2001 Little Notes
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Contents © 2001
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.

SEPTEMBER 2001 LITTLE NOTES

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Is promoting the homosexual agenda part of Christ the King's parish "mission"? The parish bulletin mentions a Christ the King gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender "Community" that "gathers monthly for fellowship and prayer" instructing those interested to "contact Fr. Eddie." That would be Christ the King's pastor, Father Eduardo Samaniego, S.J.. who directs gays and lesbians interested in joining the parish group to Joseph Jeffers, a former seminarian. Samaniego describes the community as "a group of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered who meet monthly for a potluck. They share prayer, faith and decide what they want to do in the parish and how to get involved in city-wide issues that deal with the gay-lesbian end of it."

As one of the largest groups in the parish, the gay and lesbian group is also represented on the parish's pastoral council.

Father Samaniego is quick to denounce the Courage program at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. "They believe in reparative therapy and all that. That's hogwash. We're not that and neither is Santa Sophia, St. Didacus or St. Patrick's. 'Love the sinner and hate the sin' is bullshit."

When asked if the bishop was concerned about the activity of the gay and lesbian activities in the parishes, Father Samaniego was confident of Brom's approval. "He was evangelized by one of his favorite priests who just died of AIDS a while back -- not too many people know about it. He visited him every day and I think this man helped him to see the humanity, struggle, passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ in gay men that are around him, because there are gay priests in the diocese -- most of them are not 'out,' obviously. Even though, publicly, he's not going to come out in favor of a lot of things, he is backing the Office of Social Ministry to do what it can to minister to gays and lesbians."


THE LOCAL CHAPTER OF OPERATION RESCUE WEST, which recently merged with San Diego's California Life Coalition, sponsored three events during the biotech extravaganza to protest killing of human embryos and use of aborted baby parts. The BIO 2001 welcoming banquet, held June 22 at the Westgate Hotel in downtown San Diego, was picketed by 12 pro-lifers stationed outside the hotel. They displayed their trademark, large aborted baby photos and handed out brochures. Some passersby averted their glances from the large posters. The picket was monitored by approximately 20 uniformed police officers, and three plainclothes officers spoke to organizer Cheryl Sullenger. Three local television stations were on hand, as well as several free-lance journalists.

On Sunday, June 24, while the other protest groups were marching to the convention center from Balboa Park, several pro-lifers picketed near the convention center itself. "We were the only ones down there," Sullenger reported. Operation Rescue's Troy Newman gave interviews on the spot to TV Channels 10 and 51. "There was a lot of media and a lot of people walking by, so we handed out literature and gave interviews, and we were the big thing down there." On Sunday evening, a "Christian Conference on Bioethics" took place at West Hills Christian Fellowship in Spring Valley. Steve Wagner, teacher and lecturer, explained the human embryo's personhood; Newman, addressed stem cell research technology; Gary Cass, West Hills pastor, expounded on the sanctity of life from a biblical perspective; and JoAnn Davidson, spokeswoman represented the Fullerton-based "Snowflakes" embryo adoption program. Approximately 80 people attended.

On Monday morning, June 25, Operation Rescue West led a protest outside the R.W. Johnson Pharmaceutical Research Institute, located at 3210 Merryfield Row, in the Torrey Pines area of La Jolla. R.W. Johnson is a research laboratory for Johnson & Johnson, popularly known for its baby care products. According to R.W. Johnson's website, the lab "focuses on cutting edge techniques in cellular and molecular biology to identify novel therapeutic approaches for unmet medical needs." Life Dynamics Incorporated has identified R.W. Johnson as a firm that uses aborted baby body parts in its research. The company sign at the main entrance of the R.W. Johnson parking lot was concealed with a makeshift wooden cover for the occasion. "We're here to expose the atrocious research done by Johnson & Johnson," Newman explained to a Cable News Network news crew. "They are purchasing aborted baby body parts from abortion clinics; they are doing embryonic stem cell research, and in doing so they're profiteering from dead children.

"We're not necessarily opposed to biotechnology; we like to eat, and we believe that feeding the world is a good thing," Newman continued, in response to additional questions from the CNN reporter. "But ... you can't advance science by murdering people. It was tried during the Nazi holocaust. There is no medical benefit that can truly be derived from it...."

The CNN reporter commented, "This company, I'm sure, would argue, 'We're not killing any babies at all; the decision was made by the mother before we ever got involved.'" Newman answered, "Embryonic stem cells come from the so-called leftover babies from in vitro fertilization. These babies arrive here intact, fully alive ... so the baby is very, very much alive when they're being dissected. So the murder does take place here...."

When asked by the News Notes reporter about the company boarding up its sign, Newman stated, "This is akin to every other biotech protest we've ever been to, where there's exposure. They take the policy of 'cover your sign, say nothing to the media and hold your breath until the protesters leave.' They will never make a statement to the media...."

Six San Diego police officers, a few of the company's private security officers, and four members of a "civilian mediation team" monitored the protest. The mediation team functions under the aegis of Ashley Walker, executive director of the City of San Diego's Human Relations Commission. It was the first time this reporter had observed them at a pro-life event. Walker explained that the eight-member team works on a voluntary basis with the city's police department, acting as a liaison between the police and demonstrators. "We make sure that the people who are demonstrating are safe, make sure that their constitutional rights are not infringed upon, and we act as kind of a buffer . . . when the group and the police are having trouble communicating." When asked why half her team had been deployed for the relatively small protest while significantly larger protests were occurring in other areas of the city, Walker replied, "You never know what the size is going to be when you start out...."


ONE OF PLANNED PARENTHOOD'S current stratagems is to obfuscate the definition of conception, according to the May 2001 Ryan Report, the newsletter of Stop Planned Parenthood International, a division of the American Life League. In her January 19 statement before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on Senator John Ashcroft's nomination as Attorney General, PP president Gloria Feldt lamented, "John Ashcroft actually believes that personhood begins before pregnancy, at the moment that sperm meets egg, the moment of fertilization. He holds this belief in spite of the fact that it contradicts the medically accepted definition of pregnancy as the time when a fertilized egg is implanted in the uterine wall -- the moment of conception."


18-YEAR-OLD AARON PRIEST, a Granite Hills High School graduate and member of West Hills Christian Fellowship, sent a June 25 e-mail message to San Diego Christians United director Steve Klein, Priest described his reaction to the "mandatory indoctrination session" he attended at Warren College, UCSD on June 21 and 22: "...The skit went like this: A bunch of kids were sitting together watching TV. Then one blurted out the word 'fag' and continued to say it despite objections by one of the 'sensitive' girls in the room who went on about how it's an offensive word, and so on. Then we learned that one of the girls was a lesbian and one of the guys was gay (pretty good odds considering that only three percent of Americans report themselves as gay. Throughout the presentation numerous kids laughed at the way it was presented. The gay guy and girl were presented in a silly way.

"Then we got our first lecture of our college careers. An openly gay (and believe me he fit the mold) counselor got up on the stage, brandishing his clipboard with the rainbow logo on it, and lectured the audience of about 150 future college students about how homosexuality was okay because 'some of us are messy and some of us cook bad food and some of us are gay.'

"The next day checkout wasn't until 11:30. We were sent off to re-education groups to discuss the dilemma of homosexuality. My group, praise God, wouldn't take it. Our group consisted of about 15 future students. Two of us were avowed Christians, one was a Muslim, and there were a few others there who were weary of the topic of homosexuality.

"We told the moderators that we didn't see any need to be discussing this topic of supposed 'cultural diversity' (which is what they label sexual preference, ethnicity and religion.

"When we presented these views before the 'tolerance board,' they kept telling us that maybe we didn't need to be indoctrinated but that there were some of us out there who still harbor hate. My response was 'Well, hey, let them harbor that hate if they want to. It's their problem. They're only going to get worse if you attack them for it. Leave them alone and give them their intellectual property rights.'

"When that was over, the gay counselor went to the front of the lecture hall and asked us how the discussions came along. Our group was very vocal about it and we dominated the discussion about the discussions. We reiterated our disapproval of the whole homosexuality/cultural diversity campaign.

"When the gay guy heard this, he kept trying to defend his kind and not the issue at hand of the ridiculous 'cultural diversity' talks. He got in a jam a few times when we presented our views and told him that there were many different thoughts about homosexuality and that there was no way that everyone was going to agree it was right or wrong, so stop trying to persuade us toward one side. This lasted about 30 minutes."


U.S. POSTAL SERVICE EMPLOYEES were prohibited from wearing their uniforms and using a mail delivery truck during San Diego's homosexual parade on July 28 as a result of a challenge by pro-life employees who had been forbidden to wear their uniforms during abortion protests last year, reported the San Diego Union-Tribune on July 25. Instead, the group of about 40 people was allowed only to carry a sign that identified them as post office employees.

According to the Union-Tribune article, "The issue began when postal employees were told they couldn't wear their uniforms during abortion protests, including the annual Life Chain event in October, where people formed a human chain lining Balboa Avenue. They carried signs that read, 'Abortion kills people,' said Cheryl Sullenger, director of the California Life Coalition.

"Last year one postal worker, who wasn't named by the post office, contacted the American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative religious-rights organization founded by the Rev. Pat Robertson. The worker sought legal advice on whether postal employees could wear their uniforms during abortion protests.

"'Excuse us, but according to the Constitution and all the legal cases, it is unconstitutional for you to encourage your postal employees in gay pride, but ban them from the chain of life,' Sullenger said.

"For her part, Sullenger isn't happy with the post office response either. She said the only reason that workers were banned from the Pride Parade is the post office was worried about a lawsuit. In her opinion, the rights of the Christian workers who wanted to participate in the Life Chain were violated and she wants an apology."

The article quoted Mike Cannone, a San Diego Postal District spokesman, as saying, "Personally, in San Diego, we have no problem with (the Pride Parade.) Now that the rule has been challenged, we cannot support one political social viewpoint over another."


MEMBERS OF FRED PHELPS' FAMILY, notorious for their anti-homosexual protests, picketed graduation ceremonies at Santana and Granite Hills High Schools on June 14 and 15, and West Hills Christian Fellowship in Spring Valley, where Gary Cass, a Grossmont High School District board member, is pastor, on June 17. Phelps is pastor of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas and the owner of the "godhatesfags.com" website. When the Westboro Baptists picketed West Hills Christian Fellowship, West Hills members tried to explain that Cass had fought the inclusion of "sexual orientation" in Grossmont policies two years earlier. When asked why the Kansas Baptists had picketed West Hills after Cass has done so much to try to counteract the homosexualist influence within the Grossmont District and when he was not involved in initiating the lawsuit to curtail the group's free speech rights at the graduations, Margie Phelps responded, "Of course, if they are doing right, they should welcome us. They clearly did not, which of itself is probably enough reason for us to have been there.

"We also went there because of the message of works righteousness they put out, which is unscriptural. We also went there because they have identified that what is happening is wrong, but have not publicly actively continuously opposed it. We also went there because we were invited there. The preacher there spoke to our preacher, and expressly said he wanted us to come. If he didn't intend that when we came we held up our signs, that's wrong-headed of him, and unfortunate. Where we go, our signs go."


A UNIQUE INTERNET RESOURCE for those interested in learning about or deepening and updating their knowledge of the baby body parts trade is available at www.babybodypartstrafficking.org. In 1999, to the consternation of the highly lucrative abortion and medical research industries, the trade was exposed nationwide by Life Dynamics Incorporated. Typical body parts customers are research labs in private industry, government and academia, many of which enjoy a respectable public image and are also involved in human embryonic stem cell research. Following Life Dynamics' exposé, two women who identified themselves only as "two mothers in Mary's company" were inspired to launch a website to raise awareness of and inform the public about such practices. The site includes an overview of the problem, with links to documentary articles and resources; a moral analysis which provides a framework that can be used to determine the morality of any action; the Judeo-Christian response to aborted baby parts marketing; an explanation of Pope John Paul II's "New Feminism," which cherishes women's unique role, motherhood and children, unlike modern Western culture's denigration of femininity; statements on the grisly trade from moral leaders; relevant articles published in the last two months; and links to related pro-life web sites.


FROM THE JULY 1 BULLETIN at St. Charles parish in Imperial Beach: "Recently we discovered that one of our accounts at B of A [Bank of America] had large withdrawals made on the checking account which were not made by the parish. An immediate investigation on our part showed that checks had been forged and cashed at B of A. These were not our style of checks, they did not have two signatures on them as required, and the one signature that was on them was not even a close match to what the proper signature ought to have been. Mind you, B of A did not alert us to the problem; we alerted them. When we questioned B of A officials about this, we hit a brick wall! They steadfastly refused to give us any information or provide any help to us. After almost two weeks of haggling, our funds were restored, but B of A still refuses to offer any information which would help us protect ourselves. When asked if our deposits could not be secure in B of A, one 'official' responded, 'If you put your money under your mattress it's not secure there either.' When pressed to give her name, she just hung up. When another 'official' was asked to give answers, all she gave was a run-around and insisted on calling the pastor 'Dennis,' despite the fact she was told the proper title was 'Father Dennis' or 'Monsignor.' When her supervisor spoke to the pastor on the phone he called the pastor 'Mister Mikulanis' because, in his words, 'I'm sorry, I'm not confortable calling you Father.' Go figure....

"We are in the process of taking all parish accounts out of B of A. Since this is all money which you have donated, you have a right to know what's happening to it. If parish funds are not safe, how safe are your personal or family funds?"

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