Idaho Values Alliance: Making Idaho the Friendliest Place in the World to Raise a Family

July 29, 2010

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Questions for Sali challenger; Idaho spirituality

The Idaho affiliate of the American Family Association

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Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Bryan Fischer, Executive Director

For a printer-friendly version of today’s Update, please visit our website, Idaho Values Alliance.

QUESTIONS REMAIN ABOUT SALISBURY’S CANDIDACY

As I mentioned in yesterday’s update, Nampan Matthew Salisbury has expressed his intention to launch a challenge to freshman GOP Congressman Bill Sali in next year’s Republican primary.

According to the Associated Press, he is running against Sali because he believes politicians should stay “out of your bedroom and out of your social mores,” and that “Idahoans deserve a candidate who doesn’t represent social engineering.”

These phrases, of course, are right out of the playbook of secular fundamentalists, who do not want to give religious convictions any place at all in public policy debates. This naturally raised questions about Mr. Salisbury’s convictions on social issues, especially with regard to the sanctity of life, the sanctity of marriage and the homosexual agenda.

He insisted in an email to me yesterday that his quote was taken out of context, and accused the press of essentially twisting his words in its quest for a story. In a preliminary conservation Mr. Salisbury and I had this morning, he indicated that his remarks regarding “social mores” and “social engineering” were actually directed toward liberals who seek to use the law to impose their politically correct views of such things as the homosexual lifestyle, child-raising and education on the rest of society.

Mr. Salisbury is a Christian, a member of a conservative evangelical church in Nampa, and was active in the Gideons for a number of years (the mission of the Gideons is to place a free copy of the Scriptures in the hands of as many people as possible).

The question now for Mr. Salisbury is exactly how his faith informs his views on public policy, and we hope to have more information for you on that subject in short order. I will have more for you when we have the opportunity to finish the conversation we began today.

Mr. Salisbury contacted Idaho Chooses Life yesterday, after ICL executive director David Ripley expressed concerns about the language Salisbury used in announcing his candidacy, language which is virtually identical to the language abortion supporters use to argue that abortion is none of the state’s business.

After their conversation, in which Salisbury said abortion is “abhorrent,” Ripley now accepts Salisbury’s pro-life claim. (Salisbury indicated to me in our conversation that he believes human life begins at conception.)

Yet after their conversation Ripley has remaining concerns. “I am mystified that Mr. Salisbury has chosen to anchor his campaign message in the philosophy of Planned Parenthood – you know, the rhetoric which claims that ‘the government has no business in our bedrooms.’ Apparently it has something to do with his belief that Christians in public life ought not be very explicit about imposing our faith upon others.”

Blogger and political commentator Clayton Cramer likewise has remaining questions, after an email exchange with Mr. Salisbury’s wife. Says Cramer, “I asked for clarification from Mrs. Salisbury – and the response that I received left me unable to figure out what Mr. Salisbury’s position is on abortion – but it does not appear to be supportive of any sort of a ban.”

Cramer goes on, “I also haven’t been able to get a clear answer if the ‘government out of the bedroom’ remark means that Mr. Salisbury opposes sodomy laws as a matter of public policy … I can’t tell if I am seeing muddled thinking, muddled writing, or an attempt at straddling the pro-life and pro-choice camps.”

Mr. Salisbury will have ample opportunity to clarify and amplify his views on these subjects in the days to come, and he will need to do so, as his early comments have generated a bit of confusion among his friends in the pro-family community about where he stands on important issues.

Perhaps he simply stumbled out of the gate, and chose inelegant and easily misunderstood language. If so, he will have time and opportunity to make his positions clear.

Iraq veteran enters 2008 race with sights set on Sali | KTVB.COM |

Idaho Chooses Life: Motivations of GOP Challenger Unclear

Clayton Cramer's BLOG

IDAHOANS: NOT A RELIGIOUSLY AFFILIATED POPULATION

The Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB) has prepared a county-by-county breakdown of the entire United States based on declared religious affiliation.

Around 150 religious bodies participated in the study, which is designed to reveal the percentage of Americans who are members of congregations, denominations, or particular faith traditions.

In the maps reproduced below, the burgundy counties are those with more than 75% of the population declaring religious affiliation; red counties report between 50% and 75%, yellow between 35% and 50%, and white less than 35%.

While it is fascinating to look at the nationwide profile, it is particularly arresting to look at Idaho and indeed the entire Pacific Northwest. While eastern and southern Idaho are burgundy, largely due to the strong LDS presence in that region, only one other county in the remainder of the state boasts as much as 50% of the population which claims religious affiliation.

This means a couple of things. For one, it means the church has a lot of work to do in extending its message of the gospel in Idaho. Idaho appears to represent as much of a mission field for the Christian church as some foreign lands. While not as unchurched as our neighbors to the west, Oregon and Washington, Idaho clearly is less spiritually active than most of the rest of the country.

Secondly, this means that the pro-family community in Idaho will need to rely on more than just religious arguments to advance policies that support life, marriage and the family. Fortunately, the best in social research in virtually all instances confirms the view of society we find in the Judeo-Christian tradition, so the task is clearly doable.

But we will have to do our homework and be prepared to engage in the public debate not only by appealing to the historic standards of the Judeo-Christian tradition but also by appealing to history, law, logic, science, reason, and research.

U.S. Maps of Religious Adherents (Hat tip: David Hollander)

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Ø In a victory for Missouri families, legislation was signed into law yesterday that will prohibit abortion providers like Planned Parenthood from presenting information about sexual health in the state’s public schools. Planned Parenthood, as the nation’s largest abortion provider, stands to benefit financially from promoting a message of sexual experimentation and the teenage pregnancies that result. As one of the sponsors of the bill said, “This legislation is a positive step forward for Missouri families, Missouri women and for Missourian’s shared pro-life and pro-family values.” (CitizenLink: Missouri Bans Planned Parenthood from Classrooms)

Ø From the “Do as I say, not as I do” school of public policy comes the story of a Texas lawmaker who this year voted against a bill to give Texans stronger legal rights to defend themselves with deadly force in their own homes. Yet when a man tried to steal copper wiring from a home he is building in Houston this week, the legislator pulled a gun and shot the man in the leg. (FOXNews.com - Texas State Lawmaker Opposing Deadly Force Bill Shoots Would-Be Thief)

Ø Tensions are so high between the Sunni and Shia branches of Islam in Iraq that Sunni teachers are deliberately flunking Shia students and Shia teachers are deliberately flunking Sunni students to keep their rivals out of Iraq’s state universities. (They do so simply by erasing correct answers on college entrance exams.) In remarks from followers of the religion of peace, one Shi’ite student said, “If I found that I was one of the victims of these two teachers, then I’ll do all that I can to cut off their heads,” while a Sunni victim said, “I studied very hard for a long year, and I got excellent marks before the final test. I swear to kill all the Shi’a teachers if I got bad marks.” (Teachers rig grades on college tests to fail rivals - The Washington Times)

Ø The website ReligionofPeace.com keeps a running total of jihadist activity and terror attacks all over the world. Its research indicates that Islamic terrorists have carried more than 8,852 deadly attacks since 9/11. In the month of June alone, 267 attacks were carried out, resulting in 1,531 deaths and 1,941 critically injured. The first week of July saw 67 jihad attacks, resulting in 417 dead and 345 critically injured. Here is an excerpt from today’s home page:

Latest Offerings from the Religion of Peace

7/10/07 ( Mogadishu, Somalia ) - Two civilians are killed when a grenade is thrown into a busy marketplace.

7/10/07 ( Deh Rawud, Afghanistan ) - A suicide bomber detonates at a market, killing seventeen innocents, including children.

7/9/07 ( Ghazaliya, Iraq ) - Four members of a family are kidnapped and strangled by Islamic terrorists.

7/9/07 ( Mogadishu, Somalia ) - At least three civilians are killed when Islamists lob grenades into a market.

7/9/07 ( Baghdad, Iraq ) - Various bombing and shooting attacks by Jihadis leave over thirty people dead.

7/9/07 ( Mada'en, Iraq ) - A dozen workers at a Pepsi plant are abducted and slaughtered by Shia terrorists.

(TheReligionofPeace.com - Islam: Making a True Difference in the World) (Hat tip: Brad Bolicek)

Ø Despite Gov. Schwarzenegger’s expenditure of $17 million on ethanol-burning, eco-friendly cars and trucks over the last two years, its vehicle fleet is now belching more greenhouse gases into the air than ever before. The problem: the state forgot to provide any ethanol pumping stations for its “flex-fuel” fleet, and the vehicles, forced to burn the same gas everybody else uses, are pumping out up to 2,000 more tons of smog and greenhouse gases annually than the old fleet. No ethanol pumping stations will be online until 2009. Even then ethanol will have to be hauled into the state from the Midwest in gas-guzzling tankers which alone will nearly cancel out its clean air benefits in California. Undeterred by logic or financial responsibility, the state is plowing ahead anyway. Four managers in the conversion program have actually been given awards for their work. (San Jose Mercury News - Green facade: Why the state's eco-friendly cars aren't doing the job)

Ø In a correction to an item in yesterday’s update, it turns out that Venus is not actually three times hotter than Mercury, as Al Gore claimed. According to NASA, Mercury’s surface temperature, on its sunlit side, is 872 degrees, close to Venus’ temperature of 867 degrees. (Gore attributed what he thought was the differential to Venus’s carbon-laden atmosphere.) (ASTRONOMY (MERCURY))(Hat tip: Clayton Cramer)

Ø Headline from the battle against global warming:

Deadly cold snap in South America brings first snow to Buenos Aires in 89 years...