Scott Lively addressing the AFTAH banquet in October. Lively received AFTAH's "Americans Truth Teller" award for 2011.

Part Five of the AFTAH interview [click HERE to listen] with Scott Lively of Defending the Family International.  This was pre-recorded and aired Dec. 3, 2011. Go to the AFTAH Radio Hour Archive for the rest of this very informative interview. In the course of AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera’s interview with Lively, the two discussed:

• The dire state of the American Christian Church vis-a-vis the aggressive movement to normalize homosexual behavior and gender confusion in the culture;
• The “terror” tactics and aggressive campaigns used by homosexual activists to intimidate good people into silence on this issue;
• Lively’s personal experience with the dirty tactics and lies used by radical LGBT activists against pro-family leaders attempting to stop the “gay” revolution (including one notorious fake “anti-gay hate crime” in Oregon). Lively more than almost any pro-family conservative alive today has experienced these tactics firsthand in more than 20 years of working on the front lines (here and abroad) against the homosexualist agenda;
• The futility of relying on politics and the courts to contain the advance of government-backed homosexuality — and how many “ministry-minded” or apathetic believers are woefully naive about the Culture War raging on this issue;
• The campaign of lies used by pro-homosexual militants (and repeated by the media) to smear Lively and others as allegedly supporting the murder of homosexuals in Uganda;
• The corruption of words by the pro-homosexual Left, including “gay,” “sexual orientation” and “marriage equality”;
• The appearance of PRO-homosexuality “evangelicals” like Grove City College’s Warren Throckmorton and Chicago’s Andrew Marin – who confuse Christians and undermine biblical truth on the issue by capitulating to pro-”gay” ideology and semantics;
• The connection of homosexuality and sexual deviance to the Nazi Party in Germany. (See Lively’s book, The Pink Swastika);
• The very real threat to religious liberty posed by the tremendous rise of homosexual (“gay”) power in the United States.

HOW TO LISTEN: This is an mp3 file, supported in most operating systems by Windows Media Player, Quick Time and/or I-Tunes.  Real Player is not supported and there may be difficulty when attempting to listen with it.  Left click once on the link below to play. (Please be patient, depending upon the speed of your internet connection it may take a moment or two to load.)  OR right click the link then “save target as” to download the whole show.

12-3-11, Scott Lively, Part Five

In another post we will publish Prof. Rob Gagnon’s response to Richard Cohen’s new and curiously “gay”-affirmative approach to the homosexual issue.  – Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

Warren,

I certainly don’t think Richard Cohen or anyone needs to apologize for stating the obvious truth that “Change [away from and rejecting homosexuality] is possible.” If we were to apologize for everything that “offends” hardened LGBT activists, we’d be apologizing 24/7.

The question is, when will YOU apologize for affirming homosexuality as an acceptable (or innocuous) identity — while claiming (falsely) to uphold biblical orthodoxy? When will YOU repent for working hand-in-hand with “gay” activists who are diametrically opposed to the Christian worldview on homosexuality as an overcomable sexual sin (and an abomination) — by actively discrediting the need AND potential for wholesome change away from same-sex behavior and indulging same-sex desires?

You should either publicly apologize for undermining Scriptural (and observable) Truth — or renounce your claims to be faithful to historic Christian sexual teachings. This request is made more urgent by your employment with an evangelical institution, Grove City College, which purports to be “authentically Christian” — something few biblically-faithful observers of your recent flirtation with pro-”gay” advocacy would accuse you of being. 

I can document all the above statements concerning your conduct and “gay”-affirming advocacy, which has caused widespread consternation and confusion in Christian circles, and within the pro-family movement. You (or anyone) may publish this if you wish. 

Sincerely,

Peter LaBarbera 

Americans For Truth About Homosexuality
www.aftah.org 

Cc: pro-family leaders

Following is Warren Throckmorton’s daily e-mail for today (or view online HERE)::

From: Warren Throckmorton <ewthrockmorton@gcc.edu>

Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2011 13:08:35 +0000

To: <americansfortruth@gmail.com>

Subject: Warren Throckmorton

International Healing Foundation Comes Out?

Posted on www.wthrockmorton.com  Oct. 31, 2011

Or something.

Richard Cohen’s International Healing Foundation has re-invented itself as a LGBTQU (U for unwanted) organization on a new website called Coming Out Loved.

On Coming Out Loved, gay affirming people can find a page full of LGB resources as well as an apology from Cohen:

We at IHF wish to offer a sincere, heartfelt apology to everyone in the LGBTQ community who may have been hurt by our message of “change.” As the director of IHF, I apologize and ask your forgiveness. I did not realize that by stating, “Change is Possible,” some would be offended. That was the furthest thing from my heart and mind. To think that our message of “change” would cause further pain to LGBTQ youth and adults is painful to imagine … I am deeply and profoundly sorry.

Really? Is this a sign of the apocalypse?

Whatever it is, I doubt it is going very far. The website also has the old references to same-sex attraction being caused by environment and family background, and to treatment to resolve “unwanted same-sex attraction.” NARTH’s protocol for change therapy is there along with the old list of reparative therapists for referral. Cohen is still offering his book Coming Out Straight, one of the most direct promotions of the change paradigm ever. Moreover, Chris Doyle is speaking this weekend at the NARTH conference, along with a speaker who promotes criminalization of homosexuality.

Perhaps I am cynical, but the changes just look like business as usual along with a parody of gay affirming therapy.

This is photo from Warren Throckmorton's blog taken from Ricard Cohen's online video. To watch the actual video with Richard Cohen, go to Intenational Healing Foundation's website at www.gaytostraight.org.

But then again, in the promo video for the new attitude, there is a rainbow flag. (Note [in photo of video at left] the flag circled in the screen cap to the left).

I am looking forward to seeing reaction from AFTAH, PFOX, Liberty Counsel, JONAH and the like.

Seriously, if the IHF crew want to be taken seriously, they need to explain more about how and why they are expecting people to trust them. Also, if the same touch therapy and pillow beating protocols are on the table, then taking a neutral stance is still not enough to address concerns about their work.

Scott Lively, author of "The Pink Swastika," has been targeted and lied about by homosexual militants for years because he defends God's truth about the changeable sin of homosexuality. He speaks for AFTAH Friday, Oct. 14 at 7:00 PM at Grace Gospel Church in Bensenville, IL, located on Route 83 just north of I-290. The Friday event is FREE. Lively also will be honored at the AFTAH dinner-banquet the next day (Sat., Oct. 15, 6:00 PM) at Christian Liberty Academy; tickets for the banquet are just $10/person, $20 at the door.

Dear AFTAH Supporters,

I’m delighted to announce that a man I greatly admire — Christian pro-family veteran and “Pink Swastika” author Scott Lively — has agreed to give a separate talk for Americans For Truth on Friday, Oct. 14, at Grace Gospel Fellowship church in Bensenville.  That’s the day before AFTAH’s Sat., Oct. 15 banquet with Moody senior pastor Dr. Erwin Lutzer.  

At the Sat., Oct. 15 banquet, I will present Scott with the 2011 “American Truth Teller” award for his decades of dedicated service in opposing the Homosexual Lobby and educating the public on the threat of the organized Homosexuality (“Gay”) movement — which, as he writes below, “is not about tolerance but control.”  It simply was “cruel and unusual punishment” to give Scott just 10 minutes to speak at the banquet, so he graciously agreed to give a talk Friday night, which will also raise much-needed funds for AFTAH.

FRIDAY, Oct. 14 EVENT: Scott’s presentation will be held Friday Oct. 14 at 7:00 PM, at Grace Gospel Fellowship church in Bensenville, Illinois – pastored by my friend and awesome Culture Warrior John Kirkwood (go HERE listen to Part One of my AFTAH interview with John).  The church is located on Route 83 just north of I-290 (4 North 220 Route 83 – Frontage Rd., Bensenville, IL; phone #: 630-834-0550).  The Friday event is FREE (there is no dinner), but we will take up a collection to support AFTAH’s critical work. E-mail us at americansfortruth@gmail.com to RSVP or if you have any questions.

BANQUET SAT., Oct 15th: The AFTAH dinner-banquet with Dr. Lutzer is shaping up to be a spectacular night of truth-telling that will get your pro-family batteries charged for another year!  In addition to Dr. Lutzer, who is revered across the nation but especially in the Midwest for his faithful Bible preaching, you will meet Walt Heyer, a FORMER transsexual who returned to his God-given male identity with the Lord’s help.  Walt once identified as “Laura,” and went through a body-disfiguring “sex-change” operation, but now he is reaching out at www.SexChangeRegret.com to gender-confused people with the message: “Don’t make my mistake!”  I’m so excited to meet Walt after my extended AFTAH interview with him (go HERE for the Part 4 of the interview). 

Lastly, we will hear from Truth-Teller Award recipient Scott Lively, who — like myself and AFTAH — has been the target of incredible, ongoing vilification by homosexual militants due to his desire to stand without compromise for God’s Truth about same-sex sin.  Thank you so much for your support, and please tell your friends about both Americans For Truth events!  Remember, we priced the banquet at just $10 (dinner included) because we know these are tough times and I want you and your family to be blessed by this special evening!

– Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love. (1 Corinthians 16:13-14)

____________________________________________________________

Oct. 15 BANQUET ESSENTIALS:

• Who: Dr. Erwin Lutzer, Senior Pastor, Moody Church, Chicago, Illinois. Pro-family culture warrior Scott Lively will also be honored at the banquet
• When: Saturday, October 15, 2011; doors open at 6:00 PM.
• Where: Christian Liberty Academy, 502 W. Euclid Ave., Arlington Heights, IL 60004, northwest of Chicago; website HERE.
• What: Dinner banquet to raise funds for Americans For Truth About Homosexuality. Expect a delicious dinner, wonderful speeches and possibly a contingent of homosexual protesters outside the building chanting lies about AFTAH.
• Discount Pricing: $10 per person in advance; $20 per person at the door.  Sign up for $10/person online at www.americansfortruth.com/donate/ or mail your check to: Americans For Truth, PO Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522.  RSVP/inquiries to americansfortruth@gmail.com.  Please consider buying extra tickets for your friends, family and co-workers! And if you cannot come, please send us a gift to make our work possible.

___________________________________________________

Below is Scott’s sober analysis in WorldNetDaily of where the movement to stop the normalization of homosexuality in America stands – and why the battle will be over if Christians do not get involved and defend biblical morality and Truth:

‘Gay’ culture war: It’s nearly lost

Posted: September 23, 2011, WorldNetDaily.com

By Scott Lively

Many Christians are only now awakening to the seriousness of the threat to our society posed by the homosexual movement. But, unfortunately for us all, it is only the sounding of the victory trumpets by “gay” activists that has stirred Christians from their slumber. The watchman’s walls have been broken and breached, the village is in flames, and triumphal “gay” culture warriors are leading a long string of young prisoners by their necks into the woods. Most disturbingly, many of the captives, including some of the children of these still sleepy-eyed Christian parents, seem happy to go.

I have long warned that the homosexual agenda is not about tolerance but control. It started, of course, with a plea for tolerance, but then immediately shifted to a demand for acceptance and in due time to celebration of all things “gay.”

It wasn’t enough, however, for prominent public officials in every major city to lead the “Gay Pride” parades. No, the agenda continued to unfold to another level, requiring forced participation in “gay” culture. Much of the country is on that cusp of celebration/coercion today, led by California with it’s new aggressive K-12 homosexual advocacy curriculum, mandated by law.

Even conservative Texas is not immune. Just this week Fox News covered the story of a ninth grader suspended from school for telling a classmate he believes homosexuality is wrong.

The outraged teacher who demanded punishment for the boy reportedly keeps a picture on the classroom wall of two men kissing and frequently steers classroom discussions to the homosexual issue.

It took the intervention of a Christian public-interest law firm to get the school to rescind the suspension. But how many students of this same teacher have over the years simply assimilated his values as normal, their parents none the wiser?

More importantly, how many other classrooms across America are headed by such men and women? Their activist network, the Gay Lesbian Straight Teachers Network (GLSTN – later changed to “education network” GLSEN to hide the teacher/activist association) was powerful enough to launch its founder Kevin Jennings to the position of Obama White House “safe schools” czar for a time. I’d guess their agenda is an influence in just about every classroom by now.

I’m old enough to remember the debate about whether homosexuals should be allowed to be teachers at all, let alone allowed to punish students for disagreeing with the class-time advocacy of their sexual lifestyle. I remember the protestations from the pro-homosexual side, that “gays and lesbians just want the right to be left alone. They would NEVER interject their private lives into the classroom.” They all lied, and we believed them, and now our children and grandchildren are being forced to celebrate “gay” culture under penalty of law.

That is the end game for the “gays.” The final stage of their agenda, which has always been about taking control of things, is the power to punish dissent: to silence or crush their detractors. They only have this level of control in a few places yet, but they are moving fast to achieve it everywhere, and the momentum is on their side. And wherever they have it, they use it.

This brings me, in conclusion, to the subject of “gay marriage.” Huh? How does “gay marriage” in any way relate to homosexual propaganda in schools? Or to Christian parents awakening late to the indoctrination of their children?

It is the same issue, my friends. “Gay marriage,” “gay” curriculum, “gay” parades, “gay” TV shows, “gay” soldiers, “gay” adoption, “gay” diseases, “gay” recruitment and on and on. So many seemingly separate issues that are really just one issue: the unnatural, dysfunctional, personally and socially destructive phenomenon of homosexual sin. We are warned clearly and emphatically about it in the Bible. We have seen its corrupting effect in history. And we are literally watching its ethic of sexual anarchy supplant the biblical model of family as the guiding value system of our society.

I’m not going to add here how much I really love homosexuals and just hate their sin. As a question of public policy it really shouldn’t matter what I think about the perpetrators, just whether I am telling the truth about their agenda. I don’t want to reinforce the ridiculous assumption that Christians need to offer a disclaimer to prove they aren’t haters. It wouldn’t mitigate their hostility toward me for saying it anyhow. Trust me.

I’m not saying here that Christians are without hope of overcoming the challenge before us. Nothing, after all, is impossible with God. What I am saying is that we cannot possibly win, especially at this late stage of the game, if our “heroes” continue to fiddle about with the “definition of marriage” and fall all over themselves trying to prove they’re not haters by endorsing other, non-marriage-related bits of the “gay” agenda.

We need to stand firmly and unapologetically on the hard truth that homosexuality is not a benign, morally neutral social phenomenon. It is an insidious and contagious form of sexual perversion condemned by God as an abomination. I cringe even writing these words because I know the wrath I am inviting on myself. Still, someone needs to say this boldly and publicly because it is the truth, and only the truth can set us free of the political correctness that has imprisoned us until now.

The homosexual agenda represents an existential threat to Christian civilization and we’re in the final phase of the war, losing badly. It all hinges upon you, Christian reader. Either get into the “game” in earnest, immediately, or wave goodbye.

Dr. Scott Lively is an attorney, pastor and author of several books on the homosexual agenda, including “The Pink Swastika: Homosexuality in the Nazi Party” (co-authored by Jewish researcher Kevin E. Abrams).

Reprinted from WorldNetDaily.com: ‘Gay’ culture war: It’s nearly lost

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=348101#ixzz1ZlTYkDDf

A man holds a sign with the message, “Is Willow Creek Qualified to Lead” as part of AFTAH’s sign vigil outside Willow Creek Community Church’s campus during their two-day “Global Leadership Summit.” We will continue to ask why a Christian church would ever honor people who use their leadership gifts (given by God) to advance ungodly agendas. In 2009, a key Leadership Summit speaker was former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who used his “leadership” tenure to aggressively push homosexuality in the name of civil rights in the U.K.

Dear Readers, this story is fluid. AFTAH has been having serious web issues – in part due to hacking — so please pardon the delay in posting this item. Here is the press release on Willow Creek that AFTAH sent out yesterday via Christian Newswire. At our small vigil outside Willow Creek yesterday morning, we met WCCC spokesman Susan Delay, who assured me  (contradicting my statement below) that Willow Creek’s break with Exodus International in 2009 had nothing whatsoever to Willow Creek’s meeting with the homosexual activist group Soulforce the previous year. Delay said that Willow senior pastor Bill Hybels soon would be issuing a statement on the church’s approach toward homosexuality.

I informed Ms. Delay that the concerns with Willow go far beyond the Soulforce incident, and raised the 2009 Leadership Summit’s featuring of former Britich Prime Minister Tony Blair — who championed homosexuality during his “leadership” tenure in the U.K. Certainly we continue to question why a Christian church — or a related church-sponsored leadership ministry — would honor a man (and men) who used their executive gifts to advance explicitly ANTI-BIBLICAL agendas in the culture. The story goes far beyond Willow Creek to the purpose of Christians as defenders of God’s unchanging Truth (as opposed to subjective, man-centered “truths”) in a sin-soaked world.

One more thing: nothing here takes away from the important work that Willow Creek Community Church does in the community through its many ministries. I spoke to two friends in Illinois – a man and a woman — who have been deeply blessed by acts of Christian charity carried out through the church’s giving programs. AFTAH focuses on homosexuality, in this case Christian fidelity to politically incorrect Scriptural teaching: we believe that steadfast honoring of biblical truth (no matter the cost) — combined with selfless love – defines the believer’s calling. We’ll keep you updated. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

____________________________________

AFTAH Protests Willow Creek’s Lack of Biblical Leadership in Breaking with Ex-Gay Ministry

August 11, 2011

Contact: Peter LaBarbera: 630-717-7631; americansfortruth@gmail.com

S. BARRINGTON, Illinois — Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH) President Peter LaBarbera announced a peaceful sign vigil today and tomorrow outside Willow Creek Community Church—to protest the mega-church’s puzzling disassociation from a Christian ministry that helps men and women overcome unwanted homosexual desires.

The Americans For Truth vigil targets Willow Creek’s annual “Global Leadership Summit” – which draws thousands of Christians annually to the church’s campus in Barrington, Illinois. AFTAH’s banner message – “Is Willow Creek Qualified to Lead?” – will greet Summit attendees Aug. 11-12. That and other messages such as “Willow Creek Caves to Gay Activist Pressure,” will highlight the influential mega-church’s failure to boldly proclaim the Gospel’s life-changing truth on the homosexual issue.

“Christians across the nation were stunned to learn that Willow Creek had abandoned its friendly working relationship with Exodus International, the world’s largest ‘ex-gay’ ministry,” LaBarbera said. “Worse, the break came in 2009, shortly after Willow Creek’s leaders met with Soulforce, a homosexual activist group. Soulforce activists target mega-churches and Christian ministries like Focus on the Family — demanding a (politicized) “dialogue” even as they accuse leaders who defend the Bible’s clear, historic prohibition of homosexuality of “spiritual violence.”

In 2008, to protest the WCCC-Soulforce meeting, AFTAH held a silent sign vigil just outside Willow Creek’s entrance. Upon learning of our small protest, WCCC’s chief of security belligerently tried to block AFTAH from setting up our banner – apparently ignorant of our First Amendment right to protest on a public sidewalk. Ultimately, police were called in and the peaceful protest went forward.

In recent days, AFTAH placed several calls to Willow Creek inquiring as to whether the 2009 break with Exodus was linked to the church’s hosting of Soulforce and subsequent “dialogue,” but our calls were not returned. Many observers, including Exodus President Alan Chambers, a former homosexual, believe the disassociation stems from Soulforce’s meeting at Willow Creek.

LaBarbera agrees: “Are we to believe it is just a coincidence that Willow Creek dropped a hopeful ministry like Exodus – which testifies to Jesus Christ’s power to transform lives – shortly after WCCC’s meeting with a contingent of homosexual activists, who pressed Willow Creek to end its ‘prominent partnership with Exodus’?”

“This is a stunning capitulation to the “gay” lobby,” LaBarbera said. “We expect the world to reject truth on sexual morality. But churches like Willow Creek that profess to be biblically faithful must not surrender to the notion that somehow homosexuality is too hard for God to change – or that it is the basis for a healthy identity.”

Willow Creek’s dumping of Exodus is hardly its first controversial act. The church has been widely criticized for bringing in heretical teachers, and its global “Summit” has featured leaders like former British Prime Minister Tony Blair who are at odds with traditional biblical morality. Blair counts among his greatest achievements the advancement of homosexual rights in Britain.

Stephen Black, who left the homosexual lifestyle and has now been married 25 years, says Gospel truth must be preached to "gays," in the love and humility of Jesus Christ.

Here is Part Two of our pre-recorded interview with Stephen Black [click HERE to listen] of First Stone Ministries, based in Oklahoma City. This interview with Black (www.stephenblack.org), who once considered himself “gay,” aired July 9, 2011. Stephen and AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera discuss the ideal of speaking the truth about homosexual sin, in the love of Christ. They criticize the soft, defensive message of “emergent” Christians like Andy Marin (author of “Love Is and Orientation”) – as a false form of love bereft of biblical truth. (Marin is reluctant to call homosexual practice sinful and has launched an “I’m Sorry” campaign whereby evangelicals apologize to homosexuals (and others) for the alleged “homophobic” shortcomings of the Church; see the video of pro-same-sex-”marriage” evangelical Peggy Campolo currently at the top of Marin’s blog HERE [dated July 14th].) Black and LaBarbera agree with ex-”gay” Andy Comiskey that the ”emergent”-type approach like Marin’s is a “gutless gospel.”  Yet they also agree that harsh or insensitive Christians can preach a lot of truths about homosexuality. but without the love and humility demanded of those advancing the Gospel (Black says some have been “cruel and mean” toward homosexuals). Stephen gives a short version of his personal testimony, but in Part One of this interview he lays out his life story (including being molested as a boy) and exodus from homosexuality; click HERE for Part One.  You can visit the archive page containing all the AFTAH Hour interviews HERE.

P.S. LaBarbera has extended an open invitation to Andy Marin to appear on the AFTAH radio show, or speak/debate at at a neutral forum on the proper attitude of Bible-believing Christians toward people practicing homosexuality. We hope he accepts; you can contact Marin at info@themarinfoundation.org.

HOW TO LISTEN:  Left click once on the link below to play. Please note: This is an mp3 file, supported in most operating systems by Windows Media Player, Quick Time and/or I-Tunes.  Do not use Real Player.  It is not supported and there may be difficulty when listening with it.  (Please be patient, depending upon the speed of your internet connection it may take a moment or two to load.)  OR right click the link then “save target as” to download the whole show.

7-9-11, Stephen Black, Part Two

Pro-family advocates in Chicago rally against the new "Civil Unions" law in Illinois. The bill, HB 1716, was passed in a lame-duck session and ironically called the "Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act" despite the fact that its passage immediately put Illinois citizens' religious and First Amendment liberties in jeopardy. Photo by Lynn Thomas; click to enlarge.

Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (www.aftah.org); June 1, 2011

Contact: Peter LaBarbera: 630-717-7631; americansfortruth@gmail.com

CHICAGO–Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality and a principal behind the Illinois Defense of Marriage Initiative (www.DefendMarriageIL.org), issued the following statement on the new Illinois “Civil Unions” law that takes effect today:

Homosexual behavior is always wrong, according to the broad sweep of Judeo-Christian history, so it is tragic to behold the State of Illinois – or any government entity – recognizing immoral same-sex relationships and treating them like marriage. Moreover, for the City of Chicago and Gov. Pat Quinn to celebrate homosexuality with a mass Civil Union ceremony June 2^nd is an act of hubris and defiance toward the Creator that mocks His wonderful plan for real marriage – the sacred union of a man and a woman to produce children and family. The pandering Quinn – epitomizing the modern Democratic politician –mocks his own professed Catholicism by working tirelessly to undermine its clear moral dictates.

The anti-Christian Civil Unions law must be repealed. It was passed in a lame-duck session that once again revealed the contempt that liberal Illinois lawmakers have for the citizens they are supposed to serve. Ironically, shortly after passage of this bill – mischievously titled the Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act –religious liberty for Illinois citizens and religious institutions was immediately put in jeopardy. A homosexual male couple targeted Paxton, Illinois, bed-and-breakfast owners Jim and Beth Walder – who now face prosecution by the State because they refuse – as Christians – to hold “civil union” ceremonies celebrating homosexuality on their own business property. And the Rockford Diocese’s Catholic Charities announced that it will halt its state-funded foster care and adoption services rather than be forced by the State of Illinois to place children in same-sex households that are motherless or fatherless by design.

These sad developments in the Land of Lincoln constitute further proof that homosexuality-based “rights” and religious freedom cannot co-exist. “Gay” activism – empowered by Illinois’ “sexual orientation” law and the new Civil Unions law — will drive out the free expression of religion and morality, which must include the right to oppose sexual behavior historically regarded as disordered and sinful. (Thankfully, homosexuality is also changeable, as evidenced by Chicago Christian ex-lesbian Linda Jernigan, who spoke at Friday’s rally launching the Illinois Defense of Marriage Initiative.)  [Upcoming Event Notice: Jernigan will be giving a dinner-lecture at AFTAH's office in Carol Stream, IL, 25W560 Geneva Rd., on Friday, June 17th, on the topic "What's Wrong with 'Gay Pride'?"; e-mail us for more information: americansfortruth@gmail.com.]

Already, there are “conservative, pro-family” defeatists who argue that the radical Civil Unions bill cannot be repealed. It’s funny how “gay” activists never display such timidity. The well-financed Homosexual Lobby sees “Civil Unions” as a mere pathway to full, legalized “same-sex marriage.” We must work diligently to repeal this anti-Christian law, while also collecting 300,000 signatures to put a referendum on “same-sex marriage” on the Illinois ballot in 2012. Also, we will continue to push for House Speaker Mike Madigan to stop blocking a vote on a binding constitutional marriage amendment that will permanently prevent the radical redefinition of marriage in our state.

Dr. Michael Brown, author of "A Queer Thing Happened to America," says true biblical love cannot bury the truth that homosexual behavior and relationships are sinful.

This is the fourth and final part of AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera’s interview with Dr. Michael Brown, author of “A Queer Thing Happened to America.”  This aired May 14, 2011. [Click HERE to listen.] Brown, director of Coalition of Conscience, and LaBarbera discuss the proper approach of telling the “truth in love” to people practicing homosexuality. Brown espouses a “Reach Out and Resist” approach of lovingly reaching out to homosexuals with the Gospel while steadfastly resisting the agenda to normalize homosexual, bisexual and transgender behavior through the law and culture.

When asked about controversial pro-”gay” Grove City College professor Warren Throckmorton and others who support “civil unions” and pro-homosexual “sexual orientation” laws as an alleged outworking of Christian compassion, Brown says faithful Christians cannot support the idea of legal ”civil rights” based on sinful behavior.  He assails the non-biblical approach of “Love Is An Orientation” author Andrew Marin, a liberal Chicago evangelical living in Boystown who seems reluctant to affirm clear Scriptural teachings that homosexual behavior is always sinful. Brown also prays for “Chaz” Bono, the daughter (Chastity) of Sonny and Cher who has gained immense sympathetic media attention surrounding her tragic quest to become a “man.”

Special “A Queer Thing” Offer: Michael Brown’s book “A Queer Thing Happened to America” is available through AFTAH at a discount price fo $25 (including shipping and postage). Make a $25 gift online at www.americansfortruth.com/donate/; or mail your $25 donation requesting the book to: AFTAH, PO Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522.

HOW TO LISTEN: This is an mp3 file, supported in most operating systems by Windows Media Player, Quick Time and/or I-Tunes.  Do not use Real Player.  It is not supported and there may be difficulty listening with it.  Left click once on the link below to play.  (Please be patient, depending upon the speed of your internet connection it may take a moment or two to load.)  OR right click the link then “save target as” to download the whole show. 

5-14-11, Dr. Michael Brown

Apple Inc. has dropped two pro-family "apps" from its iPhone following protest campaigns by homosexual activists.

TAKE ACTION: Contact Apple Inc regarding its open hostility to faith-based customers defending traditional morality and its capitulation to homosexual activists. Call 408-996-1010.

Apple Inc.
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014
408-996-1010

By Peter LaBarbera

On Wednesday, Apple Inc. succumbed to a web-based homosexual lobbying blitz demanding that it drop an “app” for the ex-”gay” ministry Exodus International from its iPhone. This capitulation is only the latest to reward a creeping ’homo-fascism’ that is spreading across America and the world — and which is integral to the wider LGBT activist strategy of demonizing and marginalizing religious people opposed to homosexuality. We don’t use this term lightly — the Homosexual Lobby’s hardball strategy is built on lies, intimidation and even bullying of well-meaning, compassionate Christians and religious people who simply disagree with the practice of homosexuality.

Incredibly, a tiny Sexual Sin Lobby–  purporting to represent perhaps 1-2 percent (or less) of any given population — presumes to dictate to the rest of us what is and is not acceptable speech, ideas, and conduct with regard to homosexuality and same-sex “marriage.” (They even claim to be the arbiter of what is ”love” and “hate.”) The failure of the national media — stuck in “gays-as-victims” mode – to question the growing pro-LGBT intolerance, demonization, and oppression of adherents to Judeo-Christian  moral teachings, itself contributes greatly to the persecution of people of faith.

How absurd that in a nation still split on the morality of homosexuality (despite the media’s and Hollywood’s relentless pro-homosexual bias), only groups that encourage the embrace of this unhealthy and unnatural behavior are to be tolerated and receive corporate and government support. Even more ridiculous is the idea of affixing a ”civil rights” label to homosexual militants like ”Truth Wins Out” (TWO) who are devoted to crushing the civil rights and voice of opposing pro-family advocates. Good is evil. Evil is good (Isaiah 5:20). (Click HERE and especially HERE to read TWO’s rationale for opposing the Exodus iPhone app; it is typical of homosexual activist arguments that conflate disagreement with TWO’s pro-homosexual ideology with “hate.”)

Exodus’ ‘niceness’ gets them nowhere

There are some interesting side stories and ironies to this second of two Apple cave-ins to LGBT pressure-campaigns. One is that Exodus International — a leading umbrella group for people desiring to abandon homosexual practice or resist unwanted same-sex desires – has gone out of its way (too far, in our view) NOT to offend homosexual activists. And look where it got them. In fact, a while back Exodus declared that it was disengaging from the ”Culture War” over homosexuality (in favor of ministry pursuits) – yet now it is thrust right back into it. This is a lesson for all naive Christians who think that by somehow sidestepping the cultural battle over homosexuality, it won’t rage on,  with homosexual activists attempting to muzzle the Gospel.

Christians and moral-minded Americans MUST actively defend truth on this issue against the many “gay” lies (even the activist term “gay” is a lie…) — and realize that the end-game of the LGBT movement (not all, but many self-styled “queer” activists) is to shut down critics and alternative voices on this issue – first in the private sector, and then using Government power. Aggressive homo-fascism hates dissent, religious or otherwise. For goodness sake, 31 out of 31 states provided the opportunity have voted down “same-sex marriage,” and yet opposition to same sex marriage is now widely derided as “hate” by all major homosexualist organizations!

What Exodus’ well-intentioned leaders — and millions of “ministry-minded” Christians — do not understand regarding this cultural debate is that no matter how “nice” you are to the likes of TWO, the only thing that counts is that you oppose homosexual behavior. Though Christians must lovingly extend the Gospel of grace and salvation through Jesus Christ to all sexual strugglers, we also must stand against the growing tyranny engendered and envisioned by pro-homosexual militants. The expanding list of victimized Christians [click HERE and HERE] makes clear: our very freedom to act on our beliefs and to preach the full Gospel to all sinners, including people practicing homosexuality, is in danger. (Of course, LGBT activists claim to support religious freedom, but what good is liberty if we cannot publicly proclaim and act upon our historic biblical beliefs about sex, marriage and family?)

Cultural bullies

Far from being victims, the best way to think of name-calling homosexual activists like TWO’s Wayne Besen is as bullies: the more you try to appease them – e.g., by constantly apologizing for alleged “anti-gay hate” in the Church, or adopting the dubious semantics of “gay rights” and “gay” identity (at the expense of biblical fidelity) – the more they sense weakness, leading them to castigate and target you all the more.

A sexual/gender movement built upon the Big Lie that changeable sexual perversion is the basis for: a) a healthy identity; and b) ”civil rights” has zero respect for the religious beliefs and freedoms of citizens committed to God’s Truth. And, of course, any “civil rights” movement that aggressively seeks to deny the civil and religious liberties of others is, well, not a civil rights movement at all.

Truth Wins Out: the real haters

Demonizaton of opponents is critical to the LGBT campaign to push Christians and moral critics of homosexuality out of the cultural debate over homosexuality. Take special note of “Truth Wins Out’s” preposterous characterization of Exodus as “hateful and bigoted.” Any rational observer who compares TWO’s and Exodus’ rhetoric will see who the real “haters” are, and it’s not Exodus. TWO regularly engages in extreme, ad hominem, and blatantly anti-Christian rhetoric. (Wayne Besen proudly came up with the ugly “Porno Pete” smear to tar this writer.) Substituting “gay” ideology for reality, they simply deny the existence of former homosexuals — and then they have the gall to accuse others of “dehumanization.” (Recall that homosexual activists once chanted, “We here, we’re queer, get used to it!”…) TWO actively demonizes anyone who goes public about overcoming homosexuality in their life – and especially mocks those who claim to have done so with the divine help of Christ. (Besen’s snarky attack-slogan for Christian, ex-homosexual overcomers is “Pray Away the Gay.”)

Media enablers

Homosexualist intolerance would not so easily flourish if the “mainstream” (liberal) media were not almost completely sold out to the “gay rights” cause. Too often reporters and editors cater to the left-wing notion that ideas (especially Christian ones) are hateful, as opposed to actual actions and speech that are objectively caustic, hateful and mean-spirited.  The lack of media accountablity enables and empowers homosexual activists’ who employ an end-justifies-the-means rationale to fight and vilify the “haters” — including shutting down their speech.

To be sure, the Gay Thought Police’s penchant for squelching the opposition’s voice isn’t new — over a decade ago homosexual activists led by GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) lobbied major media to deny ads featuring happy ex-”gays” — but there is a special intensity to the current censorship campaign, perhaps due to the media’s suffocating political correctness.

Precious few journalists are willing to call out the Homosexual Lobby on its totalitarian-like, censorious approach to ideas and biblical/religious truths that it does not like, so we must. Christians need to wake up and stay fully engaged in this raging Culture War before it is too late and our freedom to disagree with homosexuality is destroyed.

Fellow advocate of godly morality, please understand this: militants on the homosexual-bisexual-transgender Left hate you enough to shut down your voice anywhere they can. If you value Truth and your constitutional, God-given freedom to defend it, do not let them.

–Peter LaBarbera, www.AFTAH.org; write me at americansfortruth@gmail.com

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The following is reprinted from LifeSiteNews; March 23, 2011; [to sign up for LifeSite's e-News updates, go HERE]

Apple pulls ex-gay app after complaints from gay activists

CUPERTINO, California, March 23, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Apple has now pulled the iPhone application that caused such a stir this week after the homosexual activist group Truth Wins Out (TWO) complained that it was “hateful and bigoted.”

This marks the second time that Apple has pulled an app because it promoted a traditional Christian view of homosexuality. In November of last year Apple pulled an app created for the Manhattan Declaration, a pro-life and pro-family document signed by nearly 500,000 people. The app was attacked because it opposed same-sex “marriage.”

The recent app, created by the international Christian ex-gay ministry Exodus International and available through Apple’s online iTunes store, originally received a 4+ rating from Apple, meaning that it was found to contain no objectionable content. The app provided a gateway to the ministry’s news, blog, podcasts, and other social networking and resource materials.

Exodus International denied that the app was aimed at “curing” homosexuality, as was claimed by its critics.  “In no way shape or form is our message about trying to cure or do we try to promote that type of methodology or message,” Jeff Buchanan, Exodus International’s Senior Director of Church Equipping & Student Ministries, told The Christian Post.

“This is a label that has been put forth by opponents to the application to serve as propaganda in order to stigmatize and really label the application in a false way and provoking a response such as you are seeing with the application.”

Meanwhile, TWO and Change.org praised Apple for removing the app.  “Apple made a wise and responsible decision to dump an offensive app that demonized gay and lesbian people,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out. “The real winners today are LGBT youth who are safer and less at risk for receiving Exodus’ malice and misinformation.”

“We’re thrilled that Apple has removed this ‘gay cure’ app from the iTunes store after more than 150,000 people signed this petition,” said Mike Jones, Editor at Change.org, the platform used by TWO to launch the petition. “The message Apple is sending here is clear: there is no place for ‘ex-gay therapy’ on the Apple platform.”

TWO claimed the app “relied on twisting legitimate research” to “dehumanize LGBT people” and by dropping the app, Apple joined the line of “every respected mental health organization in the nation.”
“We are disheartened at the fact that there are activists who are rising up to silence our voice on the Exodus iTunes platform,” Exodus’ Buchanan said on Tuesday. “We want to ask that there would be fair and equal representation of religious belief on this platform.”

“We are helping those who have unwanted same-sex attractions. Those who are gay or identify themselves that way, in no way, shape or form are we trying to speak to their position or trying to impose anything upon them,” he said.  “Exodus believes the opposite of homosexuality is not heterosexuality. It is holiness. We promote the belief that one can live a life that is congruent with their faith. That is our mission – period.”

Contact:

Apple Inc.
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014
408.996.1010

Voter Guide put out last year by the Massachusetts Family Institute shows then-candidate Scott Brown promising to SUPPORT the current "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy banning open homosexuals in the military. Now, as Senator, Brown has flip-flopped and pledged to vote for the Repeal of the military's "gay" ban. Brown's treachery has emboldened Democrats and pro-Repeal forces seeking to make the radical change in the lame-duck Congress.

TAKE ACTION: Urge Sen. Scott Brown to honor his promise to the Massachusetts Family Institute NOT to support repeal of the existing ban on open homosexuality in the Armed Forces (see graphic from MFI scorecard above).  Call or fax Sen. Brown’s office at the following numbers (Congressional Switchboard: 202-224-3121); e-mail him HERE:

Washington, DC office:
317 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4543
Fax: (202) 228-2646

Local Office:
2400 JFK Federal Building
15 New Sudbury Street
Boston, MA 02203
Phone: (617) 565-3170
Fax: (617) 723-7325

Folks, so much for this Tea Party-backed Republican and the comeback of political integrity. By reneging on his promise to support DADT (and abandoning conservatism on other issues), Scott Brown shows that he is just like so many other politicians: using the conservatives and religious voters to get elected — then pursuing the agenda of powerful, liberal special interest groups. The GOP is doomed as a major party if it follows the RINO (Republicans In Name Only) lead by caving on social issues  — although this is also a military/security matter. That’s because America already has a party devoted to Abortion-on-Demand and Homosexuality – the Democrats.

And here’s a memo to Tea Partiers: state promotion of aberrant sexual lifestyles IS a Tea Party issue — which you will learn (the hard way) if the Big Government Gay agenda succeeds and the Pentagon is turned overnight into the world’s biggest pro-homosexual advocacy organization. Certainly our Founding Fathers led by Gen. George Washington would have been aghast at the idea of “forcing integration of homosexuality into the United States military,” as my good friend Brian Camenker of Mass Resistance aptly puts it below.

House Repeal Roll Call: To view the House Roll Call on Wednesday’s vote to overturn the military’s ban on open homosexuality, in which 15 Republcans and 15 Democrats voted out of step with their Party, go HERE. Camenker is correct: people from all over America should call Brown because he received nationwide support as a candidate. But more importantly, everyone who cares about the military needs to call their two U.S. Senators NOW (202-224-3121), as an expedited Repeal vote in the Senate is imminent. – Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

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Emphasis Camenker’s below:

Scott Brown announces full support for repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”

Abandons conservative base

POSTED: Dec 12, 2010, republished from Mass Resistance website

US Senator Scott Brown has announced on Friday, Dec. 3 that he now supports the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” – effectively forcing the integration of homosexuality into the United States military.

In a sleazy, dishonest lame-duck move, the Democrats in Congress are desperately trying to repeal the law in the waning days before the new Republican-laden Congress takes over on Jan. 1. A considerable number of left-wing pro-homosexual Democrats were defeated in the Nov. 2 elections, and Brown (and the others) know that the repeal has virtually no chance once the newly elected members of Congress get in.

The bill has already passed the House and is in the Senate. Although Brown has voted to delay the bill slightly, that is only for strategic purposes. He has said he will support the bill as soon as certain “horse-trading” takes place. A final vote could come any day.

“]

Happier times. Scott Brown (center) is mobbed by supporters in Littleton the day before the election last January. How many of these people would still show up? [MassResistance photo.

Much more than just “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”
The term “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” merely refers to an executive order by President Bill Clinton to circumvent the actual US law passed by Congress in 1993 which completely bans homosexuals from the military.

The 1993 law they are attempting to repeal (USC Section 654, Title 10) states:

“The presence in the armed forces of persons who demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability.”

Furthermore, this repeal is part of a larger Defense Appropriations Bill. That bill also includes language to allow taxpayer funded abortions in US military bases around the world. [Editor's Note: the Repeal bill to allow open homosexuality in the military  is now a stand-alone bill.]

Thus Brown, who campaigned on being the “41st vote” against the Obama agenda, could end up being a deciding vote to pass this key Obama promise to the homosexual movement. (And the abortion movement.)

Earlier this year Brown abandoned the Republicans and was the deciding vote on Obama’s massive financial reform bill. (Currently, Brown has voiced support for the Obama administration’s invasive and unnecessary TSA airport nude scans and pat-downs which angers many conservatives.)

Conservative base stunned

Nevertheless, Brown’s decision on “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” (DADT), which he publicly announced last Friday, has stunned and angered his conservative base in Massachusetts. Pro-family and pro-life activists feel particularly betrayed. Back in 2004, it was pro-family and pro-life activists who converged from around the state and worked around the clock to help then-state rep Brown win the grueling special March 2 state senate election against Angus McQuilken by 51%-47%. And it was pro-family and pro-life activists who supported Brown early on in his US Senate race early on when he was 25 points behind Martha Coakley and nobody else would take him seriously. But those days are long gone.

Mass Resistance’s conversation with Brown’s Washington, DC office

On Wednesday afternoon Brian Camenker of MassResistance spoke at length with Brandon Acheson, a staffer in Brown’s Washington, DC office who has been explaining Brown’s position on this issue to constituents since the announcement. It was very disappointing, to say the least. It appears that Brown has become just another disingenuous, disconnected Washington politician.

Here’s some of what Brandon told us:

• Brown’s statement in the MFI voter guide. Brandon indicated he didn’t know who MFI was and that Brown never authorized any statement about his position — that it must have been a miscommunication. “Sen. Brown never made a firm commitment that he would vote against it,” Brandon told us. However, MFI’s president, Kris Mineau, told that Boston Herald, “When Sen. Brown ran for election, he said he would support the current policy of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’” In fact, MFI worked closely with Brown and hosted several events for him in this campaign. They even hold a birthday party for him each year (even though he’s pro-choice). Interestingly, in that same article the Herald also reported that:  “Brown’s spokeswoman, Gail Gitcho, said Brown changed his tune after President Obama ordered the Pentagon to review the policy. At that point, Brown said he would keep an open mind to its finding, which came out this week.”
• Sleazy lame-duck session. We asked Brandon why Brown doesn’t support waiting a few weeks and letting the newly elected Congress decide this — that using a lame-duck session was offensive to people. He avoided answering the question directly, but indicated that Brown had no problem with a lame-duck session passing controversial bills. But he’s insisting that two things get passed first: (1) full extension of the Bush-era tax cuts, and (2) a bill to continue funding the federal budget. Both of those appear to be in the works as part of the horse-trading going on to get this bill passed.
• Repealing the current law makes bold statement. Repealing the current law (see text above) makes the statement that homosexuality is compatible with US military service. Does Brown agree with that? Brandon wouldn’t answer that. Instead, he said that Brown has been in the military for 31 years and is comfortable with his position. (Would he be comfortable showering next to someone sizing him up?  Well, we didn’t ask that.)
• 41st vote against Obama agenda? We reminded him that Brown ran as “number 41″ and his base back home read that as their protection against the Obama agenda being pushed on them. But now Brown seems to be doing just the opposite. Brandon wouldn’t comment on that, either. He seemed to indicate that Brown was not concerned about opposition from conservatives back home, or the concept that they were his “base” of support.
  Needless to say, the entire conversation was depressing and angering.

What should YOU do right now?
Call now — Sen. Brown needs to hear from you loud and clear.

Every politician needs to hear from the people, especially his base. He’s certainly been hearing from the homosexual lobby (see below). He REALLY needs to hear from you.

Call Brown’s Washington DC office at 202-224-4543. (It’s more effective than calling his Boston office, which told us they are not knowledgeable on this issue — although they do register the number of calls they get.)

You can also email him HERE.  [See additional contact info above.]

EVERYONE across the country should do this, since Sen. Brown got support (including millions of dollars in small donations) from across the country. Tell them that if Brown supports the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” you will actively campaign against him in 2012 (or whatever else you think is appropriate).

It only takes five minutes, but it’s worth it.

Leave a message if you have to. In this short time frame it’s the only thing that will get his attention. (And you can bet that the homosexual lobby is doing the same thing — see our report HERE!)

Twitter post by close NOM ally Louis Marinelli, Sept. 9, 2010.

Wayne Besen’s hateful sidekick over at the comically-named Truth Wins Out, Evan Hurst, speculates that AFTAH pulled a post from today because we did not want to offend National Organization for Marriage (NOM). Yes, and no. We pulled the post because a Tweet we thought was produced by NOM was actually put up by a NOM ally, Louis Marinelli (who was heavily involved in NOM’s multi-city ”Summer for Marriage Tour”). The tweet, shown at right, is unfortunate – coming as it does from a pro-family leader who should know better – but much less so than if it had been produced by the leading advocacy group for traditional marriage. I apologize for the error. We will have more on this story later. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

EDUCATE YOURSELF: Read the awful Proposition 8 decision by homosexual Judge Vaughn Walker HERE, and read about how New Mexico Christian photographer Elaine Huguenin was victimized by lesbian activists HERE.

By Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

Below is a YouTube of Glenn Beck’s recent appearance on FOX News’ Bill O’Reilly’s show — in the wake of a judge striking down Prop 8 in California as unconstitutional. Beck dismissed homosexual “marriage” as not being a serious national threat to America [our response to Beck follows the video and the jump]:

Here are some reasons why Glenn Beck is not just wrong — but has it completely backwards regarding the escalating threat that homosexual activism, culminating in court-imposed “gay marriage,” poses to America’s children and our First Amendment liberties:

1) Just as reported homosexual Judge Vaughn Walker overruled the expressed will of California voters (twice expressed) against “same-sex marriage,” federalized homosexual “marriage” would override the documented will of the people in the 31 states that have already voted — some by huge margins — to preserve marriage in the law as what it is: between one man and one woman.

2) Legalized homosexual “marriage” will force businessmen and -women to subsidize homosexual relationships even if they rightly believe that those relationships are immoral and deviant. That is un-American, anti-freedom, and just plain wrong. A businessman who provides marital benefits to his employees could not choose which “marriages” (normal or counterfeit-”gay”) merit company support and which do not — even if he strongly disagrees with homosexual ‘unions’ as a violation of the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God, to quote our Declaration of Independence. If the business owner denied benefits only to “same-sex married” employees, it would invite a lawsuit. You cannot be free and simultaneously forced by the State to use your hard-earned money to reward people practicing bad behavior.

3) Legalized homosexual “marriage” paves the way for even greater pro-homosexuality indoctrination in the nation’s schools than we are already seeing under the mandate of ”sexual orientation nondiscrimination.” Wherever marriage and “civil rights” are taught, homosexual “marriage” would have to be validated because it would be the law of the land (or the individual state). Say Johnny Pupil, a first-grader, asks his teacher: “When I grow up, could I marry a man or a woman?” The teacher — if honoring the State’s newfound “constitutional right” (and so as not to be accused of discrimination) — would have to answer “Either one, Johnny.” Corrupting children’s innocence and redefining morality in the name of “tolerance” and newfangled “rights” directly undermines parental authority. It also turns America’s schools into Pro-Homosexual Propaganda Centers – an evil on a par with legalizing the killing of innocent, unborn children in the womb in the name of “choice” and “reproductive rights.”

4) And let’s not forget homosexual-”married” teachers. If “gay marriage” is legalized, public school parents would be barred from preventing proudly partnered homosexuals from teaching their kids. (And there could be lawsuits against private schools by homosexual teachers suing for marital discrimination.) Picture a lesbian teacher putting the photo of her and her female parter — or maybe the celebratory photo of them kissing after their “marriage” ceremony — on her desk in front of the class. Teachers are important role models for our children – and all across the country, they talk about their married and family life with their students. However, if all “marriages” are equal, whatever is OK for normally-married teachers to do could not be challenged when perversely-”married” homosexual teachers do the same thing. Hence legal “gay marriage” would be used to normalize homosexual relationships to children.

5) In homosexual-”marriage” states, school textbooks will be re-written to validate homosexual “marriages” as the real deal — and the winning “gay marriage” would be portrayed as a genuine civil rights achievement. Thus, not only will impressionable minds be corrupted by propaganda that falsely affirms that sexual perversion and marriage are compatible, they will also be taught that to oppose this concept is to stand against “civil rights.” Christians must not be naive on this point: even very young students would be taught that those who fought the “gay” civil rights movement — culminating in its greatest prize, “marriage equality” — are the modern-day equivalents of Americans who fought against racial reconciliation and true civil rights. (Interestingly, polls show that African Americans oppose homosexual “marriage” by wider margins than whites.) The law is a teacher and unfortunately the lesson here is that Americans of faith who agree with God against homosexual “marriage” are small-minded, intolerant bigots who “hate gay people.” That misguided ”lesson” will be drilled into young minds in the name of tolerance.

6) This is perhaps the most sinister by-product of legalizing homosexual “marriage”: it becomes a very effective and practical tool in the further demonization and denigration of traditional religion in the USA. If the struggle for homosexual “marriage” (“gay civil rights”) is a noble one — and predominantly religiously-motivated opponents are somehow the modern equivalent of the KKK, then something is rotten in traditional religion itself — especially Bible-believing Christianity, which clearly condemns homosexual practice as sinful.

Already, “gay” activists are not shy about equating Christian-based opposition to homosexuality with “bigotry, hatred and homophobia” — i.e., irrational prejudice. If they succeed in persuading the State (through activist judges) to declare “same-sex marriage” a “constitutional right,” then the next step is to lobby government to eradicate any favored status to real man-woman marriage (and, by extension, biblical Christianity) in the public square. Admittedly, this is already happening through leftist groups like the ACLU, but State-enforced “gay marriage” would provide one more powerful tool to push old-fashioned religion to the curb — and indoctrinate children — in the name of “tolerance” and “progress.”

7) Legalized homosexual “marriage” has already been shown to hurt the adoption movement — that is, the wholesome and traditional adoption business that seeks to place children in stable homes with a mother and a father. In “gay marriage” states, adoption agencies that adhere to that time-test natural model of family will be forced by state bureaucracies to place childen in homes that are motherless or fatherless by design. Will principled adoption agencies be forced to shut down as in Britain or like Catholic Charities in Massachusetts (the Catholic Church teaches that placing children in homosexual-led households is “gravely immoral”)?

8 ) Finally: yes, Glenn, the “gays” — read: driven and well-funded homosexual activists — will “come to get us,” in one important sense (see Beck’s comment to FOX News’ Bill O’Reilly). If history is a guide, homosexual activists will absolutely set their sights on demonizing churches that refuse to marry same-sex couples (a saccharine term I avoid; these are not normal “couples” but people practicing perversion together). Here Mr. Beck, reportedly a Mormon, displays astonishing naivete, particularly for someone in the conservative information business.

Homosexual activists came after the Boy Scouts of America (a noble institution heavily supported by Mormon families) — and almost destroyed their right to define who they are as an organization. The poor Scouts came within a single vote on the U.S. Supreme Court of being FORCED by the State to allow homosexual Scoutmasters. And after losing in court, the self-styled and appropriately designated ”queer” activist movement didn’t let up one bit. Instead, they continued their evil crusade against the Boy Scouts — fighting to boot them off of all public properties (in the name of tolerance and equality, of course) and generally working to poison the Scouts’ good name in the minds of Americans.

Glen Beck should know that homosexual activists are “coming after” the Mormon Church for leading the fight for California’s Prop 8, just as he needs to know how two homosexual activists “came to get” New Mexico photographer Elaine Huguenin. They sued Huguenin for “discrimination” merely because, as a Christian, she kindly turned down a request by two lesbians to take pictures at their “same-sex commitment ceremony.” [Read the court order on the Huguenin case HERE.]

According to the court record, “Based on [Huguenin's] religious and artistic freedom of expression, she declined to photograph events or promote views which were contrary to her belief system.” Sounds like freedom to me — but one of the lesbians interpreted Huguenin’s rejection as an “expression of hatred” and sued using New Mexico’s “sexual orientation” law.

There is little in the history of pro-homosexual activism to suggest that “gay” activists “tolerate” conservative opposition or faith-based dissent. Homosexual activists lobby the media to deny ex-gays coverage (what are they afraid of?). They lobby corporations to fire people like Matt Barber who publicly oppose homosexuality. Unversites are encouraged to deny a place for people like Julea Ward, an Eastern Michigan University student who was kicked out of the graduate counseling program because she refused to give up her biblical beliefs against homosexuality.

Homosexual activists and GLBT gruops like Human Rights Campaign are working overtime to attack the Mormon church because it led the way in support of the Prop 8 amendment against “gay marriage” in California. There is a reason that the term homo-fascism is slowly working its way into the American lexicon – at least among conservatives if not libertariarians, who strangely ignore the real threat that State-enforced homosexualist “rights” poses to liberty and freedom of conscience.

‘Gay’ rights über alles

In conclusion, Mr. Beck (and all libertarians): the prospect of State-sanctioned homosexual “marriage” will lead inexorably to the systematic, forced imposition of pro-homosexualist ideology on young and old Americans alike — and will engender innumerable lawsuits by homosexual activist attorneys who believe that their “right” to be affirmed and celebrated in the culture supersedes YOUR right to live according to YOUR beliefs.

Who could put it any better than lesbian legal activist Chai Feldblum, former law professor at Georgetown University and President Obama’s recess appointee to the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC)? Regarding what she calls the “zero-sum” game that exists between homosexual legal “rights” and the freedom of religious/moral Americans to oppose homosexuality, Feldblum reportedly stated: “Gays win. Christians lose.” We hope her prediction  is wrong, but the lesbian prof’s secular “rights” formula is clearly advanced every time the noble institution of “marriage” is perverted to legally sanction ignoble, sinful conduct.

No liberty-loving American — “libertarian” or otherwise — should countenance the abrogation of others’ First Amendment and religious liberties to advance behavior condemned by Judeo-Christian teachings and still widely regarded as unnatural and immoral.

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TAKE ACTION: You can write to Glenn Beck at me@glennbeck.com  or contact him through his program’s website HERE.

On a related issue of confused conservatives:

ANN COULTER and “GOProud”: Write to Coulter through Townhall.com HERE (click “E-mail Ann Coulter”) regarding her ill-advised upcoming speech at GOProud, a homosexual activist group for “gay conservatives.” Coulter’s website — which has a blog doesn’t seem to have a “Contact” section – is HERE.

Grove City College Professor Warren Throckmorton

Throckmorton asserts that proclamations of truth constitute a “considerable offense” [against people practicing homosexuality]. Someone should ask him if he thinks Paul’s “vilification” of homosexuality constitutes a “considerable offense.” – Laurie Higgins

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By Laurie Higgins, for Americans For Truth

Grove City College professor Warren Throckmorton has written a self-serving and exploitative analysis of Letter # 7 in C.S. Lewis’ classic The Screwtape Letters, which Throckmorton correctly sees as a warning to Christians not to allow cultural issues to supplant the central message of the Gospel.

The problem is that Throckmorton uses Lewis’ prescient warning to chastise only those Christians who work tirelessly to counter the spate of lies spewed by the culture on the topic of homosexuality, lies which even our public schools have been recruited to disseminate.

Throckmorton writes as follows:

Screwtape encourages his apprentice to foster devotion to a cause. This then takes him further away from the real encounter with God and the faith relationship. Indeed, if Wormwood’s human “patient” can put movements and organizations and crusading ahead of all else then he is of no real threat to Screwtape.

I think this passage provides caution to those who believe fighting the culture war is Christian ministry. When fighting the culture war becomes more important than a witness to the gospel, then the mischief really begins. Specifically, in the past several years, I have seen people who are so concerned with the “gay agenda” that they overlook cult involvement in people because they are “ex-gay.” Some here in the US who are willing to tolerate the very unChristian stance of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill because, in Lou Engle’s words, ”Uganda has become ground zero” in the fight against the gay agenda.…

Some might argue that I am just as guilty because of my advocacy against the Uganda bill. And I would not take that criticism lightly. My view is that freedom of conscience is necessary for the Church to have the greatest impact. Advocacy for that position is important business but it is not the main business. I doubt that such advocacy will lead anyone away from the redemptive business of the church. On the other hand, my great concern is that culture warring lulls people into feeling that that the cause justifies the considerable offense that comes with vilifying those the church yearns to reach.

Dr. Throckmorton shrewdly pre-empts any challenge to his own complicity in the culture war, complicity which often seems to serve efforts to normalize homosexuality. Throckmorton proleptically introduces the challenge and responds to it by claiming meaninglessly that he wouldn’t take such a charge “lightly.” He attempts to efface the charge that he himself may be guilty of making “the world an end.”

Dr. Throckmorton asserts that “freedom of conscience is necessary for the Church to have the greatest impact. Advocacy for that position is important business but it is not the main business.” Huh?

What precisely is Dr. Throckmorton concealing here through his ambiguous rhetoric? Is he advocating for freedom of conscience regarding the morality of homosexuality? If so, who disagrees? Certainly the mere expression of theologically orthodox views about homosexuality does not diminish anyone’s “freedom of conscience.” Those who affirm homosexuality are as free to reject theologically orthodox moral propositions as the theologically orthodox are free to reject heresy.

Since this ambiguous phrase follows a reference to the Ugandan law, perhaps he actually thinks that what most alarms his critics is his obsession with it. Perhaps he is trying to divert attention from his ambiguous stance on the morality of homosexuality to the controversial Ugandan law, his opposition to which he may be mistaking for “Christian ministry.”

If so, Dr. Throckmorton needs to know that what most concerns his critics is that he may be on a crusade not merely to affirm that individuals should have the freedom to believe as they wish, but that he may also be on a crusade to affirm that homosexual practice is permissible for Christians, which would constitute a decidedly non-orthodox theological position.

Dr. Throckmorton continues: ”I doubt that such advocacy will lead anyone away from the redemptive business of the church.” In Dr. Throckmorton’s world, advocacy of “freedom of conscience” will not “lead anyone away from the redemptive business of the church,” but preaching the truth about homosexuality will.  Curiouser and curiouser.

It would be enormously helpful if Dr. Throckmorton would fight as tenaciously for the freedom and right of parents to protect their children from unbiblical ideas and images of homosexuality and Gender Identity Disorder in American public schools as he does to oppose laws in foreign countries.

Throckmorton further claims that “my great concern is that culture-warring lulls people into feeling that that the cause justifies the considerable offense that comes with vilifying those the church yearns to reach.”

There are a couple of points to be made in response to this stupefying statement.

• First, this statement implies that those who affirm homosexual acts as moral are not engaging in the culture war.
• Second, this statement employs the non-biblical, fallacious argument common among homosexualists that condemnation of volitional homosexual acts constitutes hatred or “vilification” of persons. One wonders how Dr. Throckmorton is able to expound any biblical truths regarding behavior if he believes that expressions of opprobrium constitute vilification of persons which, in turn, he believes impedes the redemptive business of the church.

Throckmorton asserts that proclamations of truth constitute a “considerable offense.” Someone should ask him if he thinks Paul’s “vilification” of homosexuality constitutes a “considerable offense.”

Does society’s “vilification” of pornography or pedophilia constitute a considerable offense against the porn-makers, porn-partakers, or pedophiles that the church hopes to reach?

Did Martin Luther King Jr.’s “culture-warring” against racism constitute a “vilification” and “considerable offense” against the racists that the he hoped to reach?  Did MLK Jr. mistakenly believe that fighting the “culture war” was a Christian ministry?

Of course, anyone who supplants the Gospel with philanthropic or political efforts is in error, but Throckmorton seems to suggest that those who oppose the homosexual agenda are somehow guiltier of this error than those who seek to normalize homosexuality.

The reality is that there are people whose work–their vocation–is to promote truth in the culture and to oppose the cultural and legal promotion of moral error. Some people are accountants, some veterinarians, some plumbers, some sales clerks, and some are “activists.” The fact that some men and women are called to activism for their vocation no more means they have lost sight of the most essential truth, which is the Gospel, than the fact that some are called to work as architects means that they’ve lost sight of the most essential fact of human existence: the Good News of Christ’s substitutionary work on the Cross.

In my estimation, there are far too few Christians who are willing to speak the truth in the public square. At different times in history, different biblical truths are attacked with particular ferocity. During the era of slavery and Jim Crow laws, biblical truth about the dignity and worth of African American women and men were attacked with special intensity. During those decades, an equally vigorous public response to the cultural lies that destroyed lives and families was necessary. Unfortunately, for far too many years, the white church failed to respond courageously.

Similarly, the church is failing now to respond with courage and vigor to the assault on  biblical truth about sexuality, marriage, and the family from the mainstream news media, Hollywood, Madison Avenue, the music industry, and public education. Throckmorton is right when he warns against mistaking bold proclamations about biblical morality for preaching the Gospel. He is wrong in trying to persuade Christians to remain silent in the face of perilous cultural lies.

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Laurie Higgins is a writer and analyst for the Illinois Family Institute. To listen to the AFTAH Hour’s recent radio interview with Higgins, go HERE for Part One, and HERE for Part Two.

Homosexual activists are using the schools to indoctrinate very young children in the idea that homosexuality "is just one more kind of love," to quote from the homosexual picture book, "Daddy's Roommate." Many Christians still are unaware of how aggressively pro-homosexual "change agents" are pushing their unbiblical agenda in schools.

The follow public prayer was offered by AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera’s yesterday on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. It was part of the national repentance event, “May Day: A Cry to God for a Nation in Distress,” organized by Faith2Action’s Janet Porter:

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Dear Heavenly Father,

Forgive our nation for our sexual sin. Forgive us for our excessive “tolerance” as a nation – and, as individuals, for the creeping sins, sexual and otherwise, that we have “tolerated” in our own lives.  Father, forgive us for not hating sin like you hate sin. And forgive us for confusing merciful love for homosexuals with ungodly acceptance of homosexual behavior itself.

Indeed, it is a long, secular road that America has traveled from “abomination” to “gay.” Forgive us for caring more about the prideful words of men than the eternal Word of God. But Father, forgive us most of all for doing so little to protect the next generations of young people from a sexual sin movement known – deceptively – as “Gay.”

The Lord Jesus Himself warned us against putting the eternal destinies of children in danger. Yet that is what we have allowed to happen on our watch in this, the most blessed nation on earth. We barely put up resistance as the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network set up pro-homosexual student clubs – first in our high schools, next in our middle schools – and one day (God forbid) they will try to set up these homosexual booster clubs in our elementary schools.

Our hearts tremble, O God, as we watch the “Gay” Lobby teach even kindergartners that homosexuality “is just one more kind of love” – to quote “Daddy’s Roommate,” one of many pro-homosexual children’s books used in the classroom. And while a small number of parents struggled to prevent the systematic corruption of young students’ minds, the homosexual activists rolled up their sleeves to fulfill their wicked plan of turning America’s schools – public and sometimes private – into Homosexuality Promotion Zones. Why is it, O Lord, that militant sexual activists demonstrate more zeal, unity and purpose to spread their lies than Christians do for the Truth?

Finally, Father, we beg you in your “Amazing Grace” to preserve a righteous remnant of young, born-again believers who – like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the Book of Daniel – will steadfastly refuse to worship today’s politically-correct “American Idol” of “Gay.” We humbly ask you to raise up an army of young Christians who will love homosexuals enough to tell them the truth: that Nobody has to be “gay,” nobody has to be “lesbian,” or bisexual, or “transgender” — because You are there to help those struggling with homosexuality overcome through the power of Jesus Christ. (And I have met many “ex-gays.”)

Lord, please give this young, godly remnant a zeal for gaining wisdom and for obeying your precious Word — no matter what the cost — so that in purity and faithfulness the young will teach the old. They will remind us that righteousness is more noble than “tolerance,” and that agreeing with You, our loving Creator, about sexual purity within marriage is part of our duty and high calling as children of God.

Jim Daly, President and CEO, Focus on the Family

“When you look back from a pro-life perspective, what were the gains there?” he asked, noting President Ronald Reagan’s judicial choices. A generation later, “we see a bit of fatigue. We don’t see the results for the energy, the money, everything else that’s been poured into the political sphere,” said [Focus on the Family CEO Jim] Daly … “We as a Christian community need to refocus a bit on what’s important in the culture. For us, it’s family. That’s our mission.”

Yet it’s clear Daly, who has met with gay activists, sees diminishing returns in continuing the culture wars.

“I’m not fearful that change will happen in America. It will happen. … I don’t know what will happen with same-sex marriage, but I’m not going to be discouraged if we lose some of those battles,” he said, noting that for “98 percent” of people, traditional marriage will remain relevant.

“It’s going to be difficult in this culture and the way the demographics are going right now,” he went on. “You look at the under-35 age group. I think it’s splitting 60-40 support for same-sex marriage. There’s a lot of people in the U.S. [who] basically come to the conclusion that this is something between two adults. I will continue to defend traditional marriage, but I’m not going to demean human beings for the process.” — Excerpted from AOL News online article about Jim Daly, Focus on the Family’s new CEO; “Dobson’s Successor Gives Mega-Ministry New Focus.”

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Dear AFTAH Readers,

It seems that Focus on the Family (FOTF) is becoming a schizophrenic organization. Recently we applauded Focus for reaffirming a principled position against homosexual judicial nominees. Now, oddly, Jim Daly, FOTF’s new president and CEO, is talking down the pro-family “culture war.”

Daly’s softness on public policy must be understood in the context of the ongoing evangelical retreat in the Culture War (typified by the book UnChristian). Many Christians are more concerned with the Church’s “image” than they are with confronting lies in the culture and standing against secular threats like “Gay” and Abortion Lobbies. They claim that Culture War activism hinders the Gospel. But I have found that there are certain questions that “Soft” Evangelicals are hard-pressed to answer:

In this free republic, how should those who agree with God on homosexuality respond to the hugely-funded and highly specialized GLBT Lobby that seeks to put the government on the side of immoral homosexual behavior? How do we answer a politically savvy sin movement that demonizes religious people as “hateful” and “bigoted” — and even aims to “criminalize Christianity” by making it illegal to act on one’s belief that homosexual practice is wrong?

Are we as Christians to throw up the white flag and leave the public policy field to the Human Wrongs Rights Campaign and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force — the former with its sophisticated lobby presence on Capitol Hill, the latter with its annual grassroots training conference (“Creating Change”) that draws two to three thousand “gay,” lesbian, bisexual, and “transgender” activists every year? Does the average evangelical have a clue as to how massively outgunned pro-family warriors are against a veritable army of homosexual activists in this political/cultural “war” over values?

If Daly wants to shift Focus’ emphasis to ministry and away from public-policy, that’s Focus’ business. (FOTF has a lobbying arm, Focus Action.) Personally I don’t think Focus’ strength has even been in the public policy arena, although I greatly admire Dr. James Dobson for standing boldly against the Cultural Left. But Daly must avoid these twin temptations:

1. Watering down the truth about homosexual sin and the devastating implications of the triumph of state-sanctioned homosexuality in our culture — including a direct threat to religious freedom; and
2. Suggesting that his soft approach defines what an American Christian should be — i.e., diminishing by inference those who are attempting to counter the GLBT juggernaut.

God needs Christians to minister to homosexuals in love and truth, and God needs Christians to step up and fight fearlessly for righteousness in the Culture — no matter what names we are called or which evil laws are passed by secularists who reject His standard of sexual purity and marriage. (See the inspiring biblical example of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego below.)

And where does it say in Scripture that Christians cannot do both ministry and public policy?

If American Christians are jailed or burdened with government “discrimination” lawsuits merely for opposing homosexuality — as in Canada and Great Britain — how will Focus respond? Will they rise to their defense or will they be looking over their shoulder in constant fear of being perceived as “anti-gay”? Standing against sin — all sin — is part of the Gospel mission, pointing to every sinner’s need for salvation through the free gift of Jesus Christ. People practicing or advocating immoral sex or gender confusion don’t get a special pass.

Lastly, I, like Laurie Higgins, am deeply troubled by Daly’s apparent naivete. He is worried about the “Christian label” with regard to Christian militias groups. OK, but what about the far more serious threat to the Christian brand posed by so-called “gay Christians,” such as the two openly homosexual Episcopal bishops? If Daly “doesn’t know much about” the Tea Party movement, I wonder if he is even aware that hardened homosexual activist groups like HRC and the Task Force are now working overtime to subvert and redefine Christianity by promoting the idea that “homophobia” — not homosexuality — is a sin. And these “queer” activists receive aid and comfort from gullible, Bible-bending evangelicals like Jim Wallis who have acquiesced to the misguided idea that one can be “gay” (proudly practice or embrace homosexuality) and faithfully Christian, and who support “gay rights” as a “justice issue.” Substitute any other sexual sin and it doesn’t make sense.

Scolding bands of unshaven, gun-toting Christian fundamentalists roaming the woods surely will earn Jim Daly plaudits in the liberal media. Reminding the world that homosexuality and Christianity are incompatible; that repentant homosexuals can leave the lifestyle through Christ; and educating on how sin-embracing “Christianity” corrupts and confuses the Church, will earn him derision in the same media.

Being “gay” or “bi” is cool and tolerated in today’s youth culture, even among Christians. But it is far from cool to a holy God. Let us hope and pray that Jim Daly uses his many talents and resources at Focus to help raise up new generations of Shadrachs, Meshachs and Abednegos in our idol-worshiping American society. — Peter LaBarbera, www.AmericansForTruth.org

Note: like IFI, Americans For Truth sought comment from Focus on the Family about AOL’s online article on Jim Daly, but we have not heard back from Focus. Laurie Higgins’ column follows this wonderful passage from the Book of Daniel:

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Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?” They replied, “Certainly, O king.”He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!”

So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.

Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.”

Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon. — Book of Daniel, Chapter 3:13-30

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Higgins writes [some web links were added or changed from the published IFI article]:

An Emasculated Focus on the Family — Say It Ain’t So

By Laurie Higgins, Illinois Family Institute, April 27, 2010

Editor’s Note: IFI requested comments or clarifications on the AOL article from Focus on the Family. They did not respond.

There has been much speculation about why James Dobson left Focus on the Family (FOTF). The speculation is that he was, in effect, forced out because some in leadership hope to create a kindler, gentler face for FOTF, which seems strange in that it’s hard to imagine someone kindler or gentler than James Dobson.

Pastor Ken Hutcherson writes that “Focus does have a new focus; an image change designed to make them accepted and well-liked rather than standing for righteousness in an unrighteous society.”

A recent AOL article about the shift in leadership at FOTF, although not providing proof for those rumors, does suggest they may be true.

James Dobson’s replacement Jim Daly said:

“When you look back from a pro-life perspective, what were the gains there?…We don’t see the results for the energy, the money, everything else that’s been poured into the political sphere.”

Daly is simply wrong in his assertion that the pro-life position has seen little or no gains. Because of the perseverance of pro-life warriors, polls show that there has been significant decline in support for the anti-life position, particularly among the younger generation.

Daly also said:

“We as a Christian community need to refocus a bit on what’s important in the culture. For us, it’s family. That’s our mission….I don’t know what will happen with same-sex marriage, but I’m not going to be discouraged if we lose some of those battles, [for] 98 percent of people, traditional marriage will remain relevant.”

This statement reveals a rather surprising naivete. Perhaps Mr. Daly hasn’t read any of the research done by Stanley Kurtz who found that when same-sex “marriage” was legalized in Scandinavia, heterosexual investment in traditional marriage declined. This makes sense. Legalized same-sex “marriage” embodies and promotes the radical and subversive ideas that marriage has no intrinsic connection to heterosexuality and no intrinsic connection to procreation, so why should 98 percent of the population find an institution that is unrelated to heterosexuality and unrelated to procreation relevant? Why should those who do not hold orthodox Jewish, Muslim, or Christian views find traditional marriage relevant?

If the family is FOTF’s mission, then they better figure out how to stop the pro-homosexual juggernaut–nicely, of course–because soon every child from kindergarten through high school will be taught about “diverse family structures” and Heather’s two nice mommies.

What FOTF needs to bear in mind is that while it’s easy for the pro-life position to be advanced through emotional appeals to the heart like the Tim Tebow ad that aired during the Super Bowl, it’s very difficult for the pro-traditional marriage and anti-homosexuality position to do that. The other side has the clear narrative advantage. It’s much easier to create a touching film about a little boy with two mommies or a picture book about cute furry homosexual animals than it is to create heartstring-tugging picture books and films that show the immorality and societal devastation of homosexual practice and same-sex marriage.

We live, and move, and have our being in a culture that Neil Postman described as a place where “imagery, narrative, presentness, simultaneity, intimacy, immediate gratification, and quick emotional response” reign supreme and where “logic, sequence, history, exposition, objectivity, detachment, and discipline” resonate little. This means that those who can create compelling stories that pack an emotional punch will win the hearts and minds of Americans. Those who must rely on logic, exposition and objectivity are at a distinct polemical disadvantage.

As evidence for his claim that a kindler, gentler approach to cultural issues is more effective, Daly claimed that the soft Tebow ad was a “game changer.” What a Barna poll showed was that of those who believe abortion should be legal, four percent said the commercial was cause for them to reconsider their opinion about abortion. Oddly, the poll also showed that the ad caused eight percent of those who believe abortion should not be legal to reconsider their opinion on abortion.

Methinks Mr. Daly overstates the case, but perhaps the ad will be a “game changer.” If so, then FOTF should make a slick and soft game-changing ad about homosexuality.

For the most part the church has long adopted the soft, “We heart homosexuality” approach, dribbling virtually no energy or money into the political sphere, and we see the effects: even as the younger generation of Christians moves to an anti-abortion position, they have moved to a love the sinner and the sin position on homosexuality.

Mr. Daly also said “I will continue to defend traditional marriage, but I’m not going to demean human beings for [sic] the process.” To whom exactly is Jim Daly alluding? James Dobson? Or is he referring to those relatively few stalwart culture warriors who are willing to endure the malignant lies and obscene epithets that a courageous stand for truth in the public square on this issue elicits? The language employed by Mr. Daly here is the kind of language commonly employed by either homosexualists (i.e. homosexuals and those who support their ontological, moral, and political views) or by those Christians who are unwilling to publicly condemn volitional homosexual practice as immoral, even as our public schools affirm homosexuality to children with public money.

Who defines “demeaning” for FOTF? That’s a critical question because those who affirm a homosexual identity believe that public statements about the immorality of volitional homosexual acts are demeaning. And those who support legalized same-sex “marriage” believe that moral opposition to it is demeaning. If FOTF allows the culture to define what is demeaning, then silence is their only option.

Moving forward, how will FOTF oppose homosexual “marriage”?

How will FOTF oppose the widespread cultural embrace of specious ideas about the nature and morality of homosexuality, even among Christians?

How will FOTF work to stop the exposure of elementary, middle, and high school students in public schools to homosexuality-affirming resources disguised as “anti-bullying” resources?

Mr. Daly rejects being “highly confrontational,” a commitment with which I would wholeheartedly agree –depending on how “confrontational” is defined. If Daly means that he seeks to confront the culture, but without hostility, his goal is admirable. If, on the other hand, he is rejecting not just hostility but also cultural confrontations, then there’s a problem. To confront means to defy or come up against, which is what will be required if we hope to protect the unborn, children, the family, speech rights, religious liberty, and truth.

Shouldn’t we boldly confront the efforts of homosexualists who are working feverishly to expose our littlest ones to homosexuality and “transgenderism” in our public schools? How perverse does the behavior that our public schools affirm have to become and how young the children to whom and in whom it’s affirmed before the church as well as para-church organizations will become willing to confront the unproven, corrupt ideas promoted in public schools?

It certainly has not been any mythical confrontational tactics of serious orthodox Christians that have rendered our Christian youth vulnerable to the specious secular arguments used to normalize homosexuality. Here’s what has led the body of Christ, including our youth, to tolerating or even affirming heresy:

• The cowardice and ignorance of the church which results in a retreat from the public square
• The successful infiltration of homosexual activism in public education through critical pedagogy, Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN)and its satellite Illinois Safe Schools Alliance, the National Education Association, the American Library Association, schools or departments of education that are dominated by “progressives” who train teachers, the Southern Poverty Law Center’s “educational” project ironically named “Teaching Tolerance,” and numerous “anti-bullying” curricula and resources
• Hollywood that uses the powerful media of television and film to transform cultural views by idealizing homosexuality and ridiculing traditional views of sexuality without ever having to make a well-supported argument. Hollywood knows that if there’s one thing Americans hate, it’s being uncool.
• Judicial activism
• The biased mainstream news media that celebrates homosexuality through sound bites and imagery
• Advertising that uses imagery to glamorize homosexuality

Far too many churches and para-church organizations are adopting emasculated approaches to the pro-homosexual movement. Not only are we not pro-active in preparing our youth intellectually to understand the specious secular arguments used to normalize homosexuality, but we’re not even sufficiently re-active.

Just when the cultural threat is greatest; when Obama has appointed lesbian law professor Chai Feldblum to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; when he has appointed Kevin Jennings, homosexual founder of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network to be the Safe Schools “czar”; when the “Hate Crimes” bill has passed Congress; when the Employment Non-Discrimination Act is soon up for a vote; when the Student Non-Discrimination Act has been proposed; when the Safe Schools Improvement Act has been proposed; and when efforts to eradicate marriage continue unabated, we need warriors who are willing to confront lies and protect children.

Let’s hope and pray that Focus on the Family continues to lead courageously, perseveringly, and unambiguously on the critical cultural issues pertaining to life, family, and marriage.

“How can a Christian even in the service of mental or psychological consonance be open to a client assuming a same-sex identity when this therapist knows that consonance comes at the cost of his or her client’s eternal life?” — Laurie Higgins

Mark Yarhouse, Professor of Psychology, Regent University

Folks, it’s a heckuva long road from “abomination” (Leviticus 18:22) to “gay” (no Scriptural citation possible). Note the critical difference between acknowledging in a free society that people have the free will to make bad choices (i.e., embrace sin) — and respecting the sinful choices of such individuals as a “valued identity.” Laurie Higgins is right: Mark Yarhouse’s (and Warren Throckmorton’s) “Sexual Identity Therapy” puts Christian professionals in the dangerous position of doing the latter. Here is Yarhouse’s defense of SIT, “Understanding Sexual Identity Therapy.” And here is his and Throckmorton’s paper, “Sexual Identity Therapy: Practicing Guidelines for Managing Sexual Identity Conflicts.”

Also, we feel obligated to note that although we concur with Higgins regarding Yarhouse’s strained defense of SIT, we in no way put him in the same category as Throckmorton, the Grove City College professor and one-time pro-”change” advocate who has become a de facto pro-homosexual activist — talking down the possibility of lasting, ex-”gay” change for people caught up in homosexuality even as he disingenuously claims to adhere to biblical orthodoxy. – Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

Higgins writes (article after jump):

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Regent University Professor Mark Yarhouse’s Defense of Sexual Identity Therapy

By Laurie Higgins, reprinted with permission from Illinois Family Institute, April 20, 2010

Several weeks ago, I wrote about the Sexual Identity Therapy (SIT) Framework co-developed by Grove City College professor Warren Throckmorton and Regent University professor Mark Yarhouse. This week, I’m going to take a stab at unpacking Dr. Yarhouse’s defense of the SIT Framework.

I will acknowledge the obvious from the get-go: I am not a trained mental health professional. I am an ordinary person trying to sift through what seems to me to be murky, abstract, intellectualized jargon that doesn’t quite conceal the anti-biblical ideas embedded in it.

I will also acknowledge that I’m critiquing these guidelines based on the assumptions that Drs. Throckmorton and Yarhouse hold orthodox theological views of homosexuality and that they believe that Christians are to submit their hearts, minds, and wills to Christ. I assume they believe that the Christian walk is not a hobby practiced in the evenings and on the weekends, and that we owe God both our leisure time and our professional lives. And further, I assume they believe it would be a sin of the gravest order to affirm in or to others that which God–whom they believe is an objective, transcendent, eternal reality–deems abominable.

Throckmorton and Yarhouse’s SIT Framework states the following:

The emergence of a gay identity for persons struggling with value conflicts is a possibility envisioned by the recommendations…some religious individuals will determine that their religious beliefs may become modified to allow integration of same-sex eroticism within their valued identity. We seek to provide therapy recommendations that respect these options …. Clinicians should assist clients to clarify their values in order to determine their preferred course of action. Therapists should be open to the possibility that a same-sex identity is the least dissonant course.

For a secular therapist this approach would be understandable, but how can a Christian even in the service of mental or psychological consonance be open to a client assuming a same-sex identity when this therapist knows that consonance comes at the cost of his or her client’s eternal life? Is temporal dissonance a more serious problem than eternal damnation? Is it compassionate to facilitate the appropriation of the “least dissonant course” when that course is one which God hates? And can a follower of Christ be complicit in any way of facilitating the pursuit of such a course?

It strikes me that the life of all Christians is a life of dissonance. Our temporal lives are necessarily characterized by a dissonance between our fallen, depraved natures and our new natures that are being sanctified through the power of the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:22-24 tells us that “You were taught with reference to your former way of life to lay aside the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires, to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and to put on the new man who has been created in God’s image–in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth.” Isn’t the term “dissonance” as used in the SIT Framework merely secularized jargon to describe the painful struggle all humans experience in trying to oppose our sin natures while living for Christ?

Believers, including those who are mental health professionals, owe our very lives to Christ, including our professional lives. We owe those who struggle with seemingly intractable, persistent sin–which is all of us–comfort, support, prayer, fellowship, and wise counsel that reflects truth, for it is only the truth of Christ that can set people free from bondage to sin. Those Christians who counsel men and women who suffer from unbidden same-sex attraction have no right or authority as Christians to “provide therapy recommendations” that “respect” the “option” of modifying religious beliefs in such a way to make possible “the integration of same-sex eroticism within a valued identity.”

The SIT Framework also states that “in sexual identity therapy, the focus is on sexual identity as a construct that incorporates the person’s assessment of sexual orientation, emotional preferences and inclinations to engage in sexual activities.”

SIT states that “We believe that the therapist should not attempt to persuade clients about how to value these dimensions but can assist clients to determine their own valuations.” How can a Christian, who is a Christian first, “assist” clients in determining that they “value” homosexual practice. If the professional standards dictate that therapists may not attempt to persuade clients how to “value” their same-sex attractions, then I would argue that Christian therapists ought to choose not to counsel clients who find little or nothing morally problematic with acting on same-sex impulses.

Let’s imagine that age of consent laws are someday overturned. And imagine a client experiences pedophiliac impulses. Or, imagine a client who experiences zoophilia, that is, a sexual attraction to animals. Could a serious follower of Christ be part of any process that results in a client determining that they value and will integrate pedophilia or zoophilia into their lives?

Clearly, those clients who enter therapy with some kind of dissonance between their same-sex attraction and their faith hold at least somewhat to orthodox Christian beliefs. Are temporal subjective feelings so superordinate that facilitating heresy in a client is justified? And to a Christian therapist, is the biblical position that homosexuality is anathema to God a “value,” or is it objective truth?

Dr. Yarhouse explains the different conceptions of mental health practitioners:

Some people will assume that Christians in the mental health field should function like they are a particular kind of pastoral care provider. Although there are many ways in which pastoral care providers practice, I see pastoral care providers as representing their faith tradition in a very intentional way. They hold up a standard and provide pastoral care to help people move toward that standard of orthodoxy (right belief) and orthopraxy (right practice)…. Others would view licensed mental health professionals as different than (sic) pastoral care providers in some important ways. They would see a licensed Christian psychologist, for example, as entering enter (sic) into a fiduciary relationship with the public, a relationship built upon trust, and part of that trust is built upon the assumption that the services provided are in keeping with the standards in the field as it is currently governed by the state in which the psychologist practices. So a group of one’s peers (psychologists, in this case, not Christian psychologists necessarily) would reflect on what is standard practice for addressing the topic of homosexuality in clinical practice.

Dr. Yarhouse employs some strained rhetoric in the phrase “Others would view” rather than saying “In contrast, Dr. Throckmorton and I provide services in keeping with the standards in the field as it is currently governed by the state.” Making such a direct first-person claim would reveal the troubling compartmentalization of their faith, the kind of schism about which Nancy Pearcey and Chuck Colson write:

[H]aving a Christian worldview…means following biblical principles in the personal and practical spheres of life….What does this mean in practice?… It means we do what is right even at great cost, because we are convinced that what we gain in the unseen realm is far greater than what we lose from a worldly perspective.

Sadly, many Christians….give cognitive assent to the great truths of Scripture, but they make their practical, day-to-day decisions based only on what they can see, hear, measure, calculate….They may sincerely want to do the Lord’s work, but they do it in the world’s way-using worldly methods.

Dr. Yarhouse’s rhetoric brings to mind the words of Martin Luther King Jr. in “Letter From Birmingham Jail” who was lamenting the failure of church leaders to boldly condemn the evil of racism:

In the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon the Negro, I have watched white churchmen stand on the sideline and mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities…. And I have watched many churches commit themselves to a completely other worldly religion which makes a strange, un-Biblical distinction between body and soul, between the sacred and the secular. (emphasis added)

Christian counselors may be prohibited from “imposing” their values or even offering direction to their clients, but surely they enjoy the freedom to direct a client to another therapist rather than becoming complicit in facilitating the integration of same-sex eroticism into the “valued identity” of a client–or to put it another way, of facilitating heresy and behavior that if left unrepented of will lead to eternal separation from God.

I have heard people offer specious analogies to other professions, for example, suggesting that counseling someone who experiences same-sex attraction is analogous to a tax accountant accepting a client who is an adulterer. The analogy fails because tax return preparation is wholly separate from the moral issue of adultery, whereas when a therapist counsels someone on their experience of dissonance between their faith and their same-sex impulses, the moral issue is the entire purpose for their professional relationship.

I’m not arguing that Christian therapists must refuse to treat those struggling with conflicts between faith and sexual impulses. I am arguing that Christians are biblically prohibited from participating in any process that involves facilitating the modification of religious beliefs–that is to say, heresy–in such a way that same-sex eroticism can be integrated into a “valued identity.”

If what Drs. Yarhouse and Throckmorton mean when they say that “some religious individuals will determine that their religious beliefs may become modified to allow integration of same-sex eroticism within their valued identity,” is that therapists have to accept the unfortunate reality that by the end of therapy some clients will choose to pursue lifestyles that include the appropriation of wrong beliefs and destructive sin, their statement would be reasonable even coming from a Christian.

But their assertion that they “seek to provide therapy recommendations that respect the option of modifying religious beliefs to allow integration of same-sex eroticism” suggests a positive regard for an end result that no Christian should hold in positive regard. It suggests a willingness to facilitate the appropriation of wrong beliefs and destructive sin. Such a response is neither biblically defensible nor loving.

It could be cowardice, ignorance, pride, or vanity that causes a Christian counselor to affirm the ideas affirmed in the SIT Framework. But it could be the result of a serious lack of imagination. Imagine that you are a Christian counselor and with your assistance a client decides to modify his religious views in such a way as to accommodate sin that you know with absolute certainty will shortly result in unimaginable suffering–suffering worse than any torture you’ve ever read about in history books. Now imagine saying about this decision “I seek to provide therapy recommendations that respect this option.” Such a response should be inconceivable.

The following is excerpted from WorldNewsDaily.com. We’ve already noted Focus on the Family’s illogical and unprincipled position on judges and homosexuality [see pro-family veteran Gary Glenn's assessment HERE]. How ironic would it be if the ministry launched by the so widely respected James Dobson — which is now taking its biblical worldview “Truth Project” into hundreds of thousands of churches nationwide — were to suddenly lose its zeal for defending Truth against the Forces of Evil in the Culture War?! If the new, “kinder gentler” Focus translates into one that will present less of an obstacle to the wicked pro-abortion and pro-homosexuality movements, then Pastor Hutcherson is right about the direction of this ministry. It just seems implausible that after all its work to date, Focus will be able to retreat in any meaningful way from the Culture War.

We also suspect that Focus may be feeling the pull of George Barna’s polling research denigrating “religious right” activism (e.g., Barna Group President David Kinnaman’s and Gabe Lyon’s influential yet painfully shallow book UnChristian) and the appeasing liberal Christian “Emergents” — both of which appeal to younger generations of Christians who eschew the polarizing “culture war.”  In that regard, Focus has a choice: does it follow the worldly culture trends driven by these new generations — who, although they probably are loathe to admit it, are indoctrinated in politically correct,  “gay”-tolerant attitudes? Or does it recommit itself to educating these youth and standing boldly for timeless truths no matter where the culture is headed? (We realize there are many Christians who advocate quitting the cultural war against social evils, but they never have a good answer to this question: what about the hugely funded and powerful Homosexual, Abortion and Porn Lobbies that never quit; do we simply abandon America’s cultural/political landscape to them in a free society?)

I think Dr. Dobson would have opted for the latter, tougher course. That’s why he — like Hutcherson — is a target for hateful “queer” activists like Wayne Besen. Jim Daly may be less hated than Dobson, but that does not mean he will be more effective as a soldier in God’s Army. — Peter LaBarbera, www.AmericansForTruth.org

[Hutcherson column after jump…l

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I lost my Focus on the Family

Posted on WorldNetDaily, March 08, 2010

By Dr. Kenneth L. Hutcherson

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

I have a problem with that: I think Humpty Dumpty was pushed!

Of all the people I know, in an effort to find some semblance of reality about what really happened, I am the only one who has talked to both sides – Dr. James Dobson and Jim Daly, the new president of Focus on the Family who also represents the board.

I think that Focus does have a new focus; an image change designed to make them accepted and well-liked rather than standing for righteousness in an unrighteous society.

Dr. James Dobson is one of the most loving, committed Christian men I have ever met. I love him with all my heart, am committed to him and would take a bullet for him.

He is too gracious to ask the question, but someone has to, so I will: Why is he off the air at Focus on the Family when he and his son are starting their own radio program elsewhere so he can remain on the air?

The infusion of biblical truth into the culture over the years by Focus on the Family has been a miraculous movement of God, and all at the hands of Dr. James and Shirley Dobson.

What is this new Focus on the Family? There is a tendency after many years of success for new blood and new minds to come in with a new plan. (I’ve always thought: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!) Just because something sounds new and elegant does not guarantee it will be better.

A great example of the products currently coming out of the new Focus on the Family is the Tim Tebow ad during the Super Bowl. It said nothing. What a great opportunity that was to promote the pro-life position by revealing what abortion really is. But I guess they didn’t want to offend the world and wanted to make sure everyone loved them.

The current emphasis at Focus is on being loved and understood. I have read the entire Bible from Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21 – and while it says, “The truth shall set you free,” nowhere does it say, “Sensitivity shall set you free.” What set the Focus board free to take Dr. Dobson off the air? …

I am not very happy with the new, progressive, “loving” leadership at Focus on the Family. However, it is God’s ministry, and He will do with it what He pleases….

This board will regret its decision not to honor the founder of the ministry that God ordained. I have already had many tell me where their support will go. If the board members have any guts at all, they will get this man back on the Focus radioprogram. …

We are called to be the salt of the earth, a beacon, and we are warned not to hide our light under a bushel. Focus on the Family’s light is not only under a bushel, it’s under a cloud.

The leadership had better wake up. They have made a serious mistake and they need to correct it.

Dr. Kenneth L. Hutcherson is the senior pastor of Antioch Bible Church in Kirkland, Wash. He is also a former NFL linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks.

TAKE ACTION: Contact Grove City College (President Richard Jewell: 724-458-2500; rgjewell@gcc.edu) and ask them if GCC professor Warren Throckmorton’s unorthodox views on homosexuality represent “authentically Christian” teachings on this issue. (GCC advertises itself as a solid, “authentically Christian” institution.) Request a written response as to whether Throckmorton’s writings on and approach toward homosexuality honor Grove City’s Christian charter “rejecting relativism and secularism.” Please share the response you receive with us at americansfortruth@comcast.net.

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By Linda Harvey, www.missionamerica.com

A broad coalition of pro-family groups recommends that parents keep their children home on the deceptive, pro-homosexual “Day of Silence,” to be observed this year on April 16, 2010, but one “gay”-affirming counselor started what he calls the “Golden Rule Pledge” instead.

Yet, the “Golden Rule Pledge” actually functions as a disinformation tool and a divisive wedge in schools and among Christians. It is insidiously misleading and would bring harm to kids. It grieves me to take this position, but there’s no choice, because lives are at stake.

Dr. Warren Throckmorton (pictured above), a self-labeled “christian” counselor at Grove City College [contact GCC HERE], has indicated on a radio show he does not object to homosexuality when a person feels comfort with the lifestyle. My concern is that he may be communicating this to youth and college students whom he counsels, because his “Golden Rule” project takes a stand tolerant of this destructive and sinful behavior by encouraging student “respect.”

He has expressed his preference for students remaining in school on the “Day of Silence” and hearing pro-homosexual propaganda, and learning to sympathize with those practicing these behaviors, rather than taking an unequivocal, biblical stand against these harmful practices by remaining home. Throckmorton doesn’t even like the Exodus-sponsored “Day of Truth,” which encourages kids to remain in school and have a frank conversation, in love, with friends while presenting the biblical view of homosexuality. Throckmorton calls this “offensive.”

Throckmorton’s support of the “Day of Silence” will do incalculable harm to many young people. Misleading professionals like Throckmorton in positions of influence can make our sons and daughters become comfortable with entering into, staying in, or approving of homosexuality, bisexuality and gender change.

If I were a parent who discovered my minor child had been counseled in this way, I’d bring the largest and most aggressive medical malpractice suit I could launch against this counselor at Grove City.

Golden Rule? Not on your life.

Jesus would never make a person feel more comfortable about:

• Young males having sex with males, the incidence of which rose over 12 % per year between 2001 and 2006 among males ages 13 to 24 1;
• Young “lesbians” choosing a fatherless life for any future children, since they can never conceive children with female partners;
• Hoping in such relationships for a false “marriage” in violation of Matthew 19:4-6 and Mark 10:6-9, where Christ told us that “from the beginning” people were created male and female, and that one man and one woman form a marriage;
• Teens and even younger children believing they should change genders. As with homosexuality, we should be doing everything possible to counsel these kids and prevent these behaviors among youth.

Throckmorton on his site (http://goldenrulepledge.com/about/) uses the language of homosexual activism. He couldn’t be more helpful to their cause if he were a consultant with GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, which sponsors the national “Day of Silence” Examples of the GRP’s sympathetic, even pro-homosexual statements:

1. The Day of Silence is to “bring awareness to bullying and harassment of transgender, gay, lesbian, and bisexually identified students.” This is odd both in the use of activist terms and that “transgender” comes first. This “gay”-crafted rhetoric gives a nod to the unsupportable “born-that-way” claim and a significant level of sympathy for those involved in what the eternally-existent Christ called an “abomination.” By any Christian standard, is this GOLDEN RULE material? NOPE.

2. Another phrase is quite revealing:

“Many straight Christian and conservative students are conflicted about this day. They do not affirm homosexual behavior but they also loathe disrespect, harassment or violence toward any one, including their GLBT peers.”

The logical fallacies here abound. If students truly don’t “affirm” homosexuality, then don’t cooperate with its promotion through the deceptive “Day of Silence.”

The second sentence is classic pro-”gay” propaganda. These are not the only choices! To stay home is to show “violence” or approval thereof? This is so unfair to tradition-minded families and students, who feel they make a very positive statement by staying home! The Gospel and its sexual standards are, after all still good news. And one does not have to approve of homosexuality to prevent bullying, violence, or uncivil behavior.

3. Here’s the actual “pledge” language:

This is what I’m doing:

I pledge to treat others the way I want to be treated.

Will you join me in this pledge?

“Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Luke 6:31).

Hmmm. “…The way I want to be treated.” So, if a student is about to enter, or has entered, a high-risk practice that is called an abomination by our Lord, and has shared this with classmates, a “true” Christian should attend school to support a day that affirms this behavior and scorns any warnings to that student? Some friendship!

Here’s a biblically-based alternative: “Friends don’t let friends do homosexuality!”

Then, the Pledge website talks about affirming the “safety” of all, based on Christ’s teachings. This piggybacks on the language of GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) and others who have used a supposed “safety” strategy to obtain affirmation of homosexuality in the schools. Homosexuality is safe and Christian teachings about it being an abomination are unsafe, is the real message. Bullying? Harassment? No one wants those things, but that’s not GLSEN’s actual concern, because schools are fully empowered now to punish incidents where such misbehavior occurs.

No, the “Day of Silence” is about propaganda. The goal is to shame and label Christians and tradition-minded students and teachers, silence their authentic witness, and even silence any public health warnings. Real safety would be to scream from the rooftops about the harm homosexuality or gender change will bring to these young lives. And since no one is born homosexual, these desires are demonstrably changeable, so no one is left without a positive alternative. Christ’s authentic path always gives hope.

This is such a travesty that if we were all ancient Israelites, we’d be rending our clothing and putting on sackcloth and ashes! What is happening to kids is corruption by uncaring and misguided adults.

Throckmorton is doing a great job of affirming propaganda meant to harm young lives and keep them away from Christ through misunderstanding. I don’t know if he means to do that, but that is going to be — guaranteed — the result.

This is completely upside down. Throckmorton doesn’t get it, or doesn’t want to get it, or loves the approval of “gay” and “transgendered” blogs and activists, or he has an as-yet-undisclosed motive. [Editor's note: Americans For Truth has asked Throckmorton for his views on "same-sex marriage," "civil unions," homosexual "special rights" ("sexual orientation") laws, etc., but he has not answered our queries.]

This is not Christian and is a heretical use of the Golden Rule.

Please join me in praying for Warren Throckmorton, for his repentance, and also for his duplicitous dealings to be revealed so no further harm is done to our precious and impressionable kids.

And please help me pray that the emotionally manipulative “Day of Silence” is revealed for what it is — adults exploiting precious kids.

Notes:

1. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5725a2.htm. See Table at end.

Linda Harvey, founder of Mission:America

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Linda Harvey is founder and president of Mission: America, based in Columbus, Ohio. Perhaps more than any other American, she has sounded the alarm about the danger of promoting/affirming “GLBT” (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender) identities to young people [click the "To Christians" button HERE]. Please support Mission: America’s important work [Donate link is at the bottom of the main website page]. To order a 2-DVD set of Linda Harvey’s talk last year at Americans For Truth, send $35 postpaid to: Americans For Truth, P.O. Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567, or specify “Linda Harvey 2-DVD set” with your gift of $35 or more through AFTAH’s online donor page.

Matt Barber's brutally honest description of homosexual sodomy was too much for Exodus International.

By Peter LaBarbera

Folks, a few days ago we ran a story about CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) allowing a homosexual activist group to be a co-sponsor, in which I quoted my friend (and AFTAH Board Member) Matt Barber offered a colorful description of homosexual sodomy and same-sex “love.” It was appropriately dismissive toward this “detestable” act (Leviticus 18:22) once known as a “crime against nature,” and you can read it HERE.  The point was: no true “conservative” can support or celebrate homosexual perversion.

Well, thanks to the politically correct overreaction of Randy Thomas and Alan Chambers of Exodus International (an ex-”gay” umbrella group), Liberty Counsel (Barber’s current employer) issued an apologetic statement that was not fully accurate in that it left out a key fact: Matt’s ownership of the bold sodomy description. This could create the  impression that Barber might not have made the comment, which he did.

Today Matt issued his own clarification (emphasis added):

“This is for clarification only. As affirmed in Liberty Counsel’s statement, neither I nor anyone with Liberty Counsel ever publicly ‘wrote or made’ the comment in question – an unapologetically direct and accurate depiction of the sin of sodomy (a sin that God directly and accurately calls both an ‘abomination’ and ‘detestable’). Some years before I began working with Liberty Counsel, I made the comment in private conversation with Peter LaBarbera. At the time, Peter asked if he could ‘quote me on it’ and I said yes.

“On a personal note, let me take this opportunity to share with those caught-up in this particular sin lifestyle that I am no less a sinner and no better a person than they. None of us are. The good news is that, through Christ’s earth shattering sacrifice on the cross, we are redeemed. We need merely believe, call upon His name, repent and make every effort to ‘go and sin no more.’

“Unfortunately, however, we live in a society where this particular sin is embraced, promoted  and even celebrated. People erroneously equate this unnatural and sinful behavior with ‘identity’ and ‘orientation’ even taking ‘pride’ in an objectively deviant lifestyle. My hope and prayer is that this silly faux ‘controversy’ might actually make people reflect –– if only for a moment –– upon the emotionally, spiritually and physically destructive nature of homosexual conduct. ‘Gayness’ is about what people do, not who people are. It’s about feelings and behaviors alone. But those feelings and behaviors don’t make those caught-up in them any less precious to God, to me or to anyone I know.

“Scripture tells us that the ‘wages of sin is death.’ It breaks my heart that so many ‘gays’ and ‘lesbians’ continue in a lifestyle that ultimately results in spiritual and, yes, even physical death. I’m very grateful for ministries such as PFOX, Exodus and others that reach out to those who seek to escape the homosexuality snare. In the meantime, I will push forward, undeterred, on the front lines of the ongoing culture war, fighting the militant homosexual activist organizations that enable and encourage those trapped in homosexuality to continue down that changeable path of destruction. Shame on them and shame on those who support them.” – Matt Barber

Exodus published two blog posts by Randy Thomas (first THIS ARTICLE and then THIS FOLLOW-UP pegging off the LC statement) highly critical of Barber’s remark and this writer for using it. Predictably, these Exodus articles have been exploited by homosexual activists such as Wayne Besen — who typically exaggerate the story in their zeal to embarrass Americans For Truth and by extension the pro-family movement. (Besen is also a malicious liar whose life ambition is to discredit ex-”gays”; he revels in ad hominem attacks on Barber, me (he came up with and continues to use the nasty smear “Porno Pete”) and others in the pro-family movement. Needless to say, he despises and maligns Exodus on a regular basis. By the way, the hateful Besen is also a strong contender for AFTAH’s “Gay Grinch of the Year” 2009 award due to — among other mean-spirited acts — his bullhorn harassment of Boston’s Park Street Church, which was holding an ex-”gay” conference.)

Below is a reprint of my original response to Liberty Counsel”s statement — which I published as a comment on Randy Thomas’ Exodus blog.  AFTAH will continue to work with Exodus even though occasionally we have philosophical and semantic disagreements with them about the proper approach toward homosexuality and the “Gay” Activist Lobby. The reality of our movement — like all coalitions — is that different groups take different approaches, hopefully all with the same end goal in mind. Exodus has a problem with re-stigmatizing homosexual behavior; we believe doing is essential to turning back the GLBT Lobby’s gains.

We also appreciate the work of Liberty Counsel and look forward to partnering with them as always in the fight against the aggressive and anti-Christian homosexualist movement.

This episode made a mountain out of a molehill and we regret that Exodus chose to draw more attention to it and to condemn us in such a self-righteous manner. If you would like to read my four responses to Randy’s posts (and to a comment by another writer critical of AFTAH) on the Exodus blog, go HERE to see all four posts. I look forward to reading Randy’s responses to my questions if he can find the time to answer. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

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Peter LaBarbera’s first comment on Randy Thomas’ Exodus blog post, “Liberty Counsel Responds to Crass Quote Attributed to Matt Barber”:

December 18, 2009 at 2:00 pm

This is Peter LaBarbera. The quotation in question by Matt Barber — a brutally honest and necessarily accurate description of homosexual sodomy — is printed verbatim and was made in conversation between the two of us years ago — long before he went to work for Liberty Counsel. I asked Matt at the time if I could quote him on it and he gave me permission to use it, and ultimately I did — in the context of showing how CPAC or any organization that defends sodomy (as GOProud and countless other GLBT organizations implicitly and explicitly do) cannot call itself “conservative.”

I presume and hope that what Mat Staver and Liberty Counsel meant to say was that Matt Barber’s quoted words were not uttered or published under the auspices of Liberty Counsel — as they were made several years ago in private conversation long before Matt came to work there.

Frankly, I am appalled at Randy’s “spiritualized” condemnation of Matt Barber’s phrase. Sorry, Randy, I disagree with your self-righteous take on Christ-like compassion. Philosophically, I believe that you are conflating behavior with a supposed “identity” — “sexual orientation”/”gayness” — found nowhere in the Bible. Sin is what we do in our fallen nature, not who we are. Is Tiger Woods’ serial infidelity part of his “core” identity? I think not.

Would Randy be upset at a similar, direct condemnation/description of other sinful sexual behaviors condemned in the Bible, like pornography, adultery or incest? We’re talking about behavior here (sodomy) that God calls an “abomination.” Using the same logic, is Randy going to get on God’s case next for His very unambiguous (you might say harsh) classification of homosexual sodomy as detestable? Is Almighty God demonstrating “insensitivity” toward “gay” men with such language?

Let me ask you, Randy: how would you accurately and honestly describe the act of sodomy, and are you opposed to forcefully condemning it?

There is so much to disagree with regarding Randy’s posts that I will leave that for a formal reply on my site (Americans For Truth: http://www.americansfortruth.org). But I do want to clarify that Matt Barber’s candid description of homosexual sodomy — typical of his bold, entertaining and decidedly non-PC style –  is completely accurate; that he stands by it; and that he did indeed give me permission to use it years ago — which has nothing whatsoever to do with Liberty Counsel today.

Next time please shoot me an e-mail and we’ll clear this up easier.

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Randy Thomas responds to Peter LaBarbera’s comment:
December 18, 2009 at 3:02 pm

Peter, I have tried to dialog with you in person and via email in the past and it hasn’t cleared up anything before. You nod, say nice things and then go do something else that stigmatizes people who struggle with or embrace homosexuality. This time you wrote a hateful public quote attributed to someone else and contextualized it as a current reaction to the GOProud situation. We went through the direct and appropriate avenue to follow up with the person you alleged made this quote and got the above response.

Do what you got to do Peter.

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Peter LaBarbera responds to Randy Thomas’ “snippy” answer:
December 18, 2009 at 4:26 pm

Nice snippy non-response, Randy.  Talk about presumption. Perhaps you are correct: dialogue between us is not very productive as you seem to have one foot still in the “gay” camp (at least sympathy-wise) and another in the Christian pro-family camp. I sometimes wonder if you are more troubled by conservative pro-family groups like AFTAH than you are by homosexual activists. According to your loaded and misguided definition of “hate,”  I suppose you could make the case that the God of the Bible is a “hater” because He calls sodomy “detestable.” Matt and I and others are re-stigmatizing homosexual behavior, Randy — not people. Please, I beg you, show me anything close to “sexual orientation” in the Bible!  If you cannot, then stop defining people by destructive behaviors and treating homosexuality like some sort of special sin that deserves more deference than all the others. In fact, if criticizing bad sexual behavior is truly “hating” people, then much of the country is hating Tiger Woods right about now. (Do you “hate” Tiger? I don’t, and yet it makes me sick what he has done.) The practice of anal sodomy — or the infamous “crime against nature,” as that “hater” Noah Webster defined it — has caused untold physical destruction in this country, and across the world: I make no apology for agreeing with Matt’s dismissive and bold condemnatory description of it.