Christian TV Reports Focus On The Family Headquarters "In Path" Of Wildfires

At the time of the posting of this report, the fire was still a couple of miles away, but a Focus spokesperson expressed concern for the homes of staffers. As always, remain keenly aware that your responses to this story are being closely scrutinized and reprinted.

COLORADO: Catholic Diocese Launches 12-Step Program For Homosexuals

The Catholic Diocese of Colorado Springs has begun offering a 12-step program for homosexuals. The program is called the Twelve Steps Of Courage.

“It’s not about therapy and not about activism,” said the Rev. Larry Brennan, diocese director of priest formation. “It’s about support.” The Catholic Church views homosexual relations as a sin, but not homosexual thoughts. It expects those with same-sex attraction to be celibate. “The exercise of sexuality is reserved for marriage, and that can only happen between a man and a woman,” Brennan said. Jim Fitzgerald, executive director of Call to Action, a national progressive Catholic group headquartered in Chicago, is skeptical of Twelve Steps of Courage because he contends homosexuality isn’t sinful. “It restricts people’s freedom to be the kind of person they were created to be,” Fitzgerald said of Courage. But Brennan says the program is not for people comfortable with their gay lifestyle.

And here are the Twelve Steps Of Courage, which ask participants to agree that they are insane and defective. Their words.

(Tipped by JMG reader Alan)

COLORADO: Schools Ban Crosses and Rosaries As Gang Symbols

We can't wait to hear Focus On The Family's reaction to THIS.

Some schools in Colorado Springs have banned students from wearing crosses and rosaries during school hours outside their clothing. "Certain gangs have adopted crosses and rosaries as their gang symbols," District 11 spokeswoman Elaine Naleski told the Colorado Springs Gazette. The newspaper reported that Mann Middle School sent out an e-mail to parents this week reminding that if their children wears a rosary, it must be underneath the shirt.

(Tipped by JMG reader Alan)

James Dobson Steps Down At FOF

"James Dobson has assisted millions of Americans in bringing up children in more positive and constructive homes and communities. By doing so, he has created wealth by helping people thrive. If his work has spared even one child a life of drugs or criminality, he has improved the human condition. There is no limit to the market for those who trade in constructive information. So count on Family Talk to become another success story, much like Focus on the Family. Count on these two organization to work together. And count on the success of Family Talk to serve as that metaphorical tide that lifts all ships." - The Colorado Springs Gazette, lionizing the founder of one of the most successful and influential anti-gay organizations in American history. Dobson is stepping down from daily operations at Focus Of The Family to launch a new radio show.

As I noted last month:

With an annual budget of $128M, Focus On The Family devotes a large portion of its activity to funding anti-gay ballot initiatives and challenging legally mandated LGBT rights in court. The group deliberately bleeds funds from LGBT groups forced to defend legal challenges. Don't expect Dobson's stepping down as chairman to have the slightest change in their evil doings.

Oh yeah, go freep their fucking poll.

(Tipped by JMG reader Alan)

Puppet Cleavage Banned In Colorado

A billboard company in Colorado Springs (home to Focus On The Family, numerous megachurches, and a completely devastated city infrastructure) has banned a bus stop campaign for Avenue Q. Because it shows puppet cleavage.

The puppet's name is Lucy the Slut. She's a pink Sesame Street-like puppet in the touring Broadway show “Avenue Q.” "Avenue Q" is a Tony-winning musical about twenty-something New Yorkers, both human and puppets, searching for life and love. The show addresses issues like sex, drinking, and surfing the Web for porn. Lamar Advertising rejected the ad for bus shelters, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette newspaper. "We were in the process of putting it on the presses when one of the top execs saw it and said, ‘I don’t think it’s appropriate for the Colorado Springs market,’" according to Kristy Maple, marketing director for New Space Entertainment.

(Via Avenue Q author Jeff Whitty)

Money Woes For Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs, world headquarters for Focus On The Family and home to the Air Force Academy and numerous defense industry factories, is going through the kind of budget crisis that some say is on its way to many other American cities.

More than a third of the streetlights in Colorado Springs will go dark Monday. The police helicopters are for sale on the Internet. The city is dumping firefighting jobs, a vice team, burglary investigators, beat cops — dozens of police and fire positions will go unfilled. The parks department removed trash cans last week, replacing them with signs urging users to pack out their own litter. Neighbors are encouraged to bring their own lawn mowers to local green spaces, because parks workers will mow them only once every two weeks. If that. Water cutbacks mean most parks will be dead, brown turf by July; the flower and fertilizer budget is zero. City recreation centers, indoor and outdoor pools, and a handful of museums will close for good March 31 unless they find private funding to stay open. Buses no longer run on evenings and weekends. The city won't pay for any street paving, relying instead on a regional authority that can meet only about 10 percent of the need.

"I guess we're going to find out what the tolerance level is for people," said businessman Chuck Fowler, who is helping lead a private task force brainstorming for city budget fixes. "It's a new day." Some residents are less sanguine, arguing that cuts to bus services, drug enforcement and treatment and job development are attacks on basic needs for the working class. "How are people supposed to live? We're not a 'Mayberry R.F.D.' anymore," said Addy Hansen, a criminal justice student who has spoken out about safety cuts. "We're the second-largest city, and growing, in Colorado. We're in trouble. We're in big trouble."

In November voters turned down a property tax increase that would have saved the city's budget.