Barack Obama has promised a lot to self-styled “queer” activists: open homosexuality in the military, a federal “civil unions” law, “hate crimes” legislation, repealing the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), enacting ENDA, etc. He has also pledged to use his bully pulpit as President to advocate for homosexual goals. Will pro-family Americans be able to put the brakes on Obama’s “gay agenda”?  Help AFTAH reach its goal of $5,000 in online donations by midnight tonight (central time) by making a tax-free gift at www.americansfortruth.com/donate/. Or become a monthly AFTAH Truth Team giver HERE.

Below are 10 good reasons to support Americans For Truth about Homosexuality as we head into a New Year.  Before we get to the 10 points, though here’s how to help us reach our goal of $5,000 in online donations by midnight tonight — we are three-fifths of the way there:

YEAR-END MATCHING GIFT: Go to our user-friendly giving page — ww.americansfortruth.com/donate/ — to make your tax-free donation using PayPal or your MasterCard or Visa.  ALL ONLINE GIFTS MADE BY MIDNIGHT CENTRAL TIME WILL BE COUNTED AS A TAX DEDUCTION ON YOUR 2008 TAXES! Or mail a gift here (postmarked by 12/31 if you want it to count for 2008; Jan. 1 and after will go toward 2009):  AFTAH, PO Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567.

TRUTH TEAM MEMBERSHIP:  To sign up as a Truth Team member by pledging $25, $50, $100, $250 or more per month to sustain AFTAH’s critical work, go HERE.

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Ten Reasons to Support Americans For Truth in 2009

By Peter LaBarbera

1. President-elect Barack Obama’s support for radical, pro-homosexual federal “hate crimes” legislation. Will homosexuals rise to the top of the politically correct hierarchy of victims in the United States?  Will pastors who teach correctly from the Bible that homosexual behavior is sinful be brought up as “accomplices” if someone who attends their church attacks a homosexual? All crimes involve hate at some level and all Americans — including homosexuals — deserve equal protection under the law without regard to special criteria.
2. Obama’s support for the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA), which would use federal power to force businesses to support homosexuality and subsidize homosexual employees’ relationships regardless of their faith- or morality-based opposition to homosexual conduct. Why should homosexuality-based “rights” (mandates) take precedence over Americans’ historic religious and First Amendment liberties?
3. Obama’s call to allow open homosexuality in the military — during wartime no less — and Obama’s promise to use the bully pulpit to advocate other pro-homosexual agenda goals such as homosexual adoption of children.  Will our Commander-in-Chief become the Gay-Propagandist-in-Chief? And what sort of homosexuality-affirming “Christianity” is Obama going to espouse (as he does in his book, Audacity of Hope)?
4. Obama’s pledge to work for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which was signed into law by Bill Clinton in 1996 and which protects states from being forced to recognize out-of-state “gay marriages.” Mr. Obama: please forget this radical promise and defend marriage as president if you truly believe that it should remain between a man and a woman!
5. Obama’s support for a federal “civil unions” bill – essentially “gay marriage” by another name.  Honoring homosexual unions and rewarding them with government benefits only undermines genuine marriage in society.
6. Obama’s promise to sign the radical “Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), which would eviscerate pro-life reform laws across the country that have helped save thousands of innocent unborn children’s lives.
7. The real possibility that the California Supreme Court will invalidate Proposition 8 – passed by the people of that state Nov. 4.  Do citizens’ votes count and do they have a right to stop liberal judges from imposing a radical redefinition of marriage by fiat?
8. Homosexual activists’ intolerance and anti-democratic behavior as exhibited following their loss on Prop 8 in California.  If homosexual militants behave like this now – declaring their counterfeit “marriages” a “constitutional right” and demonizing religious opponents as “hate-filled bigots” analogous to the KKK — imagine the potential for abuse should they gain federal power through passage of federal hate crimes and employment legislation (ENDA).
9. The ongoing, aggressive lobbying by the Gender Confusion Movement. Having learned well from their “gay’” allies, “transgender” activists seek to turn “gender nonconformity” into a legal civil right.  This would include the supposed “right” of a very young boy to come to school in a dress if he thinks he should be a girl.  (Now there’s an agenda item sure to be popular with most parents of school-age children….)  Memo to the Transgender Lobby: women do NOT want biologically-born men (wearing dresses and high heels) with male genitalia in their public restrooms—period.
10. The socially leftist media’s and Hollywood’s increasingly bold and arrogant promotion of all things “gay.”  When it gets so bad that Newsweek magazine runs a cover story positing (out of nowhere) that the Bible supports homosexuality-based “marriage,” the media has lost all perspective on this issue.  They are taking their cues directly from the homosexual lobby — which means increasingly they will be demonizing people of faith as “haters.”  And then they wonder why newspaper and magazine sales are down.  AFTAH will continue to speak out against the media’s and Hollywood’s secular bigotry.

There are many more reasons to support AFTAH but all involve our unshakable commitment to you to defend the truth against the homosexual activist agenda — boldly and without apology. The main question on this issue should not be: “What’s wrong with gay marriage?” or “How does my ‘gay marriage’ affect you?” but rather: “Why are all relationships built around unnatural, changeable, immoral and often unhealthy homosexual behavior somehow deserving of taxpayer-subsidized government recognition?  Or perhaps: “Why is it wise for our government to elevate and reward natural marriage and the mom-and-dad-with-children family over destructive, unmarried and unnatural relationships?”

The side that frames the issue wins the debate — and the pro-family side often loses because we allow radical, pro-homosexuality activists to frame the issue. Let’s get back to basics in 2009!

Thank you for supporting our important work! To give to AFTAH:

YEAR-END MATCHING GIFT: Go to our user-friendly giving page — ww.americansfortruth.com/donate/ — to make your tax-free donation using PayPal or your MasterCard or Visa.  ALL ONLINE GIFTS MADE BY MIDNIGHT CENTRAL TIME WILL BE COUNTED AS A TAX DEDUCTION ON YOUR 2008 TAXES!  Or mail a gift here (postmarked by 12/31 if you want it to count for 2008; Jan. 1 and after will go toward 2009):  AFTAH, PO Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567.

TRUTH TEAM MEMBERSHIP:  To sign up as a Truth Team member by pledging $25, $50, $100, $250 or more per month to sustain AFTAH’s critical work, go HERE.

Prof. Robert Gagnon rebuts Newsweek religion “reporter” Lisa Miller’s astonishingly biased and shallow polemic claiming that the Bible actually supports homosexual “marriage.” Click here to read Gagnon’s 23-page report: “More than ‘Mutual Joy’: Lisa Miller of Newsweek against Scripture and Jesus.”

Folks, needless to say, when Newsweek religion “reporter” Lisa Miller penned her ultra-biased, sophomoric cover story — or should I say “cover screed” — claiming that the Bible supports homosexual “marriage, she did not contact Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Professor Robert Gagnon — probably the world’s foremost scholarly authority on the Bible and homosexuality. Doing so would have threatened Miller’s subversive, and very “queer,” thesis: that “Scripture gives us no good reason why gays and lesbians should not be … married — and a number of excellent reasons why they should.”

Prof. Gagnon has written a very thorough refutation of Newsweek’s and Miller’s arrogant assault on God’s Word. Click here for Gagnon’s full, 23-page report: “More than ‘Mutual Joy’: Lisa Miller of Newsweek against Scripture and Jesus.” In the report, Gagnon sets the record straight (no pun intended) on Miller’s many inaccuracies and pro-”gay” assertions, including:

• Did Jesus Christ really have nothing to say against homosexuality (and hence “same-sex marriage”)?
• Does the Bible proscribe lesbian sex and relationships?
• Are Old Testament condemnations of homosexual acts (e.g., Leviticus 18:22, aptly describing sex between men as “detestable”) mere “throwaway lines in a peculiar text” — about as relevant as Old Testament rules for “hair cuts” and “cleanliness rituals for menstruating women,” as Miller writes?
• Since marriage has evolved since Bible times, why NOT let it evolve to include homosexual couples?
• Does the Bible’s call to reach out with compassion to social outcasts mandate condoning homosexual relationships?
• Miller’s assertion in favor of church-blessed homosexual “marriages”: “If we are all God’s children, made in his likeness and image, then to deny access to any sacrament based on sexuality is exactly the same thing as denying it based on skin color”?

Here’s a link with contact info for Newsweek if you care to write or call them regarding their politically correct propaganda masquerading as journalism. Meanwhile, let’s use the Secular Left’s lies about homosexuality and counterfeit marriage to hone our own arguments, Biblical and otherwise, in favor of a healthy God-ordained, natural sexual ethic: fidelity between a man and a woman, in marriage, ’till death do they part.” — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org _________________________________

Here is Gagnon’s press release announcing his paper:

More than “Mutual Joy”: Lisa Miller of Newsweek against Scripture and Jesus

Robert A. J. Gagnon

Dec. 10, 2008

As its cover story for the Dec. 15, 2008 issue, the editors of Newsweek offer readers a one-sided propaganda piece about Scripture and “gay marriage” entitled “Our Mutual Joy,” written by Religion Editor Lisa Miller. According to Miller, “scripture gives us no good reason why gays and lesbians should not be … married—and a number of excellent reasons why they should.”

Click here for Gagnon’s full, 23-page report: “More than ‘Mutual Joy’: Lisa Miller of Newsweek against Scripture and Jesus.”

Miller restricts her research to biblical scholars supportive of homosexual unions and exaggerates discontinuity between Scripture’s marriage values and our own. She elevates distant analogies like slavery and haircuts over close analogies, with far more points of correspondence, like adult-committed incest. She also extrapolates, from certain “universal truths” in Scripture, illogical conclusions that would have appalled the scriptural authors, like assuming that generic love is a sufficient prerequisite for sexual relationships. Moreover, she systematically ignores virtually every significant counterargument to her claims.

For example, she claims that Jesus never “explicitly defines marriage as between one man and one woman.” She overlooks the fact that Jesus not only affirmed a male-female prerequisite for marriage but also predicated his argument about the ‘twoness’ of a sexual bond (monogamy) on the twoness or duality of the sexes in Genesis 1:27; 2:24. Miller contends that Jesus’ singleness and remarks about marriage as a secondary good indicate Jesus’ openness to non-traditional forms of sexual bonds. They actually signify the exact opposite: a further limiting of options for sexual relations to one person of the other sex for life.

Miller suggests that Paul indicted only exploitative (violent) forms of homosexual practice in Romans 1:24-27. Yet she ignores crucial arguments that indicate otherwise: Paul’s clear echo to the creation standard of “male and female” in Genesis 1:27, his nature argument that male-female complementarity is evident in material creation, his reference to mutual homoerotic attraction, widespread knowledge of loving homosexual relationships in the ancient world (even by moralists who indicted all homosexual practice), and Paul’s indictment of nonexploitative lesbianism. Miller even erroneously claims that the Bible nowhere refers to sex between women, ignoring Romans 1:26.

For the full Gagnon report, go to http://robgagnon.net/ArticlesOnline.htm

Robert A. J. Gagnon is Associate Professor of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and author of The Bible and Homosexual Practice (Abingdon Press; 500 pgs.). E-mail: gagnon@pts.edu. Phone: 412-441-3304 ext. 2205.

Lisa Miller, Newsweek propagandist who gives new meaning to media bias.

Soulforce founder Mel White, pictured here with his homosexual lover Gary Nixon, accused Christians who adhere to historic Church teachings on the sinfulness of homosexuality of “spiritual violence” against homosexuals. Despite his and Soulforce’s manipulative tactics, God’s Word is not negotiable.

Folks, in reading this release by Gary Cass, I cannot help but wonder if the several churches that agreed to meet with the homosexual activist group Soulforce — including Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois — were naive about its radical agenda. Soulforce and its founder, Mel White, have always used manipulative and deceptive strategies (including the wordsmith White’s calculated accusation that faithful Christians are guilty of “spiritual violence” against homosexuals).

Soulforce is a nefarious organization that seeks to undermine Biblical truth about one particular sexual sin — homosexuality. Their pleadings for “dialogue” with Christians are merely a tactic — the camel’s nose in the tent, as it were — part of their larger goal of duping believers into compromising on God’s Word. We ask again: would Willow Creek Church or other mega-churches enter into (forced) “dialogue” with a “Christian porn” group? We hope not. Pray for White and the entire Soulforce crew — including “straight allies” like Jay Bakker, who claims to have received a special pro-homosexual revelation from God.

Christians must minister the Gospel in love to sinners in need of Christ’s forgiveness and healing power. But unless we are open to “dialoguing” with advocates of other sins, we shouldn’t do so with activists who twist the Bible to accommodate homosexuality. God’s Word is not negotiable.–Peter LaBarbera

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Christian Anti-Defamation Commission

News Release

June 13, 2008

In an outrageous example of sloppy journalism, Newsweek’s Lisa Miller defamed Pastor Rick Warren, the best-selling Christian author and mega-church pastor. Miller reported Warren compromised on the matter of homosexuality.

The bogus claims originated with a homosexual activist group, Soulforce. It issued a press release stating they were meeting with Rick Warren for a “conversation” and that Warren was inviting homosexual fathers to come to church on Father’s day.

Timothy Egan of The New York Times furthered the lie. Neither major news outlet fact checked the story.

Rick Warren responded: “Newsweek quoted a Soulforce press release headline that was 100% false. We did not invite this group and I will not be meeting with them. They invited themselves to draw attention to their cross country publicity stunt.”

“Soulforce is not trying to have a ‘conversation,’ it is trying to force its pro-homosexual agenda on to churches. Newsweek and the New York Times owe Rick Warren an apology for publishing reports he compromised the Christian view of family,” said Dr. Gary Cass, of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission.

“God ordained marriage to be between ‘one man for one woman for one lifetime.’ Warren would never intentionally undermine that standard,” said Cass. “Soul Force’s attempt to legitimize its radical homosexual views by associating themselves with Rick Warren’s ministry is deceitful and shameful.”

Soulforce is the middle of a mega-church blitz called “The American Family Outing.” This trip is an effort to “spark a conversation” between the gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgender families and the members of the six mega-churches. The tour ends at Warren’s Saddleback Church in California.

“Soul force says they want to ‘spark a conversation.’ Too bad for Soul Force they just set their own pants on fire,” said Cass. “If Soulforce can rationalize their homosexuality and work to destroy God’s institution of marriage, then defaming a faithful Christian minister along the way must apparently not be a that big of a deal.”

ACTION ITEM: E-mail Newsweek’s editor and ask that they issue a retraction and an apology to Rick Warren for publishing a false report that he compromised the Christian value of traditional family. Send email to WebEditors@newsweek.com.

CADC
PO Box 39875
Ft. Lauderdale, FL. 33339
(866)508-2232
www.christianadc.org

To contact the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission email contact@christianadc.org.

The following is the Executive Summary of the Culture and Media Institute’s (CMI) special report, “Apostles of Atheism: How the broadcast and print media helped spread the Gospel of Godlessness in 2007,” by Kristen Fyfe. Click HERE for the full report in HTML, and you can view the PDF Version HERE.

[Related AFTAH articles: "Chuck Norris on the Marketing of Atheism to Young People"; "Homosexuality and Atheism."]

CMI’s Fyfe writes (emphasis added):

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By Kristen Fyfe, Culture & Media Institute

Only eight percent of Americans are atheists, according to the National Cultural Values Survey,* yet atheism was the “it” religion in 2007, with just three best-selling books generating much of the media coverage. Christianity Today put the topic at No. 2 in its Top 10 list of religion stories for last year. “The Roar of Atheist Books” was the seventh biggest religion story of 2007 according to Time magazine.

Media indifference and even hostility toward religion in general and Christianity in particular has been well documented by the Media Research Center for years. With the ascendancy of atheism as a “religion” story, the Media Research Center’s Culture and Media Institute wondered whether the media gave atheism the same degree of scrutiny as Christianity and other religious faiths? To assess the news media’s coverage of atheism in 2007, CMI examined the morning, evening, late night and weekend news programs on all three broadcast networks, all issues of the three leading weekly news magazines (Newsweek, Time and U.S. News and World Report), and four programs aired on taxpayer-funded National Public Radio (Morning Edition, Weekend Edition, All Things Considered and Talk of the Nation).

CMI found 105 stories either featuring atheism or introducing the views of atheists while reporting on other issues. Among the key findings:

• 80 percent (17 out of 21) of feature stories about atheism or atheists had a positive tone, exemplified by Time’s December 3 story on a Sunday school for atheists. 20 percent were neutral. No feature stories were negative.
• Atheists were used to challenge religious viewpoints more than journalists used religious viewpoints to challenge atheism. Fifty-four percent of atheist-themed stories included a religious counterpoint, but 71 percent of the Christian-themed stories included atheist counterpoints or were written from an atheistic perspective. The most striking example was Newsweek’s choice of avowed atheist and Mother Teresa-basher Christopher Hitchens to critique a book detailing Mother Teresa’s spiritual struggles.
• Atheism stories or commentaries by atheists were present in 51 percent (25 of 49) of the issues of Newsweek and 35 percent (17 out of 49) of the issues of Time. This included features, mentions in stories on other issues and groupings of letters to the editor from atheists. In sharp contrast, only one issue of U.S. News and World Report referred to atheism.
• ABC provided the most enthusiastic television network coverage of atheism, exemplified by features on an atheist Web site called Blasphemy Challenge and an atheist convention held in Baltimore. The network addressed the subject 24 times in five of its six news programs. This number is just under the combined total for CBS (16) and NBC (11). ABC also aired more produced packages (5) on the subject than CBS (4) and NBC (2). ABC’s Nightline devoted an entire program to a live debate between atheists and Christians.
• Six out of seven news organizations considered in this study addressed the concerns and interests of atheists in the upcoming presidential election. Only Republican candidates for President were asked how they would treat atheists.

This report concludes that, whether deliberately or not, the news media did not subject atheism or atheists to the same skepticism to which they subject Christians and Christianity. By airing unchallenged interviews and reporting predominantly positive-toned features, the news organizations in this study effectively promoted atheism and held it in higher regard than other religions. While the media are not obligated to treat all religions and belief systems equally, their failure to subject atheism to the levels of skepticism directed at Christianity and other religions suggests a deplorable double standard.

Using atheism as a foil against Christianity, but not against any other religion, suggests an anti-Christian bias. If journalists call on atheists to comment on one religion, they should use atheists to comment on all. Further, if reporters use prominent atheists to offer opposing views on religion-themed stories, they should –– in equal measure –– invite leading believers to provide perspective on stories about atheism. Journalists who look at America’s majority religion through a skeptical prism should equally apply their critical faculties to atheism.

* The National Cultural Values Survey was conducted for the Culture and Media Institute in December, 2006.

Click HERE for the full CMI report, “Apostles of Atheism” in HTML
and HERE for the report in PDF format