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		<title>Virginia Christian Alliance</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Virginia Christian Alliance]]></description>
		<link>http://vachristian.org/</link>
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			<title>Virginia Christian Alliance</title>
			<link>http://vachristian.org/</link>
			<description>Virginia Christian Alliance</description>
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			<title>A LETTER TO THE EDITOR- the WALL STREET JOURNAL</title>
			<link>http://vachristian.org/Sexual-Purity/A-LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR-the-WALL-STREET-JOURNAL.html</link>
			<description><![CDATA[<p><strong>A LETTER TO THE EDITOR- the WALL STREET JOURNAL</strong></p>
<p>66 MILLION PEOPLE CAN’T BE WRONG says the Sports Illustrated ad concerning their swimsuit issue.&nbsp;</p>
<p>O yes they can, IF THEY LOOK, particularly the boys, young men, middle-age men and even the ‘old codgers’&nbsp;</p>
<p>Some would not consider this type of publication as hardcore porn, but the results are going to be the same. It will be a step on the road to degradation. It’s not only the thousands of dollars that a person who is hooked on porn can waste, but the moral digression in his personality and soul.</p>

<p>Consider the married man, how can his wife match the girls with their enhanced features? It provides encouragement and grounds for playing around, e.g. think Bill, John, Mark, Tiger, and don’t forget ‘Joe Blow” down the street.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Dads and Moms, think what effect this will have on little Johnny and him wanting to date your daughter. Boys have one thing in mind, in this supped up sexual culture, to go as far as the girl will let him.&nbsp;</p>
<p>And what about the ‘swim suit’ girls- is PLAYBOY and HUSTLER next? Men have abused women in pornography, movies and sexual services. There is always a starting place, and publication editors know the power of SEX to attract.&nbsp;</p>
<p>But the best advice- don’t pose and ‘don’t look.</p>
<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <em><strong>Greene Hollowell</strong></em></p>
<p> </p>
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			<author>Jeff Bayard</author>
			<pubDate>Wed, 25 Aug 2010 06:50:28 +0000</pubDate>
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			<title>The Effects of Pornography on Individuals, Marriage, Family and Community</title>
			<link>http://vachristian.org/Sexual-Purity/The-Effects-of-Pornography-on-Individuals-Marriage-Family-and-Community.html</link>
			<description><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: justify;">From the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.frc.org/pornography-effects">Family Resarch Council</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Executive Summary </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Pornography is a visual representation of sexuality which distorts an  individual's concept of the nature of conjugal relations. This, in  turn, alters both sexual attitudes and behavior. It is a major threat to  marriage, to family, to children and to individual happiness. In  undermining marriage it is one of the factors in undermining social  stability.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Social scientists, clinical psychologists, and biologists have begun  to clarify some of the social and psychological effects, and  neurologists are beginning to delineate the biological mechanisms  through which pornography produces its powerful negative effects.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify;">

</div>
<p style="text-align: justify;"> </p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>KEY FINDINGS ON THE EFFECTS OF PORNOGRAPHY</strong></p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">THE FAMILY AND PORNOGRAPHY </span></p>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<ul>
<li>Married men who are involved in pornography feel less satisfied with  their conjugal relations and less emotionally attached to their wives.  Wives notice and are upset by the difference. </li>
<li>Pornography use is a pathway to infidelity and divorce, and is frequently a major factor in these family disasters. </li>
<li>Among couples affected by one spouse's addiction, two-thirds experience a loss of interest in sexual intercourse. </li>
<li>Both spouses perceive pornography viewing as tantamount to infidelity. </li>
<li>Pornography viewing leads to a loss of interest in good family relations.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">THE INDIVIDUAL AND PORNOGRAPHY </span></p>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<ul>
<li>Pornography is addictive, and neuroscientists are beginning to map the biological substrate of this addiction. </li>
<li>Users tend to become desensitized to the type of pornorgraphy they  use, become bored with it, and then seek more perverse forms of  pornography. </li>
<li>Men who view pornography regularly have a higher tolerance for  abnormal sexuality, including rape, sexual aggression, and sexual  promiscuity. </li>
<li>Prolonged consumption of pornography by men produces stronger notions of women as commodities or as "sex objects." </li>
<li>Pornography engenders greater sexual permissiveness, which in turn  leads to a greater risk of out-of-wedlock births and STDs. These, in  turn, lead to still more weaknesses and debilities. </li>
<li>Child-sex offenders are more likely to view pornography regularly or to be involved in its distribution. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">OTHER EFFECTS OF PORNOGRAPHY </span></p>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<ul>
<li>Many adolescents who view pornography initially feel shame,  diminished self-confidence, and sexual uncertainty, but these feelings  quickly shift to unadulterated enjoyment with regular viewing. </li>
<li>The presence of sexually oriented businesses significantly harms the  surrounding community, leading to increases in crime and decreases in  property values. </li>
<li>The main defenses against pornography are close family life, a good  marriage and good relations between parents and children, coupled with  deliberate parental monitoring of Internet use. Traditionally,  government has kept a tight lid on sexual traffic and businesses, but in  matters of pornography that has waned almost completely, except where  child pornography is concerned. Given the massive, deleterious  individual, marital, family, and social effects of pornography, it is  time for citizens, communities, and government to reconsider their  laissez-faire approach. </li>
</ul>
</div>]]></description>
			<author>Jeff Bayard</author>
			<pubDate>Mon, 16 Aug 2010 01:13:01 +0000</pubDate>
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			<title>Marriage and the Constitution</title>
			<link>http://vachristian.org/God-Ordained-Family/Marriage-and-the-Constitution.html</link>
			<description><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: justify;"><a target="_blank" href="http://patriotpost.us/"><img style="margin: 5px; float: left;" alt="ken_blackwell_bio" src="/images/stories/Issues/God-Ordained_family/ken_blackwell_bio.jpg" height="225" width="150" />The Patriot Post</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The federal same-sex marriage decision out of California sets into motion a  sequence of events that will result in a Supreme Court earthquake two years from  now. The Supreme Court can either vindicate traditional marriage, or forever  redefine the most basic unit of human civilization.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Sounds melodramatic, but unfortunately — it’s true.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">On August 4, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California  decided Perry v. Schwarzenegger. The voters of California amended the California  Constitution to say marriage in California is between a man and a woman. In  Perry, the issue was whether there is a federal constitutional right to same-sex  marriage, such that any state law, federal law, or state constitution to the  contrary is unconstitutional.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify;">

</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The U.S. Supreme Court has held that marriage is a fundamental right in the  U.S. Constitution. In this ruling, Chief Judge Vaughn Walker held that the  California Constitution violates that federal right by not allowing gays to  marry each other.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Although not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, marriage is an implied  fundamental right. The test for whether a right is a fundamental right is  whether it is rooted in the history and tradition of the American people, and  essential to an Anglo-American scheme of ordered liberty.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">No one in this lawsuit disputes that the right to marry fits those two  criteria of being rooted in our history and essential to an American concept of  ordered liberty. So the question is whether same-sex marriage also meets that  test.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The judge’s mistake ultimately comes from a false choice he sets up as the  legal issue. He writes, “The question presented here is whether plaintiffs seek  to exercise the fundamental right to marry; or, because they are couples of the  same sex, whether they seek recognition of a new right.”</p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">That’s not the issue. The issue is whether a person has the right to redefine  marriage. The district court tried to deal with that issue by declaring its own  definition of marriage: “Marriage requires two parties to give their free  consent to form a relationship, which then forms the foundation of a  household.”</p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">One of the problems with that definition is the word “two.” Why only two?  Dozens of countries across the world practice polygamy, where a man can have  more than one wife. Islam, for example, permits a man to have four wives, and  that’s the law in Muslim nations. Why does the court insist on two?</p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">There are other problems as well. In many countries, a person can be married  at an age that is considered too young in America to give consent. In others,  consent is not required regardless of age; many women are forced to marry  against their wishes. In some cultures, people can marry close relatives, and in  a few over time, even brothers and sisters.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">None of that is protected by our Constitution. American laws against  polygamy, child-marriage and incest do not run afoul of the Constitution.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">But the federal judge in this case chose to define marriage in such a way  that it would give a green light to same-sex marriage, while not casting into  doubt all of these other laws that ban all of these other types of marriage.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The problem for the district court is that same-sex marriage shares the same  problem as all those others when it comes to the constitutional test: None of  them are found in the history and tradition of the American people. And none of  those types of marriage have been found essential to an American concept of  liberty. Therefore none of them are part of the fundamental right of  marriage.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">In the end, the Constitution protects the fundamental right for one man and  one woman to get married, so long as they are not close relatives. That’s why  laws that don’t allow interracial marriage are unconstitutional, but a law  saying that a man cannot marry another man is not unconstitutional.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">This case showcases some of the best legal talent in America. Supporters of  same-sex marriage are represented by liberal legal legend David Bioes and  libertarian/conservative Ted Olson, who is probably the most successful Supreme  Court lawyer alive today. In a gross dereliction of duty and betrayal of their  oaths of office, California state officials are not defending California’s state  constitution in this challenge. So supporters of traditional marriage are being  represented by conservative legal icon Charles Cooper—who was Ronald Reagan’s  top legal advisor under Attorney General Ed Meese, and a former law clerk to  late Chief Justice William Rehnquist.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">These legal heavyweights will continue to fight this out. The Perry case goes  now to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, where the odds are good  that the appellate court will affirm the trial court. (Most of the judges on the  Ninth Circuit—which is the most liberal federal appeals court in the country—are  either liberal or libertarian.) From there, it will go on to the U.S. Supreme  Court.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">This case parallels another case out of Massachusetts, where a few weeks ago  a federal judge held the federal Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. That  case is now on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">So the issue of same-sex marriage is moving up the federal court system on  two tracks. The odds are good that they will end up before the Supreme Court at  the same time, and the odds are very good that one—or both—will be decided in  the first half of 2012.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">What position will the Obama Justice Department take as these cases go to the  High Court? Will President Obama hold to his official statement that he believes  in traditional marriage? Who is he going to alienate right at the end of his  reelection campaign, his base, or swing voters?</p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">This case presents one of the most important social issues in America’s  history. As a society, we all have a vital stake in the outcome.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">(Editors' Note: this piece was co-authored by Ken Klukowski, who is special  counsel with the Family Research Council and senior legal analyst with the  American Civil Rights Union, and coauthor of The Blueprint: Obama’s Plan to  Subvert the Constitution and Build an Imperial Presidency.)</p>]]></description>
			<author>Jeff Bayard</author>
			<pubDate>Mon, 09 Aug 2010 00:43:00 +0000</pubDate>
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			<title>Judging Marriage Proposition 8 Struck Down </title>
			<link>http://vachristian.org/God-Ordained-Family/Judging-Marriage-Proposition-8-Struck-Down.html</link>
			<description><![CDATA[<p><img style="margin: 5px; float: left;" alt="colson2" src="/images/stories/Issues/God-Ordained_family/colson2.jpg" height="190" width="132" />I have warned you for months that our religious freedoms are imperiled. Well, Armageddon may be close at hand if a new court decision holds up.</p>
<p>Yesterday, federal district court Judge Vaughn Walker, a Reagan appointee, overturned <st1:state><st1:place>California</st1:place></st1:state>’s Proposition 8, which defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman.</p>

<p> </p>
<p>While the immediate impact is limited to the state of <st1:state><st1:place>California</st1:place></st1:state>, the consequences of this egregious bit of judicial overreach threatens to be nationwide.</p>
<p>Two years ago, the California Supreme Court ruled that denying same-sex couples the right to marry violated the state constitution.&nbsp; <a target="_blank" href="http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/14998">CONTINUED on Break Point</a></p>
<p> </p>]]></description>
			<author>Jeff Bayard</author>
			<pubDate>Mon, 09 Aug 2010 00:28:24 +0000</pubDate>
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			<title>The Top Ten Myths about Homosexuality</title>
			<link>http://vachristian.org/Sexual-Purity/The-Top-Ten-Myths-about-Homosexuality.html</link>
			<description><![CDATA[<div style="text-align: justify;">The homosexual activist movement is now over forty years old.  Conservatives sometimes refer to the array of goals this movement has  pursued--hate crime laws, employment "non-discrimination" laws, same-sex  "marriage," etc.--as "the homosexual agenda."</div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Occasionally, we are mocked for the use of this term, as though we  are suggesting that this movement represents some sinister and shadowy  conspiracy. However, the term "agenda" is a perfectly neutral one. We in  the pro-family movement certainly have our own "agenda."</p>
<div style="text-align: justify;">

</div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Its elements  include: protecting the safety and dignity of human life from the moment  of conception to the moment of natural death; encouraging the practice  of sexuality only within the context of marriage between one man and one  woman; and promoting the natural family, headed by a married,  biological mother and father, as the ideal setting for raising children.  We are proud of this "agenda," and will continue to vigorously pursue  it.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">By the same token, homosexual activists have a clear agenda as well.  It is an agenda that demands the universal acceptance of homosexual acts  and relationships--morally, socially, legally, religiously, politically  and financially. Indeed, itcalls for not only acceptance, but  affirmation and celebration of this behavior as normal, natural, and  even as desirable for those who desire it. There is nothing shadowy or  secretive about this agenda--in fact, it has become nearly impossible to  avoid encountering it.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><a href="http://downloads.frc.org/EF/EF10F01.pdf">Continue Reading...</a></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>SOURCE</strong>: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.frc.org/brochure/the-top-ten-myths-of-homosexuality">The Family Research Council</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Since 1983, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.frc.org/">Family Research Council</a> (FRC) has advanced faith, family and freedom in public policy and public opinion. FRC's team of seasoned experts promote these core values through policy research, public education on Capitol Hill and in the media, and grassroots mobilization. We review legislation, meet with policymakers, publish books and pamphlets, build coalitions, testify before Congress, and maintain a powerful presence in print and broadcast media. Through our outreach to pastors, we equip churches to transform the culture.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><br /></strong></p>]]></description>
			<author>Jeff Bayard</author>
			<pubDate>Mon, 09 Aug 2010 00:05:31 +0000</pubDate>
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