' and 'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,' but when it comes to showing you as whole people with the church, that is going to far," Buford said.

CBS spokeswoman Shannon Jacobs said the network has "a long-standing and well-documented policy of not accepting advocacy advertising." Kathy Kelly-Brown, a spokeswoman for NBC, said the ad "violates our long-standing policy against airing commercials that deal with issues of public controversy." Representatives for ABC and Fox were not available for comment, but Buford said both networks had told the church they have policies barring religious advertising. Buford said CBS executives had told him the subject would be considered advocacy advertising until the inclusion of gays and lesbians is common at churches in the United States. But Jacobs challenged that statement. "That supposed exchange is simply fictitious," she said.

Starting April 3, the ad will run for three weeks on CNN, USA, TNT, BET and eight other cable networks, along with three Spanish-language stations. The church spent $1.5 million on the ads, which will run through the Easter season. The church filed a complaint against CBS and NBC affiliates in Miami after the networks rejected the first ad in 2004. That complaint is still pending.

Source



BIAS AGAINST MEN IN DIVORCE UNDER CHALLENGE IN NEW YORK

A controversial bill to give divorced couples equal time with their kids has stirred up a battle between custodial and non-custodial ex-spouses. The state Assembly Committee for Children and Families will vote on the shared parenting bill on Tuesday. The bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg, D-Long Beach, requires "statutory presumption of joint custody" so both parents have a chance to raise their kids. A companion bill was introduced in the Senate by Finance Committee Chairman Owen Johnson, R-Babylon.

The legislation proposed for New York, if passed, would require judges to award joint custody unless there was an obvious reason why they should not, such as domestic violence. The party seeking sole custody would then have to prove why the other parent is unfit for joint custody.

Momentum is building, oddly, two months after a report released by a Matrimonial Commission appointed for a year to study the state's divorce laws said "no presumptions regarding the awarding of custody, whatsoever, should be created by legislation, case law or otherwise." Fathers' rights advocates are working hard to get the bill passed. They say children love and need both parents, but men are most often left with visitation of about four days a month.

Mothers' groups say shared parenting would be devastating and dangerous, particularly for victims of domestic violence and their children. Such changes would decrease child support payments and lead to more acrimony, they believe. "Theoretically, it sounds like a great idea," said Lisa Frisch, executive director of The Legal Project, an arm of the Capital District Women's Bar Association. "In the best of all worlds, it would be great if people could work things out, instead of being a presumption by the court," Frisch said. "But this is a tremendous burden."

The New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence also opposes changes they say would tear children from the world they know best. The coalition's position statement elaborates. "Research shows that joint custody ordered without the agreement of both parents is not in the best interest of the child. Where one or both parents object to joint custody, court ordered shared custody arrangements result in high degrees of parental conflict."

But John Joel, whose children were allowed to move to Rochester after a custody battle, supports the measure. On Tuesday, Joel, the Albany County coordinator of Fathers and Families NY, personally delivered copies of a position paper urging Assembly members to support the bill. "I firmly believe that if Shared Parenting were in effect in New York state, my daughters would have never been allowed to move," Joel said. He said he sees the girls twice a month for less than 48 hours, six or more of which he spends driving half of the 400-mile distance. His ex-wife meets him halfway. "I was never given a chance to be a dad," Joel said. "No one should have to go through what my daughters and I did. That's why I want to see the law changed to give families a chance."

The first joint custody statute was passed in 1973 in Indiana and gained momentum in 1980 when California joined in. New York is one of 13 states without it.

More than a quarter of U.S. children, nearly 17 million, do not live with their father, said Glenn Sacks, a Los Angeles-based radio talk show host, columnist and commentator. Sacks has taken an interest in the state Assembly bill, and says his broadcasts prompted more than 5,000 people to deluge lawmakers with e-mails, faxes and letters, urging passage. "The bill would protect the loving bonds children share with both parents by establishing joint custody as the preferred parenting arrangement after divorce," he said.

Frisch disagreed. "The parent who's provided a home for the child should be the presumptive custodial parent," she said. "We have people who can't have a relationship with each other. It's not safe."

Concerns about protecting female victims of domestic violence during the divorce process are legitimate, Sacks conceded. But the Assembly bill's presumption of joint custody only applies to fit parents, he said: "Abused women would receive sole custody." A 4-year study by Harvard University of 517 families found that 10- to 18-year-olds whose parents shared custody did better emotionally and academically than those in sole custody arrangements, he said. A survey by the Journal of Divorce & Remarriage also says that joint custody helps reduce conflict between divorced spouses, he said.

While unable to comment specifically on the proposed legislation, Albany County Family Court Judge Gerard Maney said custody cases are decided case by case because much goes into determining what is in the best interest of a family. The fitness of parents, quality of the home environment and children's wishes, if considered of age, are key, he said. Also important: length of current custodial arrangements, effect of possible changes and whether siblings would be separated. "Arguments on both sides are interesting because this is a nebulous area," he said. "There is no cookie-cutter approach; one side doesn't fit all, because ... we live in changing times."

Family Court judges often use alternative dispute resolution with parents who are willing to sit down and communicate. In the meanwhile? "We'll have to see what the Legislature does, in their wisdom," Maney said.

Source

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