ACTIVISM
A&F’s new catalog as smutty as ever
Controversial clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) has released its latest quarterly catalog, the Back to School Issue 2003, which it flaunts as The Sex Ed Issue.

For the last several years, A&F has focused its clothing catalog, ironically, on nudity. More than 45 out of the catalog’s total 280 pages have photos with female breast nudity, male and female rear nudity and/or complete nudity. (Genitals are not shown.)

Sexual themes abound as well in the first 124 pages of Back to School. There are photographic portrayals of fornication, group sex, and masturbation, as well as homoerotic imagery and even a double entendre for bestiality.

The catalog contains interviews with various pop stars and psychic John Edward, from the cable show Crossing Over. There is also an interview with a pair of female porn stars, who freely discuss men’s genitals, sexual arousal and sexual acts.

A&F has been controversial, not simply because of the nudity and sex in their catalogs, but because of the company’s enthusiastic endorsement of casual sex.

"Abercrombie & Fitch does not merely sell a popular line of clothing – they sell a lifestyle," said AFA President Tim Wildmon. "And because A&F clothing is popular among teens and college kids, the influence of their sex-as-recreation lifestyle is widespread. For the 65 million Americans with an incurable sexually transmitted disease, however, casual sex is no longer a game."

A&F’s stubborn refusal to dampen its hedonistic salesmanship has led AFA to call for a boycott of the retailer’s clothing line.

OMM/OMD continue influence on advertisers
AFA’s online campaign to influence advertisers to pull their support from offensive television shows continues to produce victories.

"OneMillionMoms.com (OMM) and OneMillionDads.com (OMD) members are helping convince television advertisers to change the way they do business," said AFA chairman Don Wildmon. "Companies find it difficult to ignore tens of thousands of E-mails from concerned consumers."

In July, several advertisers dropped their sponsorship of Paradise Hotel (Fox). Burger King, Alberto-Culver, Rent-a-Center, and McDonald’s all dropped their advertising support of the controversial "reality" show. Paradise Hotel promotes illicit affairs by boasting, "Where every desire is fulfilled. And the only rule there, is pair-up or go home."

Rent-A-Center responded to viewer concerns, saying, "We regret that we were not aware of the program content before the commercial ran and have gone to great lengths to ensure that this will not happen again. The spot has been pulled."

Wildmon said it takes less than 30 seconds for online activists to contact numerous corporate executives. "With a single click of the mouse, Christian moms and dads can get their message through to decision-makers," he said, "and it works."

Home Depot clarifies policy
You are a Christian ministry, and we will not donate any funds to any church or Christian ministry." That’s what a Home Depot store manager told a Christian ministry in Dallas, Georgia, after it asked for a donation to help terminally ill and handicapped youth.

After AFA Action Alert members complained that the company was engaging in discrimination against Christians, the Home Depot national office clarified its policy.

A spokesman for the corporation assured AFA that Home Depot gladly supports ministries whose projects benefit the entire community.

Walgreens offers one-hour porn photo developing
In a June 18 letter to AFA chairman Don Wildmon, Walgreens said it would continue the practice of developing pictures depicting nudity and sexual acts, including bestiality, in one-hour photo store labs.

AFA representatives Randy Sharp and Patrick Vaughn met with executives from Walgreens in Deerfield, Illinois, in February, after an employee refused to develop pictures containing nudity. His complaint resulted in his transferring to another department, where he was fired two weeks later because the department had "over-hired," despite the fact that the man had received an award for being a model employee.

The former employee said his photo lab trainers specifically noted he would be required to develop "all kinds of pictures." One of the Walgreens photo supervisors, Karen Bradley, told him, "You must develop all nudity photos, except child pornography. This includes group sex and sex with animals. You will see it all."

Based on AFA’s research, Walgreens is the largest national retailer to develop pornographic pictures in the one-hour photo departments within their stores. Wal-Mart, Meijer, Rite-Aid, USA Drug (Super D), CVS, Albertson’s, and Eckerd do not require employees to develop photos containing nudity. Most policies require the photo specialist to return the negatives to the customer and refuse to print the pictures.

Walgreens does allow employees in its photo labs to transfer elsewhere in the store if they are offended by such photos, or ask other employees to develop pictures containing nudity. However, Sharp said Walgreens’ liberal photo policy places the company in violation of its own sexual harassment policy.

"Asking employees to develop pornographic images creates an intimidating, hostile, and offensive working environment," said Sharp. "We had hoped Walgreens would take the road of corporate responsibility and stop developing pornographic pictures altogether. We were disappointed."

The company has about 4,000 Walgreens stores in 43 states.

Publishers pressure Wal-Mart about new magazine policy
Wal-Mart’s new policy regarding how it displays certain magazines at its stores’ checkout counters has resulted in plenty of behind-the-scenes pressure from magazine publishers who want to see old times return.

The retailer received praise from pro-family groups for its decision to obscure the racy covers of some of its magazines by adding plastic covers. (See AFA Journal, 7/03.) Magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Glamour and Redbook have long attracted criticism because the covers usually include scantily clad models and salacious headlines.

However, according to an article on Mediaweek.com, a publishing industry Web site, representatives from the Magazine Publishers of America have been working "feverishly behind the scenes" to convince Wal-Mart to reverse the brand new policy. The industry group has been trying to arrange a September meeting between its own representatives and executives from the retailer, the article said.

Mediaweek quoted Wal-Mart representative Tom Williams, who said, "We’re always open [for discussion]. But we had so much feedback from customers who were uncomfortable with the language on the covers."

For the last two years, AFA has been encouraging Wal-Mart to make the policy change. The company is the nation’s largest retailer, accounting for 15% of all magazine newsstand sales, according to Mediaweek.

www.mediaweek.com, 7/28/03

ENTERTAINMENT
TV Guide asks readers: ‘Is TV too offensive?’
Is the American public offended by network violence, sex and profanity, or is it apathetic about it? The answer is yes.

In its August 2 issue, TV Guide ran a seven-page article on the growing trend of network television to air anything and everything, from mind-numbing sexual banter to blatant nudity and stomach-churning gore. The problem seems to be that viewers are ambivalent.

"American network TV has changed dramatically over the past decade – and so, it seems, has viewers’ tolerance," said Steven Daly, who penned the article for the magazine.

A national polling firm, Opinion Research Corp., conducted a survey for TV Guide in an attempt to capture the viewing public’s feelings on these network trends. The poll revealed a nation that appears to be regularly offended by what airs on the tube.

When asked if they recently had noticed an increase in offensive material on TV, 57% answered yes – and 48% said they found offensive all of the following: "graphic violence and gore," "bodily functions," "foul language," and "nudity or sexual innuendo."

Nevertheless, viewers also appear to be too frustrated to do anything but change the channel. The study found that, while 71% had switched channels to avoid objectionable content, only 8% had ever bothered to call a network to complain about programming content.

Fenton Bailey, whose World of Wonder Productions spews out edgy "reality" fare for cable networks like HBO, Showtime and Bravo, seemed to predict further television debauchery.

"Television will not rest until it has shown us everything," he said. "With every year, as the shock of the new becomes the yawn of the old, television shows us more and more, like a rising tide."

Or, in the opinion of some, low tide.

America’s Christian Heritage Week slated for November 23-29
West Virginia is the latest state to recognize America’s Christian Heritage Week. The 12th annual event is scheduled for the week of Thanksgiving, November 23-29.

Bruce Barilla, nationwide promoter of the event, recently shared in a photo opportunity with West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise. Part of that state’s official proclamation states, "Thanksgiving week is an appropriate time to center attention on our thanks to Almighty God for His great and good Providence and for the Christian faith, which is part of West Virginia’s and America’s history."

People around the nation are urged to ask their state’s governor and their city’s mayor to issue proclamations recognizing the week as America’s Christian Heritage Week. For more information, visit www.achw.org on the Internet, or call 304- 536-9029.

Clearer video game ratings coming
Starting in mid-September, the labels placed on video game boxes will be providing more information to parents, helping them make better-informed decisions about what their children should be playing.

The Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) already gives a letter rating to video games, which stand for the intended audience: "EC" for early childhood; "E" for ages 6 and up; "T" for teens age 13 and up; "M" for "mature" gamers age 17 and up; and "AO" for adults only.

The new ratings will not only include the intended age levels, but will also provide additional information letting the purchaser know why the ESRB gave a game a particular label. For example, a game rated "M" might include these notes: "Intense Violence, Strong Language."

Parents can obtain more information concerning what various ratings mean, as well as the ratings for individual games, at the ESRB Web site (www.esrb.org).

USA Today, 6/27/03

FAMILY

PORNOGRAPHY
Children receiving porn ‘spam’ E-mail
Junk E-mail promoting get-rich-quick schemes, pornographic Web sites and loan programs aren’t sent only to adults. Four out of every five children who use E-mail get "spam," too.

A study conducted for Symantec Corp., an Internet security provider, found most children receive inappropriate junk E-mail, and a majority of the children interviewed said they felt "uncomfortable and offended when seeing improper E-mail content." The 1,000 children polled were between the ages of 7 and 18.

Among the findings of the study is the fact that 47% of the children received E-mails with links to pornographic Web sites.

"Parents need to educate their children about the dangers of spam and how they can avoid being exposed to offensive content or becoming innocent victims of online fraud," said Steve Cullen, Symantec’s senior vice president for consumer products.

The Washington Post/Reuters, 6/9/03

PRO-LIFE
Internet Web sites point the way to death
Twenty-one-year-old Julie Veteto put a dog leash around her neck and hanged herself. Nearby, her computer displayed a Web site with instructions for suicide by hanging.

Another woman committed suicide with an overdose of gas from two helium tanks. Near her lifeless body was a printout from the Church of Euthanasia’s Web site titled, "How to Kill Yourself," with details on how to commit suicide using helium.

"Pro-choice" suicide sites are exploding across the Internet, providing step-by-step instructions for people to kill themselves. And in the past year, there has been a significant increase in ‘online’ deaths.

Fortunately, the Web sites are coming under legal scrutiny. Although suicide itself may not be a crime, helping someone commit it is.

"When we can definitely prove that someone assisted a suicide, we’ll prosecute, no matter what form that help takes," says St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce.

The medical establishment and even the right-to-die advocacy groups are also upset about the sites. The Hemlock Society’s Julian Rush says, "This kind of unbridled freedom in this area can lead to a lot of abuse."

Newsweek, 6/30/03

Virginia approves tougher abortion laws
The winter session of Virginia’s General Assembly was dominated by issues pertaining to abortion. Out of that Assembly, two new laws became effective in July.

With the first, the state banned what was termed by Virginia lawmakers as "partial-birth infanticide," setting a national precedent with the law’s passage. The statute is the first to become law since the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that previous measures were unconstitutional because exceptions to protect the pregnant woman’s health were not allowed. The new statute does not include such a provision, and opponents have filed a federal lawsuit in Richmond to overturn it.

Joining a national trend, Virginia became the 23rd state to adopt a parental consent law, making it mandatory for minors to get a notarized consent from a parent before they can get an abortion. If a minor fears that telling her parents will cause her undue harm, she can seek permission from a judge; however, if the judge feels it is warranted, he may notify the parents.

According to The Washington Post, a spokesman for Planned Parenthood of Virginia is not happy with the new laws. Ben Greenberg contends that the laws "are a sign of much greater advancement by opponents of reproductive rights. It suggests they are making real progress toward their goal of ultimately outlawing abortions in Virginia and elsewhere."

The Washington Post, 7/1/03

RELIGION
Faith a growing theme in country music
Randy Travis recently had a number one hit on country music charts. While that wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for an artist who enjoyed great success in the 1980s and early ’90s, what makes Three Wooden Crosses remarkable is that it was released from a Christian music label.

Spiritually themed songs have been growing increasingly common in the country music genre for the past couple of years. According to Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, 10 of the top 60 country songs during one week in June had messages pertaining to faith and God.

"I think you could safely say there hasn’t been [a time] where there have been this many" popular songs expressing religious faith, Nashville music historian Robert Oermann told USA Today. Popularity in the music world is determined by both record sales and by the number of requests radio stations get for songs.

Popularity doesn’t always mean, though, the public gets what it wants. In May, singer Daron Norwood’s song, In God We Trust, was the most requested song for many country radio stations.

However, several stations pulled the song from play because, as a representative of WSM radio in Nashville said, "[I]t’s got too much Jesus in it."

Mike Borchetta, president of Lofton Creek Records, the label that signed Norwood, said his label would not back down in its efforts to get radio stations to play the song, and would not change the wording.

USA Today, 6/4/03; Baptist Press, 5/30/03

New Christian converts in China need Bibles
Christianity is exploding in China, and while that is creating a growing pool of new converts, it is also creating something else: a need for Bibles and pastors to lead the young churches.

It is estimated that 10,000 to 25,000 people accept Christ as Savior every day in China. A ministry that provides Bibles to believers in persecuted nations says that obviously necessitates resources.

Jerry Dykstra, a spokesman with Open Doors USA, a ministry which smuggles Bibles into countries hostile to Christianity, says the situation in China presents a paradox. "The good news is that people are finding the Lord Jesus as their Savior," Dykstra said. "The sad news is that we can’t get God’s Word to them fast enough – and we don’t have enough trained pastors to mentor, train, and disciple the new converts."

According to Dykstra, new Christians in China are often targets of cults and sects.

"That’s why we believe the distribution of God’s Word is so vital," he said, "so they can read it for themselves and we [can] continue to train, as we did this last year, over 6,000 pastors in order to be able to build up and strengthen the church."

Open Doors hopes to send two million Bibles and related study aids to China this year.

CONTACT:
Open Doors USA
P.O. Box 27001
Santa Ana, CA 92799
Phone: 1-949-752-6600
Toll Free: 1-888-5-BIBLE-5
FAX: 949-752-6442
Web site: www.opendoorsusa.org

Christian youth rejecting absolute truth
In June, popular author and speaker Josh McDowell presented attendees at the Southern Baptist Convention with startling statistics that bear out a troubling truth: Christian teens are abandoning the concept of "absolute truth."

"In 1991, 52% of our born-again church kids said there is no absolute truth. In 1994, 62% said there is no absolute truth," McDowell said. "In 1999, 78% of born-again church kids said there is no absolute truth. In 2002, 91% of our born-again church kids said there is no absolute truth."

McDowell added: "Do you know how staggering that is? The very basis on which we build our faith is truth – and when we allow truth to erode, we gut the faith."

While values drive a young person’s behavior, McDowell said, it is beliefs that form their values. The influence of secular culture – 40 hours of secular education and roughly 28 hours of secular entertainment each week – are driving even Christian kids away from the truth, he said.

Relationships can reverse this decline, he added. "We are losing our kids – not because they’re not hearing the truth, but because we’re not building loving, intimate, caring relationships with them," McDowell said.

Agape Press, 6/27/03

CORRECTION
Editor’s note: The following is an abbreviated version of a News of Interest story that ran in the August issue of AFA Journal. It incorrectly doubled the total percentage of homosexuals and bisexuals in the U.S. population.

The correct percentage is found in the last paragraph. Our appreciation to all those who alertly contacted AFA Journal concerning the mistake.

Gay’ groups admit 10% fallacy
For decades homosexual pressure groups have claimed that, since 10% of the population is either gay or lesbian, public officials should give credence to their political demands. Now it seems that, when they absolutely have to tell the truth, activists admit the 10% figure is a myth.

The startling admission was made by a coalition of 31 homosexual advocacy groups, including the Human Rights Campaign, National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. In their brief filed in a recent U.S. Supreme Court case, Lawrence v. Texas, which dealt with that state’s sodomy statute, the coalition said that only "2.8% of the male, and 1.4% of the female, population identify themselves as gay, lesbian, or bisexual."

"That 2.1% figure even includes bisexuals, which makes the percentage of people claiming to be exclusively homosexual even lower," said AFA president Tim Wildmon.
Culture Facts, 4/4/03