North Carolina pastor Patrick Wooden criticized the Southern Poverty Law Center for implying that Black leaders cannot think for themselves and had to be "brought" to the SPLC press conference by "white organizers." Here he is interviewed by a Montgomery TV reporter after the AFTAH press conference. In the background is a large SPLC banner decrying "HATE." Click on photo to enlarge.

Here is the audio [click HERE to listen] for AFTAH’s press conference January 17, 2012, outside the headquarters of the Southern Poverty Law Center, in Montgomery, Alabama, featuring a coalition of African American pastors and pro-family leaders challenging the SPLC’s tendentious “hate group” designation against Americans For Truth and other pro-family groups. Total length is 33 minutes.

The following speakers appeared (with beginning times on recording):

• Peter LaBarbera, President, Americans For Truth About Homosexuality;
• Dr. Patrick Wooden, Pastor, Upper Room Church of God in Christ, Raleigh, NC; 3:03
• DL Foster, Founder, Gay Christian Movement Watch and Witness Freedom Ministries, Atlanta, Ga.; 7;10
• Matt Barber, Vice President, Liberty Council Action, Lynchburg, Va.; Board Chairman,  AFTAH; 13:07
• Tim Johnson, Chairman and Founder, Frederick Douglass Foundation; 17:07
• Wil Nichols, Pastor, Victorious Praise Fellowship Church of God in Christ, Durham, NC; 20:00
• Rochelle Conner, representing Scott Lively and Abiding Truth Ministries [Conner flew in from California]; 22:22
• Troy Towns, representing Apostle Kyle Searcy, Fresh Annointing House of Worship, Montgomery, AL; 26:05
• Glenn Sawyer, Pastor, New Mt. Zion Church of God in Christ, Elizabeth City, NC; 28:30
• Jon Robinson, Pastor, Kingdon C.O.M.E. Ministries, Clairton, Pa.; 29:50

Referenced links: Click HERE for the SPLC’s racist-tinged blog post by Mark Potok issued just before the press conference — alleging that “the white organizers of the press conference are bringing along a set of black pastors.” Click HERE for the SPLC “Hate Map [Illinois]” referenced by LaBarbera showing the Neo-Nazis.

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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 to load.)  OR right click the link then “save target as” to download the entire segment.

SPLC Press Conf Audio, 1-17-12

Click on graphic to enlarge. Homosexual web activist website "All Out" lobbies PayPal to drop AFTAH and other pro-family groups as alleged "anti-LGBT extremists." The petition reads, "PayPal must act immediately to shut down their accounts and ban all sites that promote anti-LGBT hate."

TAKE ACTION NOW: a new homosexual web campaign is urging the internet payment company PayPal to drop AFTAH and other pro-family organizations as so-called “extremists” that “promote anti-LGBT hate.” Please help defend Americans For Truth from being dropped by PayPal in response to this anti-Christian pressure campaign.

1) Go to PayPal’s website and make a much-needed gift to AFTAH to support our work. Or do so through the AFTAH website at www.americansfortruth.com/donate/. Mail a check to AFTAH, PO Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522.

2) Write or call PayPal and urge them to STAND FOR FREEDOM and NOT give in to this intolerant pressure campaign by homosexual activists; use PayPal’s online “Comment Card” HERE, or post a note to the PayPal blog.  Or use their Contact Page HERE (note, the latter seems to favor comments by people holding a PayPal account).  Here is the Contact Page for PayPal’s parent company, e-BAY Inc.

Please THANK PayPal for initially siding with religious freedom so far [as reported HERE by the homosexual website Pink News] and not abruptly caving to All Out’s demands.  Urge them NOT to punish Christian and pro-family advocates – which could potentially alienate millions of potential PayPal customers.

3) Also, sign the LifeSiteNews petition to PayPal defending AFTAH and other pro-family targets by going here: http://www.profamilyfreedom.net/

4) Send this message to your friends and contact list to educate them on the anti-Christian and censorious nature of the homosexual movement. “Gay” activists no longer want “Tolerance”; now they want Dominance even if it means smearing pro-family people as “haters” and destroying our cherished religious freedoms.  

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By Peter LaBarbera

Dear AFTAH Reader,

Every day brings more evidence that the Homosexual Lobby is all about kicking pro-morality people (mostly committed Christians) who disagree with homosexual behavior OUT of the public square. More and more observers are seeing this for what it is: homo-fascism. Last week we learned of a homosexual web campaign called “All Out” that is targeting the payment service company PayPal for doing business with Americans For Truth and nine other groups — which it smears as ”extremists” who “promote anti-LGBT “hate.” Here is the wording of their All Out petition:

PAYPAL: END THE ONLINE HATE TRADE
Tell PayPal: Put Hate Out of Business

“PayPal officially states that its users ‘may not use the PayPal service for activities that [...] promote hate, violence, racial intolerance’ but PayPal has become a favorite payment service for anti-LGBT extremists all over the world. PayPal must act immediately to shut down their accounts and ban all sites that promote anti-LGBT hate.”

In an adjoining article, the grammatically-challenged All Out writes:

Thanks to PayPal, its [sic] easier than ever to send and receive money across currencies and continents – but it is also PayPal’s responsibility to make sure this technology doesn’t fall in the wrong hands. Anti-LGBT extremists all over the world are currently using PayPal to fundraise for their dangerous cause.

Not only is it against PayPal’s rules to promote promote [sic] “hate, violence, [and] racial intolerance,” hate groups also damage PayPal’s brand and credibility. We ask that PayPal join the fight against online hate and immediately shut down the accounts of anti-LGBT extremist groups using the service.

Already, All Out boasts that 35,000 people have sent web-generated letters to PayPal using All Out’s user-friendly web form. Among the other targeted groups beside AFTAH are Scott Lively’s Abiding Truth Ministries [Lively will be a speaker at AFTAH’s banquet outside Chicago on Oct. 15^th] and the Catholic group Tradition, Family, and Property. Also on the list is Brazilian expatriate and pro-family hero Julio Severo [Julio’s blog is written in Portuguese].

Here is All Out’s description of AFTAH:

Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (United States): This groups [sic] claims homosexuality is a “lethal behavior addiction,” a “dangerous” practice that is “neither normal nor benign.” 

PayPal cites religious freedom but takes complaints

The British “gay” website Pink News reports that in response to All Out’s pressure campaign, PayPal is declining to immediately revoke the pro-family groups’ payment accounts on the grounds of religious freedom:

“PayPal does not allow the use of its service for activities that promote hatred, violence or racial intolerance. We take very seriously any cases where a user has incited hatred, violence or intolerance because of a person’s sexual orientation.

“However, we also take into account the rights of free speech and freedom of religion. Balancing these conflicting rights is often difficult, and so we assess possible infringements objectively against our Acceptable Use Policy.

Pink News reports this continuation of the statement by PayPal – made more ominous by the fact that both AFTAH and Severo have already received e-mails from PayPal requesting more information about their accounts:

“While we can’t comment on any specific accounts because of customer confidentiality, we regularly review organizations and websites that use our service, and stop working with those that break our Acceptable Use Policy. We also enable people to report suspected breaches of this policy on our website.”

AFTAH will be following this story closely, and we are grateful that the pro-family news site LifeSiteNews is launching an online petition campaign of its own, www.ProFamilyFreedom.net, to defend Americans For Truth and the other targeted organizations against this homosexual pressure campaign.

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Facts and thoughts on this latest homosexual intimidation campaign:

1) Homosexual activists are doing all they can to push Bible-believing Christians and moral-minded people who believe homosexuality is wrong OUT of the public square;

2) “Gay” militants are in the vanguard of the Left’s war on biblical Christianity and religious freedom in the United States.  By labeling Christians as “haters,” they cruelly demonize people of faith – and encourage the outrageous idea that longstanding Christian and Bible-based beliefs are “extreme” and beyond the pale;

3) One of the tactics that homosexual militants are using is to pressure corporations and politicians to distance themselves from allegedly “hateful” groups (read: groups that rightly condemn homosexual practice as sinful or disordered — yet changeable — behavior);

4) Encouraged by media sycophancy and a lack of press accountability that feeds their success, homosexual militants are now working overtime to sell the public on the absurd notion that groups like AFTAH that adhere to traditional, biblical teachings on homosexuality are the hateful equivalents of racist fringe groups like the KKK or Neo-Nazis. This propaganda tactic gained significant traction when the left-leaning Southern Poverty Law Center – long known for exposing racist hate groups like the Klan – last year labeled AFTAH and other mainstream pro-family groups like the Family Research Council “hate” groups;

5) Predicated on such spurious analogies, the current “All Out” campaign against PayPal claims that groups like AFTAH foment violence against homosexuals. However, Americans For Truth has from its inception condemned violence and (real) hatred against homosexuals. We believe Christians should reach out to homosexuals with the Gospel truth, in the love of Christ. We believe that ALL people have dignity as human beings, but that persons should not be defined by immoral, unnatural – and changeable — sexual and gender behaviors;

6) AFTAH has condemned unbiblical and nasty messages like Fred Phelps’ (Westboro Baptist Church) “God Hates Fags.” And we have noted the contrast between Christians, who encourage men and women to abandon the homosexual lifestyle (as so many have) and “fundamentalist” Muslims who advocate the death penalty for homosexuals. (Not all Muslims hold this view.)

7) It is no longer advisable to laugh off, dismiss or ignore the activist homosexual/liberal lobby’s escalating campaign to demonize Christians and punish groups like Americans For Truth. That is because everyday Americans are being influenced by the liberal media, which enable groups like the SPLC and All Out by failing to call into question their preposterous analogies, lies and hateful smears against Christians. We must fight back with the Truth and engage our politically enemies in a dogged, “house-to-house” battle to preserve our liberties and our ability to operate freely in the public square. To do so, contact PayPal and see the “Take Action” steps at the top of this article.

Thank you for standing with Americans For Truth. God bless you.

 – Peter LaBarbera (americansfortruth@gmail.com)

Pro-homosexual "marriage" activist attacks TFP banner that proclaimed marriage as it truly is: between a man and a woman. TFP members shouted "Aggressor!" as the assailant did his dirty deed. Later, a TFP member was hit in the head by a beer bottle thrown from a car passing by.

Folks, we’ve seen this nasty brand of homosexual bullying and intolerance so often that we’re no longer shocked by it. Watch the TFP Student Action video as peaceful TFP members shout “Aggressor!” as this troubled man walks up and destroys their banner, in Fairport, New York. Imagine if a bunch of pro-family activists did this to a pro-”gay banner” banner! (CBS, ABC, NBC, and CNN would be lining up to tell the story.) TFP is a Catholic group that has done yeoman’s work standing up for real marriage across the nation. Watch the TFP Student Action video at their website HERE. – Peter LaBarbera,. www.aftah.org

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Video: Pro-Homosexual Advocate Destroys Traditional Marriage Banner in New York

Contact: Contact: John Ritchie, American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property, 717-495-5427

FAIRPORT, N.Y., June 6, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ — Volunteers with the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property (TFP) were assaulted while peacefully demonstrating for traditional marriage in Fairport, New York, on June 2.

As young TFP volunteers stood at the corner of Main Street and Church Street with signs, a pro-homosexualist hurled himself against the group’s thirteen foot long banner inscribed with “God’s Marriage = 1 Man & 1 Woman.” The banner, held by three volunteers, was knocked down and violently torn to pieces.

Watch video footage of the attack HERE.

The assailant also threatened to destroy the group’s cameras used to document their campaigns for moral values. “I’ll smash your camera,” he said.

Approaching another TFP volunteer who was holding a sign that read “Honk for Traditional Marriage,” the aggressor said: “Are you going to give me your sign, or do I need to rip it up too!?”

In a separate incident at the same demonstration, another supporter of “gay marriage” threw a beer bottle at TFP volunteer Michael Shibler from a moving vehicle. The glass bottle hit him on the forehead, causing it to swell and bleed. Local police are investigating both incidents.

“These bully tactics do not even slightly dampen my resolve to continue promoting the truth about marriage in charity. Our cause is noble and we will win,” said Shibler.

“Some say that same-sex ‘marriage’ doesn’t harm or affect anybody. Well, I think my throbbing forehead is a good example of how it does harm people. Anti-family proponents would like to completely silence my first amendment right to free speech,” he said. “While demanding tolerance for what they call ‘diversity,’ they are utterly intolerant of opposing viewpoints.”

TFP, a Catholic organization, was distributing flyers titled “10 Reasons Why Homosexual ‘Marriage’ Is Harmful and Must Be Opposed.” It calls on New Yorkers to firmly and peacefully resist the advance of the so-called gay-rights movement.

Christian Newswire release: http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/8927017115.html

First ten questions of the Wright, Adams and Bernat "Homophobia Scale" promoted by PBS. Click to enlarge.

By Peter LaBarbera

Well, I just took the “Homophobia Questionnaire” promoted by PBS’ “Frontline” and it’s official: I am “non-homophobic.” The quiz is called the “Wright, Adams & Bernat Homophobia Scale” and it is — needless to say — biased toward the liberal side on homosexuality. Nevertheless, I “passed” by a comfortable margin – with any score 50 or below registering as “non-homophobic,” and any score 51 or above qualifying as “homophobic.”

Here is Frontline’s description of the test:

In 1996, as part of his study on homophobia, Dr. Henry Adams and his colleagues at the University of Georgia developed their own “Homophobia Scale” by modifying scales used by other researchers in earlier studies. It’s a 25-item questionnaire “designed to measure your thoughts, feelings and behaviors with regards to homosexuality.” The instructions stressed: “It is not a test, so there are no right or wrong answers.”

It should be noted — as we did in reporting pro-family advocates Mat Staver’s and Matt Barber’s “non-homophobic” scores – that we at AFTAH regard the entire concept of “homophobia” as: tendentious; non-scientific; overly-broad, especially due to its ever-expanding application in society (to cover opposition toward rather than irrational fear of homosexuals); subjective; manipulative; and – all too often — a bludgeon with which to demonize and belittle well-meaning opponents of homosexuality (including those motivated by their religion).

The “Homophobia Questionnaire – much like the idea of “homophobia” itself – is flawed. Some of its questions lend themselves toward reliable, straightforward answers (e.g., #12: “Homosexuality is immoral”; or #17: “I have damaged property of a gay person, such as ‘keying’ their car”) – while others are ambiguous and could easily inspire a variety of subjective interpretations. For example, Question 11:

11. It would upset me if I learned that a close friend was homosexual.  [responses range from #1 (Strongly agree to #5 (Strongly disagree)]  

To this question I answered “Strongly Agree” — a response that I assume adds to my “homophobic” quotient. However, even though I would be greatly upset to learn that a good friend or relative considers himself a homosexual (because I believe homosexual practice is sinful and unhealthy), it does not follow that I would reject that person or treat him harshly – or be “fearful” of him, as the term homophobia implies. As I told FOX-Chicago News [see this AFTAH article], if it were one of my children, I would love them as always but would express my opposition to their practice of homosexuality, a sin.

Some questions are vaguely worded, such as #23: “When I see a gay person I think, ‘What a waste.’” 

(The quiz’s creators claim “there are no right or wrong answers” — yet clearly there is a “right” or “favorable” result from the survey: anyone scoring 51 or more is saddled with the “Homophobic” label, which is widely used by LGBT activists and pro-homosexual liberals to discredit those who oppose homosexual activist goals like “same-sex marriage.”)

You can take the “Homophobia Questionnaire” HERE. Send us your results and thoughts regarding its fairness and utility to americansfortruth@gmail.com.

For years, liberal, pro-homosexual activists have been using the cynical and dishonest tactic of blaming the Right and conservative rhetoric for horrific acts of violence: remember when the “gay” lobby organizations blamed the ”Religious Right” for the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard — supposedly by creating a “climate of hate” against homosexuals? [See Human Rights Campaign quote in the jump, following video.] Kudos to Brit Hume for supplying his usual dose of common sense, which has a much wider application than the Giffords case:

Here is the statement about the Shepard murder by then-HRC spokesman Kim Mills; note her obvious allusion to Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family:

“The savage beating and burning of Matthew Shepard did not occur in a vacuum.  Crimes such as these arise out of minds twisted and misinformed about lesbian and gay people.  The leaders of the most powerful religious political organizations — some of which have headquarters right here in Colorado — have made a strategic, political decision to target gays and lesbians,” said Mills at the press conference.

As you can read HERE, HRC’s politicized version of the crime and its cause had little to do with reality. (Shepard’s killers “came from classically troubled backgrounds,” ABC’s 20/20 reported in 2004; one was a meth addict.) Note also how Mills ascribes sinister motives to “religious political organizations” rather than the truth: these organizations merely seek to defend their biblical worldview that homosexuality is sinful behavior rather than the basis for “civil rights.”

Homosexual activists continue to blame religious conservatives for acts of violence against homosexuals, as well as for suicides by homosexuals). As we pray for the families of the Tucson vicims, we must not allow such lies and misinformation to gain ground in a media culture that remains heavily biased toward liberalism. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

AFTAH's Peter LaBarbera asks why there are so many boy victims of pedophlia when homosexual men comprise such a tiny percentage of society. Above is the cover of a magazine published by NAMBLA, the notorious North American Man/Boy Love Association. NAMBLA once marched in "Gay Pride" parades before homosexual activist leaders wised up and kicked the adult-child sex advocates out of their annual celebrations. Many adult "gay" men and lesbians testify to being victims of predatory sexual abuse in their youth.

In this interview with Concerned Women for America’s online radio program [Click HERE to listen], CWA’s Martha Kleder and I discuss the Southern Poverty Law Center’s spurious “hate” monitoring. In addition to discussing the SPLC’s lopsided “vigilance” against Christian groups while professing ignorance about obvious homosexual hate incidents, I challenge the SPLC’s “hate” criterion chastising any group that says homosexuals are disproportionately involved in child molestation. (I ask why there are so many boy victims of pedophilia if homosexual men comprise such a tiny percentage of society; I assume few boys are molested by women.) I also note how the SPLC’s Mark Potok reserved special praise on the group’s recent webcast for ex-pro-family advocate Warren Throckmorton. The Grove City College professor, who claims to be biblically orthodox on homosexuality even as he ramps up his pro-”gay” advocacy, cravenly commended the SPLC’s tendentious report — the same report that former Attorney General Ed Meese called “despicable” for its “ridiculous” campaign to demonize mainstream pro-family groups as “haters.”   – Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org  

CWA writes:

Southern Poverty Law Center Lists Pro-Family Groups with the KKK 

A recent report by the Southern Poverty Law Center demonizes mainstream pro-family groups as “hate groups,” simply because of their stand against the pro-LGBT agenda and same-sex “marriage.” Included on the SPLC”s list of “hate groups” are the Family Research Council, The American Family Association, Concerned Women for America, and Americans for Truth about Homosexuality. Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth, dissects the report and the SPLC’s recent press conference on this issue. He notes the complete lack of evidence in the report linking pro-family groups with “hate,” as well as the glaring omission of radical homosexual activists groups like ACT-UP and Bash Back!. Listen | Download

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SPLC Articles on Americans For Truth website:

• SPLC Plays Politics with Hate, Smears Americans For Truth as ‘Hate Site’
• Is AFTAH a ‘Hate Group’? — Higgins on the ‘Morality Police’ at the Southern Poverty Law Center
• AFTAH’s LaBarbera Challenges SPLC’s Potok to a ‘Debate on Hate,’ Asks to Reverse ‘Hate’ Designation
• Oops! Southern Poverty Law Center Mistakes Peter LaBarbera for Paul Cameron
• Barber: Southern Poverty Law Center Officially Declared ‘Left-Wing Hate Group’
    

The SPLC's Mark Potok oversees the organization's de facto "campaign of defamation" painting groups like AFTAH that oppose homosexuality as "hate groups." Potok admits that the SPLC has never identified a single "gay" group as hateful even though militant homosexual organizations like ACT UP and Bash Back! have targeted churches with vicious attacks.

TAKE ACTION: Contact the Senate Judiciary Committee (members listed HERE; Senate Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121) — and the House Committee on Homeland Security (202-226-2616; members listed HERE; House Switchboard: 202-225-3121) and urge them to investigate the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) working relationship with the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI. The leftist SPLC is now slandering conservative, Christian and Tea Party groups by mislabeling them as “hate groups” on a par with genuine, fringe hate groups like the KKK.  American taxpayers should insist that the federal government have no role in legitimizing the SPLC, which has politicized “hate” and turned it into a fund-raising business to demonize conservatives – including mainstream pro-family groups that oppose homosexual activism. To read an in-depth report exposing the SPLC’s unethical practices, go HERE.

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Below is a useful article by Laurie Higgins of the Illinois Family Institute — on the leftist Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) preposterous smear-job against mainstream pro-family groups (including AFTAH, IFI, Family Research Council, and AFA) as “hate groups” because we oppose homosexuality and LGBT (“gay”) activism. Technically, the SPLC would argue that AFTAH and the other groups opposed homosexuality in the wrong way, but let’s be honest: ideologically speaking, the SPLC is so deeply committed to pro-”gay” advocacy that it considers suspect any organization that opposes pro-LGBT activism. Predictably, the left-wing, pro-homosexual echo chamber is using the SPLC’s “findings” to discredit pro-family groups.

Indicative of the SPLC”s tendentious and polemical “hate reporting” is its description of this writer as a “longtime gay-basher.” Using such semantics, that would make SPLC staffers like Mark Potok “longtime Christian bashers.” To read an excellent set of reports on the SPLC’s escalating “campaign of defamation” against conservatives and traditionalists, read this special Social Contract Journal edition.

As Barb Anderson of the (potential future “hate” group?) Minnesota Family Council and I discussed in Part One of our AFTAH Radio Hour interview [click HERE to listen], the SPLC’s cynical “hate” dragnet is growing so wide that we have almost reached the point where if a pro-family group is NOT INCLUDED on the SPLC’s “hate” list, it must be slacking off in resisting the destructive homosexual agenda. I write “almost” because some of our good friends such as Liberty Counsel and Campaign for California Families have not yet officially been designated “haters”; their time will come. Of course, the truth is, nobody “hates” like the American Left — especially militant homosexual activists.

I like Laurie’s reference to the “Morality Police”; how ironic that the Left has become the mirror of what it hates:  the societal “moral” scold. Remember that the dogmatists on the Left once screamed against the “Religious Right”: “Don’t impose your morality on the rest of us!” Now it’s the pro-”queer” Left that works diligently to “impose its immorality” on America using every dirty tactic ever conceived by Saul Alinsky (e.g., “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it”; see this piece). I half expect Potok or SPLC co-founder Morris Dees to show up in Wheeling, West Virginia, claiming to “have in my hand the names of 57 newly designated anti-gay hate groups….”

Prior to Americans for Truth About Homosexuality’s “graduation” to full-fledged SPLC “hate” group, we were labeled a “hate” website by the SPLC — after a very… well, bigoted and hateful Marxist homosexual organization, the Gay Liberation Network (GLN), “reported” us to the Alabama-based SPLC. (You know those Communists are all about love, tolerance and honesty … one GLN leader, Bob Schwartz, a self-described Trotskyite, told me at a Chicago protest that he’d push me into oncoming traffic if it weren’t for the cops standing nearby; Schwartz has never denied making the threatening remark. I hereby report the GLN to the SPLC as a “hate” group for targeting sincere Christians with its slanderous and bigoted vilifications and protests.)

No hateful homosexuals?

You will recall that earlier this year SPLC Intelligence Project director Mark Potok confirmed to me via e-mail that no “gay” advocacy group has ever made the SPLC’s “hate” list — despite the fact that miltant homosexual organizations like ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) have engaged in numerous planned assaults against churches and other political opponents. (In 1989, as part of a huge protest againset then-Cardinal John O’Connor, ACT UP members stormed St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City during a Sunday mass; it was a particularly ugly, anti-Catholic attack in which protesters screamed and tossed condoms in the air, and even stomped on a consecrated wafer believed by Catholics to be the Body of Christ. More recently, in 2008, the homosexual activist group Bash Back! staged an invasion of a large evangelical church in Lansing, Michigan; the church was specifically targeted for its outspoken belief that homosexual practice is sinful and that “gays” can leave that lifestyle through faith in Jesus Christ. [Regarding that point and the SPLC's #10 "myth" below, we must ask: does the Southern Poverty Law Center "hate" former homosexuals?] A thorough investigation into the pro-homosexual “hatred” unleashed against Prop 8 supporters in California – especially churches — is in order.)

In the ensuing months since I corresponded with Potok, the SPLC appears not to have made even a token move to identify homosexual activist hate groups and websites (gay activist Dan Savage’s shockingly evil “Santorum.com” comes to mind [Warning: highly offensive content] — while it greatly expanded its list of alleged pro-family alleged “hate groups.” This contradiction alone demonstrates the SPLC’s extreme bias and the folly of taking seriously its self-appointed role as an objective, impartial hate-monitoring organization.

Higgins deftly exposes the shoddy “research”  of the SPLC (as we at AFTAH have personally experienced; the incompetent researchers for SPLC’s “Intelligence Report” initially confused me with Paul Cameron of the Family Research Institute). All this would be comical except that the SPLC is taken seriously by the liberal media and is used as an informational resource by the federal government’s Department of Homeland Security, so please take the action steps above.

Always remember: defending biblical morality is not ”bigotry” and disagreeing with homosexual activists is not “hate.” Thanks for standing with AFTAH for truth amidst all the politically correct lies. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org; write us at americansfortruth@gmail.com

Laurie Higgins writes:
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The Morality Police at the Southern Poverty Law Center

Evelyn Schlatter, Southern Poverty Law Center author of "hate groups" article

By Laurie Higgins, Illinois Family Institute

Oh, for the good old days when the term “hate group” referred to groups that actually hated someone. Now the term “hate group” refers to any group that expresses political, philosophical, moral, or theological beliefs with which the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) disagrees.

Last week, the SPLC released the winter issue of Mark Potok’s ironically named “Intelligence Report.” The article, “18 Anti-Gay Groups and Their Propaganda,” by Evelyn Schlatter lists 18 organizations as “anti-gay” groups with 13 of those to be added to their formal list of “hate groups.” The American Family Association, Family Research Council, and the Illinois Family Institute are three of the 13 that will be included on a list with neo-Nazi organizations.

Schlatter explains that the “propagation” of “known falsehoods” about homosexuality will result in organizations being included on the SPLC’s “anti-gay” list and perhaps also their “hate groups” list. Here are the “known falsehoods” that she and co-author Robert Steinback cite in the companion article “10 Anti-Gay Myths Debunked”:

1. If an organization claims that homosexuals “molest children at far higher rates than heterosexuals,” it goes on the SPLC’s “hate groups” list.
2. If an organization says that “same-sex parents harm children,” it goes on the SPLC’s “hate groups” list.
3. If an organization claims that “people become homosexual because they were sexually abused as children or there was a deficiency in sex-role modeling by their parents,” it goes on the SPLC’s “hate groups” list.
4. If an organization claims that “homosexuals don’t live nearly as long as heterosexuals,” it goes on the SPLC’s “hate groups” list.
5. If an organization claims that “homosexuals controlled the Nazi Party and helped to orchestrate the Holocaust,” it goes on the SPLC’s “hate-groups” list.
6. If an organization claims that “hate crime laws will lead to the jailing of pastors who criticize homosexuality and the legalization of practices like bestiality and necrophilia,” it goes on the SPLC’s “hate groups” list.
7. If an organization claims that “allowing homosexuals to serve openly would damage the armed forces,” it goes on the SPLC’s “hate groups” list.
8. If an organization claims that homosexuals “are more prone to be mentally ill and to abuse drugs and alcohol,” it goes on the SPLC’s “hate groups” list.
9. If an organization claims that “no one is born a homosexual,” it goes on the SPLC’s “hate groups” list.
10. If an organization claims “Gay people can choose to leave homosexuality,” it goes on the SPLC’s “hate groups” list.

Under each of these “myths,” Schlatter and Steinback offer analyses and evidence of such poor quality that their arguments wouldn’t pass muster in many high school English classes in which there are actual standards for logic and use of evidence. I will examine just a few of the many problems in their analyses, which in turn will reveal the intellectual and ethical vacuity that pervades the SPLC.

Same sex parents harm children

The SPLC thinks that the belief that same sex parents harm children constitutes hatred. The first problem is that Schlatter and Steinback fail to define harm. If one believes that homosexuality is morally flawed, then a household centered on a morally flawed relationship cannot be beneficial.

It is entirely possible that a brother and sister in an incestuous relationship or that polyamorist parents could raise children, providing for their physical needs, comforting them, and teaching them their ABCs. But most of society believes that such relationships would harm children because they would teach children that incest or polyamory are morally permissible. Would Schlatter and Steinback include organizations on their “hate groups” list that propagate the belief that incestuous parents or poly-parents harm children?

The SPLC and many homosexuals are outraged over any comparison of homosexuality to adult consensual incest or polyamory because they view homosexuality as moral and incest and polyamory as immoral. But no one is obligated to accept the SPLC’s flawed comparison of homosexuality to race or to accept their moral assumptions. After all, who is the SPLC to impose their moral views on all of society? Why are IFI’s moral beliefs about homosexual acts hateful and the views of those who oppose incest or polyamory legitimate? Why do IFI’s moral beliefs about volitional homosexual acts land us on the “hate groups” list, while the moral beliefs of those who oppose incestuous parents or poly-parents do not land them on the “hate groups” list?

Homosexual parents teach their children that gender is irrelevant to marriage and to parenting. They teach them that homosexual acts are inherently moral. And they deliberately deprive children of either a mother or a father. Those corruptions of truth and essential human relationships harm children.

Childhood molestation, innateness (“born that way”) and homosexuality

The one point about which many on both sides of the homosexuality debate agree is that the causes of same-sex attraction are not known. Many believe that same-sex attractions result from a complex interaction of biologically shaped predispositions and environmental factors. If we do notknow the causes of same-sex attraction, and if some of the factors that contribute to it are environmental experiences, how can anyone declare that childhood molestation never contributes to the development of same-sex attraction? And if childhood molestation may contribute in some cases to the development of same-sex attraction, how can it constitute hatred to say so?

Oprah, an inveterate promoter of all things homosexual, recently did two powerful programs about men who were molested as children. One of her guests was a therapist who has treated hundreds of men who were molested as children. He stated that one result of the sexual molestation of boys is “sexual orientation confusion.”

Schlatter and Steinback also assert that it’s hateful, false, and mythical to say “no one is born homosexual,” and then virtually their entire analysis reveals that there is no research proving that people are “born homosexual.” Schlatter and Steinback write, “a great many studies suggest that it is the result of biological and environmental forces.”

Following their repeated assertions that there is no proof that homosexuality is congenital, Schlatter and Steinback suggest the false dichotomy that if people do not choose their same-sex attraction, they must be “born that way,” completely ignoring two essential truths. First, the fact that people do not choose their feelings does not mean that such feelings are biologically determined. Second, freely chosen behaviors that emerge from feelings shaped by biological influences are not automatically moral.

IFI has consistently said that although no one chooses their feelings, people do choose how to respond to them. Saying that people ought not to act upon same-sex attraction is no more hateful than saying that people ought not to act upon unchosen, powerful, persistent attractions to pornography, multiple people, or their siblings. All moral beings have to decide which of their unchosen, powerful feelings are morally legitimate to act upon.

Homosexual men and shortened life spans

Under the “myth” about the shortened life spans of homosexual men, Schlatter and Steinback made the following statement:

Bob Unruh, a conservative Christian journalist who left The Associated Press in 2006 for the right-wing, conspiracist news site WorldNetDaily, said shortly before the federal law was passed that it would legalize “all 547 forms of sexual deviancy or ‘paraphilias’ listed by the American Psychiatric Association.” This claim was repeated by many anti-gay organizations, including the Illinois Family Institute.

Either because of Schlatter’s and Steinback’s poor research or lack of ethics, they failed to include the fact that exactly one week after making the error regarding the DSM, writer Kathy Valente posted a correction which is still on our website. It reads as follows:

In the article entitled “Hate Crimes Bill Moves to Senate” (5/5/09), we mistakenly stated that the American Psychiatric Association’s actual definition of “sexual orientation” includes paraphilias. The APA’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) classifies “sexual orientation” as heterosexual, homosexual, and bi-sexual. The 547 mental disorders called paraphilias specifically involve non-human objects, physical pain, or unwilling partners as in pedophilia. IFI apologizes for the error.

I hope and assume that Schlatter and Steinback will demonstrate the integrity and professionalism that Ms. Valente did by publishing a correction and apology.

In their argument that talking about the shorter life spans of homosexual men constitutes an act of hatred, Schlatter and Steinback focused on research by Paul Cameron, while completely ignoring research by the well-respected International Journal of Epidemiology that found the following:

[W]e demonstrated that in a major Canadian centre, life expectancy at age 20 years for gay and bisexual men is 8 to 21 years less than for all men. If the same pattern of mortality continued, we estimated that nearly half of gay and bisexual men currently aged 20 years would not reach their 65th birthday. Under even the most liberal assumptions, gay and bisexual men in this urban centre were experiencing a life expectancy similar to that experienced by men in Canada in the year 1871.

The authors of this article, upset that conservative groups disseminated this troubling fact, issued an update that said, “if we were to repeat this analysis today the life expectancy of gay and bisexual men would be greatly improved. Deaths from HIV infection have declined dramatically in this population since 1996.”

Though mortality rates have dropped due to improved treatment protocols, HIV infection rates for “men who have sex with men” (MSM) are soaring. According to the CDC, “While CDC estimates that MSM account for just 4 percent of the U.S. male population aged 13 and older, the rate of new HIV diagnoses among MSM in the U.S. is more than 44 times that of other men.”

I wonder if Schlatter and Steinback are planning on publishing an addendum to their article in which they address HIV infection rates for homosexual men, or perhaps they’re going to include the CDC on their “hate groups” list.

Nazism

Schlatter claimed erroneously that I “compared homosexuality to Nazism,” which makes me wonder if she even bothered to read the articles in which I referred to Nazism. Here’s an excerpt from one:

Although genocide and homosexual acts are both sins, in man’s economy–and my own belief system–genocide is a far greater sin. And although I believe that all sin represents rebellion against God, I believe that homosexuality and genocide are by nature distinct….I never posited that homosexuals were the moral equivalents of Nazis. Rather, I compared the rationalizations church leaders offered for the silence of the church in the face of the evil of Nazism to the rationalizations church leaders offer for the silence of the church in the face of the evil of using public schools to promulgate destructive, erroneous views of homosexuality….The feckless or deceitful claim that I said homosexuals are equivalent to Nazis makes no more sense than claiming that someone who says the church should address both the sin of murder and the sin of gossip are saying that murderers and gossips are morally equivalent.

Sin in the closet

The SPLC believes it’s an act of hate to say that homosexuality should remain in the “in the closet.” Ms. Schlatter quoted an article in which I said, “There was something profoundly good for society about the prior stigmatization of homosexual practice…. [W]hen homosexuals were ‘in the closet,’ (along with fornicators, polyamorists, cross-dressers, and ‘transsexuals’), they weren’t acquiring and raising children.”

Many people believe that immoral behavior should be concealed from the public rather than paraded about or publicly celebrated. For example, many people–perhaps most–do not want polyamorists’ or cross-dressers’ behavior to be public where children can see it. Does the SPLC view those who don’t want their children to see manifestations of polyamory or cross-dressing as haters?

And many people believe that children have a fundamental right to be raised by the biological parents who procreated them. Many people, including Roman Catholics, Muslims, Orthodox Jews, and Protestants as well as people who follow no faith tradition, believe it is immoral for homosexuals to adopt or use in vitro fertilization and surrogacy to acquire children. Do they all deserve to be labeled “haters”?

My belief that it would be better for society if homosexuality were not publicly affirmed, normalized, or celebrated no more constitutes hatred of homosexuals than does other people’s belief that polyamory should not be publicly affirmed, celebrated, or normalized constitute hatred of polyamorists.

Ex-gays

The SPLC states that saying people can choose not to act on same-sex attraction or that they can leave a homosexual lifestyle constitutes hatred of homosexuals. Following that logic, what does it mean when someone says people can leave a polyamorous lifestyle or that they can choose not to act on their powerful attractions to multiple people? And what does it say to the hundreds of men and women who have abandoned their homosexual lives that the SPLC says discussing such a path is an act of hatred?

Conclusion

No longer is hate defined as, well, hatred. Anyone who finds the SPLC’s analogies faulty; their research selective; their concealing of inconvenient facts troubling; or their unproven, non-factual moral beliefs wrong, is now guilty of hatred.

The SPLC holds the unproven, non-factual belief that homosexuality is moral and arrogantly demands that all of society agree, or be silent, or be labeled a “hate group.” That strikes me as a strange manifestation of tolerance or respect for speech rights and diversity. Ironically, the SPLC has become the oppressor.

The SPLC hopes that their smear campaign will silence conservatives so that only the SPLC’s moral views will be heard in the public square. No one should allow the unprincipled bullying tactics and specious reasoning of the SPLC to intimidate them into silence. The SPLC’s ontological and moral beliefs about homosexuality are not facts, and dissent from the ethically impoverished SPLC’s beliefs does not constitute hatred.

Please take time to read this comprehensive indictment of the SPLC from the Social Contract Journal, which dedicated its spring 2010 issue to exposing the SPLC.

And if that’s not enough, click HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Our nation just had a momentous election in which many politicians who were pro-homosexuality and pro-abortion were thrown out. Still, our work defending God’s Truth will only become more important after a new Congress is sworn in.  So why not get energized on Saturday, Nov. 13 by coming to the Americans For Truth banquet at Christian Liberty Academy in Arl. Heights, IL, to hear our keynote speaker, Pastor Ken Hutcherson?  “Hutch” will psych you up to stand boldly for Truth in the Culture War — but more important than that, he will motivate you in your spiritual life to pursue godliness through Jesus Christ!

EARLY SIGN-UP DISCOUNT: Tickets for the banquet are $75 per person (after Nov. 8) and at the door. Married couples (one man, one woman only!) get a discount and can attend for $100 per couple. Please RSVP to americansfortruth@gmail.com and let us know you are coming — or that your pastor is coming for free.  You can make your gift online at www.americansfortruth.com/donate  or send your check to: Americans For Truth, P.O. Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522.

I greatly enjoyed my three AFTAH Radio Hour interviews with Hutch (see link info below to listen), but I was also humbled, and even a bit shamed at one point in the exchange.  Here’s a guy with cancer weakened by daily ‘chemo’ treatments — and he still spends a lot more time in the Word of God than I do.  I barely know Hutch, but already he has caused me to reevaluate my priorities in life and inspired me to more diligently pursue godliness.

And when it comes down to it, isn’t that what America needs?  Time spent to learn God’s will and then the humble obedience to follow it.  Politics can only take us so far, especially in a deeply morally compromised and “proud” nation that is leaving God behind. 

So please come to our AFTAH banquet.  Tell a friend about it.  Bring your children.  (Pastors can come for FREE; sponsor your pastor with an extra $50 gift!)   If you are a homosexual, come (as long as you don’t plan on disrupting our event)!  But most importantly, bring your brain and your heart and have them ready to be challenged!  As anyone who has attended our events knows, they are not schmaltzy affairs but are loaded with Truth — because we try to live up to our name, Americans for TRUTH About Homosexuality.  In a way, AFTAH with its uncompromising message is the conscience of the pro-family movement on the homosexual issue — that’s why we seek out leaders like Hutch who have shown that they value Truth more than Political Correctness, and loyalty to God more than worldy praise. 

I hope to see you at CLA in Arlington Heights on Saturday, Nov. 13.  You will be blessed by coming, I can assure you of that. – Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

P.S. Please read the WND column below by Hutch, who asks why — if America cares about teaching our kids to be healthy — we don’t educate them on the massive health risks associated with homosexual behavior!  

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Online links to Americans For Truth Hour Radio interviews with Pastor Hutcherson (links contain short descriptions of each show):

• Week 3 (aired Oct. 23, 2010); http://americansfortruth.com/news/part-three-interview-with-dr-ken-hutcherson.html
• Week 2 (Oct. 16): http://americansfortruth.com/news/part-two-interview-with-pastor-ken-hutcherson.html
• Week 1 (Oct. 9): http://americansfortruth.com/news/part-one-aftah-interview-with-dr-ken-hutcherson-aftah-banquet-speaker.html

Americans For Truth Hour Archive page: http://americansfortruth.com/americans-for-truth-hour ; other interviews: Dawn Stefanowicz, Matt Barber, Bob Knight, Linda Harvey, Laurie Higgins, Pete Lines, Linda Jernigan, Pastor Calvin Lindstrom and Lynn Thomas, Col. Dick Black, Prof. Rob Gagnon, Ryan Sorba, Prof. Rena Lindevaldsen, John McCartney and Wayne Lela, Amy Contrada, Brian Camenker, Mike Heath and Michael Glatze.

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Info on AFTAH Banquet:

Who: Pastor Ken Hutcherson, Pastor, Antioch Bible Church, Redmond, WA, former NFL linebacker (Dallas Cowboys, Seattle Seahawks)

When: Saturday, Nov. 13, 2010; 6:00 PM; doors open at 5:30

Where: Christian Liberty Academy, 502 W. Euclid Ave., Arlington Heights, IL 60004.

Tickets: $50 per person if purchased by Mon., Nov. 8; $75 after that and at the door. Pay online at www.americansfortruth.com/donate. Or mail your check to: AFTAH, PO Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522. Pastors attend FREE; sponsor a pastor with your extra gift of $50!

RSVP: Send us an e-mail at ameicansfortruth@gmail.com. Phone: 630-717-7631.

Extra info: Don’t be intimidated by the announced protest at our banquet of the Gay Liberation Network — a Chicago-based, Marxist homosexual hate organization.  They picket all of our events.  GLN hates AFTAH because they know that we will never give in to their lies and intimidation, and that we will always proclaim the truth: that homosexual practice is wrong but changeable and forgivable through Jesus Christ!

Background on Hutch: Ken Hutcherson is a former NFL football player, but most importantly he is a man of God who has proven himself a faithful ambassador for his Savior, Jesus Christ.   You may have heard him interviewed on the Rush Limbaugh Show.   “Hutch” founded and pastors Antioch Bible Church in Redmond, Washington (home of Microsoft).  He organized two massive “May Day for Marriage” rallies – in Seattle and Washington, D.C. – to defend traditional marriage.  He took on the pro-homosexual “Day of Silence” in his child’s school by sponsoring a large counter-rally – which led to him and his family being persecuted by homosexual activists.  That did not deter Hutch, who continues to speak out boldly against the homosexual agenda while extending the Gospel to people trapped in homosexuality.
 
Come hear how the Lord delivered Hutcherson from his racism and hatred, and how this godly man looks to everything — even his current battle with cancer — to conform himself to the image of Jesus Christ.  Bring your pastor (for free) to hear Hutch’s challenge never to back down from God’s Truth in the fight against evil!

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Column by Hutcherson in WorldNetDaily.com:

‘Transgender, Transsexual and Trans fats’

WorldNetDaily, Posted: August 18, 2010, 1:00 am Eastern

By Ken Hutcherson

In June I bought a full-page ad in our local gay newspaper during gay-pride week to bring attention to a lifestyle that is protected even though proven to be dangerous and unhealthy. If something is deemed unhealthy, it does not take a public vote before school boards, cities, the federal government and many parents take whatever steps are necessary to eliminate access to that danger.

How many times have you heard the unfairness, hatred and the mistreatment of trans fats? It is thought that trans fats may be unhealthy, along with sugar and salt. And the list of unhealthy food choices grows daily.

The Centers For Disease Control has said and proven that the homosexual lifestyle is unhealthy and dangerous to those who participate in it. I will prove that point a little later in this article. The evidence cannot be argued – ignored, yes, but not debated.

Where is the public outcry when this dangerous lifestyle choice is promoted by schools, cities, states, courts and the federal government? Where is the evidence that we care about homosexuals when a judge overturns the decision of 7 million voters who passed Proposition 8, and is applauded for encouraging many to marry while living this hurtful lifestyle? We stand strong on the danger (albeit highly debatable) of certain foods that we suspect might be injurious to our health but turn a blind eye to homosexuality, which inarguably kills its participants.

The National Day of Silence, sponsored by GLSEN, took place at schools across the country again in April. According to GLSEN’S website, “On the National Day of Silence hundreds of thousands of students nationwide take a vow of silence to bring attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and even harassment in their schools.” In other words, the purpose of the day is to stand in solidarity with homosexual victims.

The illusion that the homosexual lifestyle is a normal way of living has been successfully propagated by promoting a “victim” image for homosexual persons and by the pseudo-science alleging a “gay” gene. Evidence does show that homosexual persons are indeed victims – but overwhelmingly of their own behavior, not that of others. Why do cities, states and our federal government help these victims by celebrating with them in gay-pride events, and why do schools celebrate an entire day during the National Day Of Silence? For those who are so health conscience, if you are truly interested in removing those things that are dangerous to society, you need to examine the question of why the deadly homosexual lifestyle is protected.

Why is the lie about the existence of the gay gene and the falsehood that homosexuals are not able to change because they were born that way so widely promoted? Think about this common-sense scenario: If a man ever got pregnant, could anyone say from that day forward that it is impossible for men to get pregnant? The answer is a resounding “no.” You would never again be able to say it is impossible. Using the same logic, if one homosexual ever changed and got out of that lifestyle, can the statement be made that it is impossible for homosexuals to change?

The answer is again a resounding “no!” You would never again be able to say it is impossible. We know of many homosexuals, and I am friends with many, who have gotten out of the homosexual lifestyle by one decision – to stop. One of the most famous ones is the breakup of Ellen Degeneres and Ann Heche. Ann broke it off with Ellen and married a man and is living a heterosexual lifestyle at this very moment. I am black, was born black and will die black – I assure you of that. I can’t even take a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, because it is obvious who I am. I have never met an ex-black man (even Michael Jackson could not accomplish that), but I have met countless ex-homosexuals who are living a victorious heterosexual life. Why do we allow the lie to continue to be perpetrated, and why do we keep encouraging homosexuals to stay in this deadly lifestyle?

I have read the Constitution and cannot find anywhere that it protects same-sex marriage. If the Constitution does not protect same-sex marriage, then how can a judge in California declare Proposition 8 unconstitutional? It is a perversion of the Constitution to give protection to a group that can move in and out of that group just by making a conscious decision.

According to the Centers For Disease Control website as of June 12, 2010:

• The No. 1 risk factor for contracting HIV/AIDS is and always has been homosexual sex.
• 56,000 new cases of HIV/AIDS are diagnosed each year in the U.S.
• As of 2006, there were 1 million people living with HIV/AIDS, up 11 percent from 2003.
• Homosexual/bisexual individuals are seven times more likely to contemplate or commit suicide.
• Homosexuals die decades earlier than heterosexuals.
• Nearly one-half of practicing homosexuals admit to 500 or more sex partners, and nearly one-third admit to 1,000 or more sex partners in a lifetime.
• Individuals who have ever engaged in homosexual sex are prohibited from donating blood.

Legislators around the country are considering banning sugar and fatty foods in schools, removing salt and butter from restaurants and want to control what temperature you can have in your own homes, because they fear the potential of health problems. Perhaps they should consider banning the promotion of a lifestyle that the Centers For Disease Control has determined actually causes HIV/AIDS. On the Day of Silence, an entire school day is set aside to ensure every young, impressionable student is exposed to homosexuality. Does this really make sense to you?

As parents, school board members, city councilors and judges, why are we excited about promoting this lifestyle?  If any other lifestyle produced the previously quoted statistics, would we be having a day to celebrate it?

The most important reason this lifestyle is such a concern is because it keeps those living the life from accepting the saving grace of Jesus Christ. I am so very concerned about our nation because God will turn a nation over to judgment for sexual sin. With the recent court decision in California and with our nation embracing and celebrating this dangerous and unnatural lifestyle, we are courting disaster. I think we are close to judgment my friends, and I love this nation too much to stay silent.

Oh, by the way, God wants His rainbow back!

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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.

Should American consumers and taxpayers subsidize body-disfiguring "Sex Reassignment Surgeries" for gender-confused individuals? Above is Autumn Sandeen, a man who left his wife and kids to become a transsexual activist. Sandeen's ex-wife told AFTAH that she discovered his perverse cross-dressing desires when she found a dress that wasn't hers in the clothes dryer. Click on photo to enlarge.

Folks, every time I think I’ve seen it all regarding the Homosexual Lobby’s fanatical demands, they come up with something new that dumbfounds me in its astonishing arrogance and chutzpah. Check this out: the anti-Christian, anti-Bible (and yes, anti-God) homosexual lobby group Human Wrongs Rights Campaign (HRC) has added coverage for transsexual sex-change operations to its 2012 Corporate Scorecard criteria. These perverse criteria gauge how compliant major corporations are to HRC’s radical homosexual/bisexual/transsexual agenda. The D.C.-based lobby organzation wants at least $75,000 in “health” coverage for tranny sex-change operations for the corporation to get a perfect rating. 

HRC is led by well-paid secular bigot Joe Solmonese, who also is DEMANDING an apology from the Mormon Church because a church official affirmed Mormon teachings on the sin of homosexuality. HRC’s hugely-funded PAC is deeply involved in elections across the country: you can check out how your Congressman and Senators rated on the homosexual agenda criteria by linking to their Congressional Scorecard. 

The following is an excerpt of what HRC stipulates for its revised 2012 Corporate Scorecard “Criteria 3.0″ (yes, they upgrade them periodically, like Microsoft Windows) under “Health Insurance for Transgender Employees and Dependents”). If a corporation agrees to this for 2012 – and all of HRC’s other homosexual/transsexual demands [see this AFTAH article on the current rating criteria] – it gets a 100 percent rating: 

“Where available for employees, the following benefits should all extend to transgender individuals, including for services related to transgender transition (e.g., medically necessary services related to sex reassignment):  

• Short term medical leave
• Mental health benefits
• Pharmaceutical coverage (e.g., for hormone replacement therapies)
• Coverage for medical visits or laboratory services
• Coverage for reconstructive surgical procedures related to sex reassignment” 

This is social insanity, and further proof that modern liberalism is completely bankrupt in its escalating kowtowing to deviance and enthusiastic promotion of sex/gender confusion. If corporate executives allow themselves to be “bullied” by HRC into covering these tragic, body-disfiguring procedures for the severely gender-confused, they will cause more men and women to commit this ultimate rebellion against their Creator. The harsh truth is: American corporations are incentivizing sin and self-destructive behavior, and ultimately our culture’s descent into evil. These”Sex Reassingnment Surgeries (the PC term for them) are horrifying and the ultimate Crime Against Nature — we’ll described them in future posts. [If you must, go to this "Transgender" website where they are described with photos, but BE WARNED: it is beyond gross and upsetting.]  

Suffice it to say that I have great pity for anyone who would even consider doing this to his or her body – they desperately need help and God’s love — but you and I should NEVER be forced to subsidize these sickening operations — and especially not with our tax dollars. (Next week: how the Obama administration is telling LGBT activists to lobby for “sex change” operations to be covered under “Obama-care.”) 

One last thing: just as homosexual militants insist on propagandistic, pro-”gay” programs in schools to stop “bullying,” they want Americans to subsidize transsexual sex-change operations in the name of ending “systematic discrimination” against “transgenders.” No doubt the left-leaning media will echo their demands. Are you feeling manipulated yet? Me, too. – Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

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The following article mentioning AFTAH is from American Family Association’s news service, One News Now; [to subscribe to ONN's Daily News Briefs, click HERE]:  

Activist: HRC Engaging in Corporate ‘Blackmail’

A prominent pro-homosexual group isn’t satisfied with benefits already being offered by 337 major American businesses to their homosexual employees. 

By Charlie Butts – OneNewsNow – 10/20/2010 3:55:00 AM 

General Motors, Bank of America, IBM, Ford Motor, AT&T, Walgreen Co., Target, Citigroup — those companies (and scores more) got a 100-percent favorable rating on the 2010 Corporate Equality Index [PDF], an annual business ranking published by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest homosexual activist organization in the country. [Caution: The previous links go to a pro-homosexual website]
 
But HRC is now demanding those corporations offer unlimited healthcare coverage for transgender employees — or lose the highest ranking offered under the Corporate Equality Index. Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality tells OneNewsNow the group is simply escalating “its blackmail campaign against businesses.”
 
“In order to get a 100-percent rating, you now have to provide funding for sex-change operations for transsexuals,” he explains. “So…they keep ramping up the demands to get the 100-percent rating, knowing that companies are bragging about having the rating.”
 
Which, according to LaBarbera, means that people who spend money with those firms are helping underwrite that health coverage.

The Americans for Truth spokesman says even more to be concerned about. “An official in the Obama administration is also telling gay activists to lobby for transsexual sex-change operations to be covered under ObamaCare,” he claims.
 
LaBarbera points out that homosexuals represent one to three percent of the total population — and transsexuals are only a fraction of that group.
 
In an interview with CitizenLink, the president of the National Association for Research and Therapy for Homosexuality urged caution regarding HRC’s costly new requirement. “Medical treatments for transgender issues are very risky procedures — and it’s an irreversible path to take,” said Dr. Julie Hamilton. “There should be a lot more research done before these types of procedures become the main path to take.” 

The late British neo-Nazi skinhead Nicky Crane was just one of many fascists in Europe who lead a secret double life as a practicing homosexual. Click to enlarge.

By Peter LaBarbera

Warning: offensive language

To nobody’s surprise, homosexual activist Evan Hurst of ‘Truth’ Wins Out supported fellow “gay” blogger Joe Jervis’ sophomoric hit-piece against AFTAH – which draws a crude link between this writer and the KKK.

Jervis was just “stating fact,” protests Hurst, in writing that since the Klan opposed discrimination against a Christian student at Augusta State, and AFTAH also opposes this injustice, then the KKK and I are ”on the same side.” (Juvenile, I know….). [Click HERE to read AFTAH's story on Jennifer Keeton, a victim of homosexualist anti-Christian discrimination.]

OK, Evan, here’s another fact: Jervis, Lambda Legal, you and practically the entire “gay” activist movement are on the same side as NAMBLA, the North American Man/Boy Love Association, with regard to the Boy Scouts of America’s ban on homosexual scoutmasters. (NAMBLA opposes the ban — for obvious reasons.) To paraphrase Hurst:

Eh, again, Evan, all I said was that you, Joe Jervis and NAMBLA (which advocates legalizing man-boy sex) are on the same hateful and child-endangering side.  This is true.

Perhaps this would be a good time for you and Joe, writers for two homosexual hate websites, to reflect on why you find yourselves in such strong agreement with the most notorious pedophile group in American history.

Obviously, such argumentation says nothing about Jervis’ and Hurst’s real attitudes toward NAMBLA (I’m assuming they both oppose the vile outfit), so pointing out that Evan, Joe and NAMBLA are on the same side on the Boy Scouts would be a cheap shot. But since these two homosexual writers attempted to make a connection between AFTAH and odious racists, perhaps they can help us understand why so many homosexuals actually have found their home in the fascist movement. British homosexual writer Johann Hari’s 2008 piece, “The Strange, Strange Story of the Gay Fascists” in the liberal Huffington Post is quite an eye-opener in that regard.

As Hari writes (emphasis added):

This is a taboo topic for a gay left-wing man like me to touch, but there has always been a weird, disproportionate overlap between homosexuality and fascism….

[T]he idea of a gay fascist seems ridiculous. Yet when the British National Party – our own home-grown Holocaust-denying bigots – announced it was fielding an openly gay candidate in the European elections this June, dedicated followers of fascism didn’t blink. The twisted truth is that gay men have been at the heart of every major fascist movement that ever was — including the gay-gassing, homo-cidal Third Reich. With the exception of Jean-Marie Le Pen, all the most high-profile fascists in Europe in the past thirty years have been gay. It’s time to admit something. Fascism isn’t something that happens out there, a nasty habit acquired by the straight boys. It is — in part, at least — a gay thing, and it’s time for non-fascist gay people to wake up and face the marching music.

Just look at our own continent over the past decade. Dutch fascist Pim Fortuyn ran on blatantly racist anti-immigrant platform, describing Islam as “a cancer” and “the biggest threat to Western civilisation today.” Yet with two little fluffy dogs and a Mamma complex, he was openly, flamboyantly gay. When accused by a political opponent of hating Arabs, he replied, “How can I hate Arabs? I sucked one off last night.” …

Flagrant homosexual Ernst Rohm discovered Adolf Hitler.

Hari doesn’t ask but we must: what kind of politician engages in such vulgar and perverse speech? Answer: a sexually deviant one contemptuous of societal norms; yet Fortuyn, who was assassinated in 2002, considered himself a Catholic.

Hari cannot avoid the case of the notorious homosexual Nazi Ernst Rohm, a flagrant homosexual and head of the Nazi storm-troopers who actually “discovered” Hitler (years later, after gaining power, Hitler would have Rohm assassinated). I doubt many American schoolchildren will learn this in their World War II lessons (emphasis and link added):

Along with Adolf Hitler, Rohm was the founding father of Nazism. Born to conservative Bavarian civil servants in 1887, Ernst Rohm’s life began – in his view – in the “heroic” trenches of the First World War. Like so many of the generation who formed the Nazi Party, he was nurtured by and obsessed with the homoerotic myth of the trenches – heroic, beautiful boys prepared to die for their brothers and their country….

It was Rohm who first spotted the potential of a soap-box ranter called Adolf Hitler. He saw him as the demagogue he needed to mobilize support for his plan to overthrow democracy and establish a “soldier’s state” where the army ruled untrammelled. He introduced the young fascist to local politicians and military leaders; they knew him for many years as “Rohm’s boy.” Gay historian Frank Rector notes, “Hitler was, to a substantial extent, Rohm’s protégé.” Rohm integrated Hitler into his underground movement to overthrow the Weimar Republic.

Rohm’s blatant, out homosexuality seems bizarre now, given the gay genocide that was to follow. He talked openly about his fondness for gay bars and Turkish baths, and was known for his virility. He believed that gay people were superior to straights, and saw homosexuality as a key principle of his proposed Brave New Fascist Order. As historian Louis Snyder explains, Rohm “projected a social order in which homosexuality would be regarded as a human behaviour pattern of high repute… He flaunted his homosexuality in public and insisted his cronies do the same. He believed straight people weren’t as adept at bullying and aggression as homosexuals, so homosexuality was given a high premium in the SA [Sturmabteilung (Nazi Stormtroopers)]“ They promoted an aggressive, hypermasculine form of homosexuality, condemning “hysterical women of both sexes,” in reference to feminine gay men.

This belief in the superiority of homosexuality had a strong German tradition that grew up at the turn of the twentieth century around Adolf Brand, publisher of the country’s first gay magazine. You could call it ‘Queer as Volk’: they preached that gay men were the foundation of all nation-states and represented an elite, warrior caste that should rule. They venerated the ancient warrior cults of Sparta, Thebes and Athens.

Rohm often referred to the ancient Greek tradition of sending gay solider couples into battle, because they were believed to be the most ferocious fighters. The famous pass of Thermopylae, for example was held by 300 soldiers – who consisted of 150 gay couples. In its early years, the SA - Hitler and Rohm’s underground army – was seen as predominantly gay. Rohm assigned prominent posts to his lovers, making Edmund Heines his deputy and Karl Ernst the SA commander in Berlin. The organisation would sometimes meet in gay bars. The gay art historian Christian Isermayer said in an interview, “I got to know people in the SA. They used to throw riotous parties even in 1933… I once attended one. It was quite well-behaved but thoroughly gay. But then, in those days, the SA was ultra-gay.”

Gay Nazis Missing from ‘Gay History Month’?

This is not new information. Long before Christian pro-family advocate Scott Lively wrote about it in his book The Pink Swastika, the late historian and former war correspondent William Shirer, in his book The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, documented that “sexual perverts” flocked to the National Socialist Party. Hitler himself was potentially a sexual deviant (see Shirer, p. 132, and Lothar Machten’s book Hidden Hitler) – but you won’t see der Führer (or Ernst Rohm) listed in the annual Gay History Month listings of famous homosexuals. Nevertheless, the same outfit that publishes this dubious homosexual list lays claim to others like Cary Grant and George Washington Carver (a committed Christian) — asserting rumor as fact without offering definitive proof that they were practicing homosexuals.

(Grant was married five times and denied the homosexual rumors, which rehash the standard “gay” conflation of male friendship with homoeroticism; former wife Dyan Cannon condemns the gay rumors HERE, saying, “I can tell you there isn’t an iota of truth to those ugly rumors…They would never have written that drivel when Cary was alive. He’d have sued the pants off those cowards…Cary can’t defend himself from the grave but I will go to mine insisting he was every ounce a straight man.” Moral of the story: don’t trust pro-homosexual historians with an agenda.)

One thing I’ve noticed about British homosexual activists: they are more willing to write honestly about homosexuality, including its downsides, than their American counterparts. Hari even alludes to the fascist roots of the pseudo-masculine, homosexual sadomasochistic (“leather”) subculture (the same subculture that rears its hideous head in major cities across the country):

So it’s fairly easy to establish that gay people are not inoculated from fascism. They have often been at its heart. This begs the bigger question: why? How did gay people — so often victims of oppression and hate — become integral to the most hateful and evil political movement of all? …

Gay pornographer and film-maker Bruce LaBruce has one explanation. He claims that “all gay porn today is implicitly fascist. Fascism is in our bones, because it’s all about glorifying white male supremacy and fetishizing domination, cruelty, power and monstrous authority figures.”

Hari takes an obligatory shot at Lively as a “homophobe” — but Lively merely has sought to educate Americans on this same Nazi-homosexuality factor that remains buried in Politically Correct history. It also should be noted that there are plenty of attempts to blame the Nazi-homosexual link — and some male homosexuals’ distorted and exaggerated attempts to act “masculine” — on their repressed, “internalized homophobia.” The implicit, and sometimes explicit, message: like every other “gay” problem, it’s OUR fault.

Extremism and ‘gay’ politics go hand-in-hand

Homosexual radicals’ deranged attempts to link pro-family conservatives to racist fringe groups are part of their larger goal of demonizing and marginalizing “homophobic” Christians and social conservatives. This begs the question: where does extremism find its natural home? In America, sexual extremism and its accompanying intolerance of moral dissent is found mainly on the Left — not the Right — especially in urban, homosexual bastions like San Francisco, and on college campuses, where “hate speech codes” proliferate.

(Moreover, on the racial front, African-American pro-family Christians like Pastor Ken Hutcherson have been the target of racist epithets by (white) homosexual activists — and there has been much discussion of racism within the LGBT movement and efforts to eradicate it. Of course, racism also exists in all other sectors of U.S. society.)

There is something profoundly “queer” about a social movement rooted in an ancient vice attempting to paint defenders of Judeo-Christian civilization and normalcy – marriage, the natural family, and religion — as extreme and hateful. Or even worse, as causing violence against homosexuals, and “gay” suicides. Yet this is the modus operandi of homosexual activists and powerful “gay” lobby groups — who have gone so far as to equate pro-family Christian organizations with the Klan, slavery advocates and the Taliban. The LGBT lobby’s ambitious smear campaign painting Christians and historic Bible passages proscribing same-sex behavior as extreme comes at a cost: it exposes homosexualists’ out-of-the-closet hatred for religious expression.

Meanwhile, there is the factor of the “gay” movement’s tolerance and promotion of an ever-expanding array of perversions and a “sexual freedom” agenda that borders on sexual anarchy. (The National Coalition for Sexual Freedom — an ally of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force — “aims to advance the rights of, and advocate for consenting adults in the BDSM-Leather-Fetish, Swing, and Polyamory Communities.”) If the media were even close to being impartial on this issue, Americans would have a much clearer picture of the radicalism of homosexual and transsexual activists working to use laws to legitimize their lifestyles and oppress religious critics.

Tolerating homosexual pedophilia advocacy?

Perhaps most observers will agree that it doesn’t get more extreme than pedophile advocacy — yet even ideologues in favor of adult-child sex find a voice on the “gay”-affirming Left. Witness the book review in the Marxist publication Monthly Review by David Thorstad, founding member of NAMBLA and former president of the Gay Activist Alliance in New York. In his review of Sexual and Socialism: History, Politics and Theory of LGBT Liberation, by Sherry Wolf, Thorstad complains that Wolf is too tough on adult-child sex:

But by inserting “seduction” into her novel definition of pederasty (a sexual relationship between a man and an adolescent youth), [Wolf] repeats the foolish notion that a boy under the magical age of consent (whatever it happens to be) is by definition incapable of consenting to sex with a man.

How instructive that despite the best efforts of LGBT activists to shed their past tolerance for pedophilia (NAMBLA used to march in “gay pride” parades), pro-pederasty and truly extreme sexual activists and professors — like radical pro-abortion zealots — continue to have intellectual sway with the Left. The same cannot be said of the KKK and neo-Nazis (or sexual perversion activists) vis-a-vis religious conservatives.

Radical Gay ‘Founding Fathers’

Then there are those extremist ”gay” ”founding fathers,” among them:

• Harry Hay, one-time Communist and then “Radical Faerie,” who defended NAMBLA until his dying day (see Thorstad: “Harry Hay on Man/Boy Love”);
• Frank Kameny, a professed atheist who nevertheless claims “gay is godly,” evidently spoke at a NAMBLA meeting (but can’t remember what he said), rails against “Christianofascists” and opines that bestiality is OK “as long as the animal doesn’t mind”; and
• Larry Kramer, founder of the militant protest group ACT UP, who labeled the U.S. Government’s response to AIDS a “Holocaust,” called Ronald Reagan “a monster” who “was responsible for more deaths than Adolf Hitler,” and says he has the proof that Abraham Lincoln was a “totally gay man.”

Reading “gay” iconic history is like reading a (pre-Political Correctness) psychological textbook on the outworking of dysfunction — mixed with a peculiar form of hatred derived from rebelling against God and the Church. Throw in a nearly pathological quest to justify the unjustifiable (embracing deviance and sin as the basis for one’s identity) and what emerges is a powerful personal motive to both hate religious opponents of homosexuality and (for those who do not reject the Creator altogether) to posit that God created and accepts homosexuals as “gays.”

(The resentment toward God and religion theme is pervasive in homosexual writings: see Page 2 of Peter Sprigg’s Family Research Council paper on homosexual activist and Obama Education Department appointee Kevin Jennings, who is “viciously hostile to religion,” writes Sprigg. He quotes Jennings, writing in his autobiography Mama’s Boy, Preacher’s Son, recollecting his thoughts as a younger man: “God . . . had done nothing but cause me pain and anguish through His inaction and malevolence throughout my childhood… What had he done for me, other than make me feel shame and guilt?” Jennings told God: “Screw you, buddy.”)

Pity the poor schoolchildren who one day could be forced to study sanitized versions of these men’s lives during school-sanctioned ”Gay History Month,” if current trends continue. (Note regarding American icons who practiced or struggled with homosexuality: there is a big difference between recognizing them for their accomplishments and contributions to American culture — and politicizing their contribution by making it part of an official celebration of homosexuality. We can appreciate Martina Navratilova’s skill on the tennis court without celebrating her lesbian lifestyle choice.)

Deviance begets deviance

The Sexual Left continues to push the envelope in the name of aberrant “rights” and “sexual freedom” — demonstrating precisely where “gay” tolerance leads. Just last week the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force sponsored a “Poly Pride” conference in New York City. (“Polyamory” is defined by Urban Dictionary as: “The practice, state or ability of having more than one sexual loving relationship at the same time, with the full knowledge and consent of all partners involved.”) A “Queer Sexual Liberation” workshop at the conference was set to “explore many aspects of sexual liberation including: BDSM [bondage & discisplne, dominance & submission, sadism & masochism], Leather, Polyamory, Non-monogomy, sex work [prostitution], and more.”

The Task Force, founded in 1973, is hardly a “fringe” homosexual group but the “oldest national LGBT rights organization in the United States,” according to Wikipedia. It is involved in politics and legislative lobbying across the country. The same dominant media that monitored the Christian Coalition has little interest in the actual record of LGBT groups like the Task Force.

"Fisting Parties" were part of recent "Leather Week" celebrations in San Franciso. Extreme and dangerous practices are not just tolerated under the LGBT umbrella, they are celebrated. Deviance finds its home in Left-dominated urban enclaves.

Deviance begets deviance. Just as the sadistic Nazi Party was a magnet for sexual perverts – wherever government-protected homosexuality flourishes, political and culural radicalism follows. That includes: forcing businesses to subsidize homosexual unions; radicalizing schools to promote “gay” ideology and gender confusion; making ever-increasingly extreme political demands such as taxpayer- and corporate-funded transsexual “sex change” operations; “tolerance” of public nudity (San Francisco) and ”multi-partner unions”; allowing anonymous sex clubs and gay bathhouses catering to the hyper-promiscuous; and government promotion of homosexuality as normal to youth. And let’s not forget the growth of official anti-Christian intolerance — criminalizing Christianity as applied to the issue of homosexuality. Each finds its place under the LGBT umbrella, because revolutionaries bent on destroying and redefining social norms hard a hard time saying no to the latest “progressive” social experiment.

Perhaps the extremism that comes naturally to homosexual militants explains their presence on both the hard, Marxist left and fascist right of the political spectrum. Where they come together is in their abiding contempt for biblical morality and America’s God-fearing, Judeo-Christian heritage — which laid the foundation for our liberties.

To be sure, liberterians of all stripes, sexualities and ideologies often cheer on the ”gays” in supporting a live-and-let-live attitude toward sex, and marriage- and family structures. Libertarians abhor the use of government and laws to uphold “traditional moral values.” However, it is strident pro-homosexual organizations and activists — not libertarians — who are in the vanguard of mobilizing toward a new secular ideology that grants superior legal rights, as it were, to homosexuals. The homosexual legal agenda criminalizes the expression of biblical morality – e.g., a Christian professional photographer’s right not to take pictures at a lesbian commitment ceremony – as merely another form of “anti-gay discrimination” that must be eradicated. Few in the secular media have seriously examined this very real, zero-sum conflict between homosexual activism and religious freedom — and the trampling of Christians’ freedom of conscience and Americans’ civil rights in the name of ‘Gay Tolerance.’

Homo-fascism through the law?

Could the American State become a national, homo-fascist agent? America is not Europe. Due to our much larger population of committed Christians and religious people — and our stronger, First Amendment commitment to individual religious freedom — it is hard to see America going down the road of Canada or Great Britain. These are emerging pro-homosexual, quasi-”police states” where Christians can be arrested (Britain) or sued in rigged state ”human rights tribunals” (Canada) merely for speaking against homosexuality.

Nevertheless, factoring in today’s secular environment and the escalating and extraordinary attacks by U.S. “gay” militants against churches, historic biblical morality and people of faith – including the vilification of Christians [see comments on Jervis' über-hate site HERE] — and it becomes clearer each day that fanatical homosexual militants are serious about creating a government tyranny that enforces their egalitarian agenda of treating homosexuality like normalcy in all spheres of life.  (Legalized homosexual “marriage” accomplishes much of this agenda: e.g., in a “gay marriage” state like Massachusetts, privately-owned businesses and institutions are not allowed to treat homosexual “marrieds” any differently than normal marrieds. This forced Catholic Charities out of the adoption business because church officials could not countenance placing children in homosexual-led households.)

Much as they talk a good game about “respecting” religion, homosexual activists are working towards a government and legal paradigm that crushes religious and moral dissent – all in the name of tolerance, equality, and anti-discrimination. (All oppressive agendas use soft, innocuous-sounding euphemisms.) Their task will become much easier if acceptance of homosexuality becomes widespread in society — even among self-professed biblical Christians — leaving a smaller number of principled, counter-cultural ”holdouts” to target for persecution.

Where will pursuit of this homosexual activist vision lead? Will the courts codify a “soft tyranny” (isn’t that an oxymoron?) in which rights based on homosexuality (“sexual orientation”) — with some religious exemptions – negate Americans’ freedom to live out their faith in their everday lives? Who can know? But we do know that few Germans in the 20′s and 30′s could have envisioned the oppression and evil that was to come only a few years later. We must remain true to the Bible — and vigilant to preserve our genuine God-given freedoms at all costs.

For more on the European homosexual-fascism link, go to Hari’s piece, “The Strange Story of the Gay Fascists.”

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

Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality, issued the follow statement:

• Homosexual practice is always wrong. To advocate for this lifestyle, including homosexual relationships, is also wrong. Advocacy of a sin is itself a sin.
• It is immoral to “mainstream” homosexuality to children in schools in the guise of teaching tolerance and diversity.
• No sincere Christian supports violence or hatred directed at homosexuals. In fact, Christians want homosexuals to accept Christ, repent of their sin and be forgiven — and change their lifestyle, as countless former “gays” have. Violence and abuse toward homosexuals is the work of people who reject Christian love and compassion.
• “Bullying” in any form is wrong and must be stopped. But it can be addressed without promoting acceptance of homosexuality. “Anti-bullying” measures must not become a Trojan Horse to advance the pro-“gay” agenda.
• Many homosexual activists are anti-religious bigots, stemming from their hatred of the Church for opposing homosexuality as a sin. Often these militants claim that religious people who oppose homosexuality are on a par with racists – a spurious and hateful analogy.
• Homosexuality has nothing to do with race. Skin color cannot be changed. In contrast, thousands of ex-lesbians and ex-gay men testify to the reality that homosexuality can be overcome.
• Driven by their hatred of moral opponents, homosexual activists like Human Rights Campaign are shamelessly exploiting the suicides of homosexual youth and violent attacks against homosexuals to demand that religious bodies stop speaking against homosexuality. Their aim is to silence all opposition.
• The liberal media – which is now practically an arm of the homosexual movement – is also promoting the false linkage between speech critical of homosexuality and gay suicides and violence against homosexuals. This must stop. The media must return to its proper role of reporting both sides on homosexuality – which starts by acknowledging that there is another side to this debate.
• Christians who believe that the proper response to anti-homosexual hatred in our society is to downplay biblical truth are naïve and misguided. Now more than ever, young people and all Americans need to hear the truth: that homosexuality is wrong, unnatural and often unhealthy (one in five “men who have sex with men” has HIV: CDC) – but that it can be overcome through Christ.

GLBT-award-winning homosexual blogger Joe Jervis.

By Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

Wow. The analytical powers of atheist, homosexual perversion-defender Joe Jervis’ (of the Joe. My. God. blog)  are in full display as he exposes the sinister, long-concealed ”truth” that AFTAH has been trying to hide for decades — that we are aligned with the … KKK … yeah, that’s it … the KKK! Joe alone had the analytical skills to pull together the story: AFTAH (and by extension FRC, AFA, Liberty Counsel, ADF, PFOX, etc.) have partered with the Klan to stop gay equality!!

I jest, of course. But Joe is serious–that’s the sad part. (Apparently he didn’t get the memo that the first one to call the other guy a “Nazi” in a debate is the automatic loser — that is, unless your opponent, like Wayne Besen, is actually behaving like a Nazi.) Try to focus so you can comprehend at least a portion of GLBT-award-winning Jervis’ sophisticated political equation:

1. Peter LaBarbera opposes the un-American idea that committed Christian students like Jennifer Keeton would become ineligible to get a college degree in counseling because they refuse to deny their faith by affirming homosexuality.
2. The Ku Klux Klan — hateful racists that they are — rallies against the same misguided idea.
3. Ergo, Peter LaBarbera and the KKK are comrades-in-arms.

Jervis ends his piece: “Peter LaBarbera and the KKK, both on the same side of hate. Feels like a perfect match.” 

Such finely-honed logic. Such depth of reasoning and discernment. The nuances alone are worth pondering and studying for years to come. Joe, here’s the deal: your hatred of Americans For Truth and this writer (but more important, for the God who lovingly created you) is getting the best of you. Next time you set out to discredit AFTAH, try using a line of argumentation that wouldn’t embarrass a smart 5th-grader if he or she tried it.

Here’s Jervis’ post (beware: Joe’s web-groupies evince a level of hatred for Christians that almost makes Joe appear reasonable by comparison): http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2010/10/south-carolina-ku-klux-klan-to-rally-in.html

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Psychologist Mike Campion was vindicated when the City of Minneapolis settled with him for $211,000 rather than try to prove in court their false charge that he was an anti-gay bigot who could not professionally do his job of evaluating police and firefighter candidates -- due to his past affiliation with a Christian pro-family group.

“Former City Council Member Scott Benson, who is gay and a lawyer, sent a note to then-interim Police Chief Tim Dolan and asked, ‘How did Dr. Michael Campion, who was a board member of the Illinois Family Institute (a notoriously discriminatory anti-gay group) become the psychologist for the Minneapolis Police Dept. for screening new hires etc?’

“The same month the city suspended work with Campion and hired another firm to do screening, citing better ‘diversity and transparency’ issues at the firm.” – Minneapolis Star Tribune, “Minneapolis settles suit with fired psychologist for $210,000″

By Peter LaBarbera

The City of Minneapolis just admitted its guilt and, in effect, shameful anti-Christian bigotry by settling with psychologist contractor Michael Campion for $210,000 rather than go forward with a U.S. District Court trial that it surely would have lost on First Amendment grounds. See the Minneapolis Star-Tribune article reprinted below. 

I know Mike Campion and his wife Kathy. He is a good and decent Christian man whom compassion-challenged liberals put through the grinder merely because he supports the objective truth that homosexuals can change their lifestyle (as countless have). His firm, Campion, Barrow & Associates, is one of the most professional in its field and evidently the City of Minneaopolis could not find anyone who would testify that Mr. Campion had mistreated or discriminated against them on the basis of “sexual orientation.”

In other words, unlike the liberals who sought to destroy him, Campion is no bigot. Pathetically, some city officials even tried to smear Campion as a racist to achieve their goal. End justifies the means, right?

Note the comment by homosexual activist Scott Benson above: a “gay” politician, working with pro-homosexual city officials, gets Campion fired because he was once a board member with a “notoriously discriminatory organization,” the Illinois Family Institute (IFI).

Most of AFTAH’s readers know of IFI, where I served as executive director from 2003-2006. This fine group and its followers merely defend the historic Christian and biblical teaching that homosexuality is outside of God’s expressed will. They believe that this sinful behavior is changeable through trusting in Jesus Christ, who in His grace and love and truth offers forgiveness to all sinners. Neither Mike nor IFI “hate” or “fear” homosexuals, and such spurious accusations — now tossed recklessly at any Bible-believer who expresses disagreement with sodomy, is itself a manifestation of reactionary, anti-Christian prejudice. 

Are you seeing the folly and frightening potential of this Orwellian sexual agenda: all across America and the world, homosexual activists are smearing Christians or even working aggressively to get them FIRED (or arrested) – in the name of “fighting discrimination”! The bald-faced hypocrisy of the pro-homosexual Left is exposed — and anyone not blinded by politically correctness (which unfortunately covers many in the media) can see it.

Truth is — as lesbian activist and Obama-appointed E.E.O.C. Commissioner Chai Feldblum asserts — there is a “zero-sum game” between homosexualist ideology/”sexual orientation”-based “rights” and our First Amendment freedoms. To the committed homosexualist, it doesn’t matter if you are black, white or brown – it only matters whether or not you affirm homosexuality. And if you don’t or, God forbid, you belong to a church or organization that questions the cherished myths of the powerful “Gay” Lobby, watch out! You could be in trouble with the Sexual Thought Police. (Read Julea Ward’s story HERE; Crystal Dixon’s story HERE; and Elaine Huguenin’s story HERE.)

How dare the liberal Left lecture us about ”rights” as they take away others’ rights and promote a vicious, new form of discrimination that cynically equates God-honoring moral convictions with “hate” and punishes them accordingly.

A new civil rights movement

The encouraging news is that the seeds of a new civil rights movement are growing — made up of Americans and citizens of all creeds and colors worldwide demanding that their freedom to live by their religious and moral beliefs be respected and made inviolable. This noble freedom-of-conscience movement will rise up against any and all attempts — government and corporate – to punish people for their deeply-held moral convictions. It will stand aggressively against laws and policies that belittle and demonize traditionalist and religious views – and which demand that our morality be shoved into some personal closet or church away from the workplace and public square.

America is a freedom-loving nation. We must not let it become a freedom-crushing nation, especially in the name of a misnamed ”tolerance” that will not tolerate dissent and a (non-diverse) “diversity” that punishes and maligns adherents of moral truth. (See my expulsion and then crude demonization by the curiously-named DiversityInc magazine and its hateful publisher, Luke Visconti.) In the spirit of our Founding Fathers, we will not tolerate government-enforced tyranny, and certainly not in the name of “rights” based on sexual misbehavior or any errant secularist cause that seeks to recast our God-given liberties to affirm worldly trends.

We understand that many social liberals hate us for defending biblical and moral truth, but that hatred does not allow them to steal way our rights. So, like past patriots, we WILL fight back against the Liberal, Pro-Gay Thought Police at every turn. Because our freedom — like Mike Campion’s — is non-negotiable.

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Star-Tribune article on Campion’s victory:

Minneapolis settles suit with fired psychologist for $210,000

Michael Campion was fired because of concerns over his ties to an “anti-homosexual” organization

By ROCHELLE OLSON, Star Tribune

September 3, 2010

A psychologist who screened potential Minneapolis police officers will receive a $210,000 settlement from the city over his firing, which stemmed from his affiliation with the Illinois Family Institute and his support for treating the “problem” of homosexuality.

The City Council unanimously agreed Friday after a closed-door session to pay Michael Campion of Campion, Barrow & Associates of Illinois Inc. (CBA) rather than go forward with a U.S. District Court trial scheduled to start Sept. 13 before U.S. Judge Joan Ericksen.

Council Member Gary Schiff, who is gay, said, “It was clear the settlement was in the city’s best interest.”

The Family Institute has stated that it opposes the “gay lifestyle.”

If the city had lost at trial, it could have been made to pay Campion’s attorney’s fees. Schiff said the settlement amount includes legal fees.

In reaching the decision, Schiff said, the council leaned heavily on an 18-page pretrial ruling from Ericksen, in which she wrote, “The court observes, at this preliminary state, that plaintiffs’ First Amendment interests appear to be strong.”

Jim Campbell, of the Alliance Defense Fund of Arizona, said the settlement “reinforces that the government cannot penalize Christian contractors for their beliefs.  The court had already issued a decision finding that the City of Minneapolis removed Dr. Campion because of his constitutionally protected involvement with a Christian organization, noting that Dr. Campion’s constitutional rights were strong.”

Schiff said the council realized that Ericksen’s ruling signaled an uphill legal fight.

CBA began working for the city in 2004, about a year after a federal mediator came to town to address concerns about biased policing and low numbers of minority officers. In 2006, members of the Police Community Relations Council, which grew out of the federal mediation, raised concerns about racial bias in CBA’s work. Another firm reviewed the work and found no such evidence.

Campion met with the community council in August 2006 and concerns were raised about his affiliation with the Family Institute, founded by James Dobson, and the “anti-homosexual” nature of the organization, the judge’s order said.

Former City Council Member Scott Benson, who is gay and a lawyer, sent a note to then-interim Police Chief Tim Dolan and asked, “How did Dr. Michael Campion, who was a board member of the Illinois Family Institute (a notoriously discriminatory anti-gay group) become the psychologist for the Minneapolis Police Dept. for screening new hires etc?”

The same month the city suspended work with Campion and hired another firm to do screening, citing better “diversity and transparency” issues at the firm.

CBA sued, claiming the city violated Campion’s First Amendment rights by taking action against him because of his association with the Family Institute.

The city argued that the decision to part ways with CBA stemmed not from Campion’s speech but by “concerns about bias.”

Campion’s business, based in Champaign, Ill., has performed psychological testing for 35 years for more than 100 law enforcement agencies, including St. Paul. A portion of Campion’s testing was developed through a U.S. Department of Justice grant in which he sampled St. Paul residents on what characteristics were important in an officer.

Before receiving the psychological exam, applicants are given a conditional job offer. If they are rated unqualified, they generally are not hired.

Campion has not commented on the case. His lawyers didn’t return a phone call.

Rochelle Olson • 612-673-1747

The following is video of the August 5 protest against the AFTAH Truth Academy by a coalition of pro-homosexuality groups led by the Marxist Gay Liberation Network. The Chicago-based GLN attempted to smear the Truth Academy as “teaching hate,” but the real hate came from some of the protesters — not Truth Academy instructors like Ryan Sorba (featured prominently in this video). Several Academy presenters including Matt Barber, Greg Quinlan and AFTAH founder Peter LaBarbera joined Sorba in wading into the crowd, engaging various protesters on the question of “hate.” The first video below was shot by Illinois conservative Lynn Thomas, creator of Cao’s Blog, and Janet Aldrich [a second YouTube follows the jump]:

This video of the protest was shot by Lynn Thomas; in it Gay Liberation Network co-leader Bob Schwartz says hopefully about Truth Academy instructor Cliff Kincaid — who exposed GLN’s deep linkage with pro-Communist organizations like the Sparticist League: “maybe he could get hit by a car” (now that’s tolerance….):

HOW TO LISTEN: This is an  mp3 file.  Left click once on this link to play (more instructions at bottom) : 7-17-10, John McCartney & Wayne Lela, All

In this interview (Part One of two), which aired Saturday, July 17, 2010, AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera talks in studio with John McCartney and Wayne Lela – two Chicago men who have a unique “ministry” of going to local Chicago colleges and universities and educating students about homosexuality and “gay” activism. They do this from a pro-natural-family perspective that most young people rarely hear. For that they have been harassed by liberal professors — among other trials — but they persevered and have now gained entry on to all the Chicago-area public colleges, which cannot legally engage in viewpoint discrimination.

In the interview, McCartney discusses the way “brainwashing” works on this issue — censoring negative information about homosexuality while demonizing opponents of the “gay” agenda. Lela (who as an agnostic is not a member of the so-called “Religious Right”) formed a group called HOME, Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment. McCartney is a retired English teacher and committed Catholic living in Chicago who has long served both the pro-life and pro-family causes. Both men will be attending AFTAH’s upcoming Truth Academy Aug 5-7, to be held at the Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights, IL.

In this (Part One) interview, the two discuss the reactions of students to their work — and how Chicagoland newspapers seem to be cutting back on printing letters-to-the-editor that are critical of homosexuality — which would be consistent with the increasingly censorious posture of Chicago’s major media, which generally are very pro-”gay.” Lela and McCartney deserve our commendation. There are millions upon millions of people who affirm the truth that homosexual behavior is wrong, destructive, unnatural and changeable. But there are precious few like these two men who actually contend for this truth in the public square — and especially with students who, as they say, are “brainwashed” by the non-stop pro-homosexual propaganda in the media and popular culture.

HOW TO LISTEN: This is an  mp3 file.  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.

7-17-10, John McCartney & Wayne Lela, All

Gay Liberation Network's Bob Schwartz supports the University of Illinois' firing of Catholic professor Kenneth Howell. Imagine how different his reaction would be if it were a "gay" professor fired for explaining "gay rights" to his students.

I received the following note yesterday from Bob Schwartz, a leader of the Gay Liberation Network in Chicago. Schwartz is a self-described Trotskyite (communist) and is the fellow who bragged that he worked to get AFTAH’s website labeled as a “hate site” by the Southern Poverty Law Center:

From: [Bob Schwartz, Gay Liberation Network]
Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2010 20:55:16 -0400
To: <americansfortruth@comcast.net>
Subject: Kenneth Howell
Here are AFTAH’s two stories on Howell’s firing:

Just a note to advise you that I asked the new U of I president to support the termination of antigay bigot “natural law” [Prof. Kenneth] Howell.

Bob Schwartz

Here is my reply to Schwartz:

From: [Peter LaBarbera} americansfortruth@comcast.net to [Schwartz]
Date: July 13, 2010
Subject: Re: Kenneth Howell

Bob…If this happened to a homosexual prof who affirmed gay rights to his students (in a class about the GLBT Movement), you and GLN would be crying “discrimination!” to the media and holding protest vigils at U of I. But I’ve come to expect such hypocrisy from you guys. “Tolerance for me but not for thee.”…

Peter LaBarbera, Americans For Truth About Homosexuality

Here are two AFTAH articles on the University of Illinois-Howell termination scandal:

• U. of Illinois’ President Hogan Says Kenneth Howell Firing Under Review
• The E-Mail that Got Dr. Kenneth Howell Fired at U. of Illinois

Southern Poverty Law Center director Mark Potok sent AFTAH a snide message to point out a small factual error, yet for years the SPLC has confused AFTAH's Peter LaBarbera with Family Research Institute founder Paul Cameron on its website.

EDTIORS NOTE: After the publication of our article, the SPLC fixed the major error described below of (twice) confusing AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera for Family Research Institute founder Paul Cameron. However, the leftist group’s website retains one error, claiming that LaBarbera called for closing down all homosexual “establishments.” In actuality, LaBarbera called for closing down all “gay” sex clubs and bathhouses (where men go to have anonymous sexual encounters with other men) in the interest of protecting the public’s health.

By AFTAH Staff

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a left-wing organization under fire for expanding its “hate” designations beyond racist fringe groups to pro-family organizations like Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH) and the conservative Tea Party movement — has mistaken AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera for Family Research Institute researcher Paul Cameron in two longstanding “Intelligence Report” posts on its website.

The sophomoric error first appeared in a Spring 2005 SPLC “Intelligence Report,” “A Mighty Army,” about pro-family organizations opposed to homosexuality (see the section on Page 3 of Concerned Women for America). It was repeated in a Summer 2006 SPLC “Intelligence Report” article, “Passive Aggressive,” by Heidi Beirich. Both fallacious reports have been posted on the Southern Poverty Law Center website for years and have been repeated by sympathetic liberal activists on the web. The SPLC, which raises and spends millions of dollars annually for its “anti-hate” political and research activities, works with government and law enforcement authorities to provide research on alleged “hate” groups.

The above excerpt from the 2005 Southern Poverty Law Center report "A Mighty Army" mistakes Peter LaBarbera, founder of Americans For Truth, with Paul Cameron, founder of Family Research Institute. The typo in the first sentence (should be "In") appears in the original report.

Ironically, after the Southern Poverty Law Center outrageously designated Americans For Truth as a “hate” website — urged on by the pro-communist “Gay Liberation Network” — SPLC director Mark Potok sent Americans For Truth the following snide e-mail message to correct an inadvertent error in a column by (AFTAH Board Member) Matt Barber:

I know you all value accuracy above all things — I can tell that from the fine and incisive quality of your writing and research. Therefore, I\’m sure you\’ll want to let Matt know that we\’re based in Montgomery, Ala., not Atlanta, Ga. I know these places all seem the same to you — kind of like the unspeakable horrors of homosexuality — but hey, they\’re not. Of course, Matt does appear incapable of doing any actual reporting — his little attack piece is a compendium of ancient quotes he dredges from a 10-year-old Harper\’s magazine article.

Said AFTAH’s LaBarbera: “Perhaps Mr. Potok should redirect his derision toward his own staffers and writers, who appear to ‘value’ smearing Christian conservatives above accuracy. The SPLC’s credibility as a research organization is rapidly diminishing. Obviously, it is so consumed with its own animus toward religious conservatives that it cannot be trusted as an objective arbiter of ‘hate.’”

The above excerpt is reprinted from a 2006 SPLC "Intelligence Report" "Passive Aggressive," which repeats the confusion of LaBarbera with Cameron found in the 2005 SPLC report.

It should be noted that the confusion of two conservative, pro-family advocates is only the most blatant error found in the SPLC documents. We will let Paul Cameron and his Family Research Institute provide a full correction of the SPLC’s misinformation about him (see this FRI post on the APA expulsion claim). As to the descriptions about LaBarbera in the two reprinted SPLC excerpts above, here are the mischaracterizations:

• The Lambda Report on Homosexual Activism, the precursor and flagship print publication of Americans For Truth, was not “inflammatory” but reported using firsthand information gathered from homosexual activist groups and “gay” events. Besides, the SPLC, with its reckless and preposterous linkage of demented, racist fringe groups like the KKK to mainstream pro-family conservative groups such as AFTAH and pro-Constitution Tea Partiers — all under the rubric of alleged “hate” — is in no place to lecture anyone about being “inflammatory”;
• LaBarbera was never a member of the American Psychological Association and is not a scientist, hence he was never expelled; here the SPLC mistakes him with Cameron [Editor's Note: for years the Left has distorted the facts surrounding Cameron's association with the APA; see this PhD dissertation apology to Cameron];
• LaBarbera’s work has not been “denounced by the American Psychological Association”; again, here the SPLC writer, relying on the 2005 erroneous SPLC report, mistakes LaBarbera for Cameron.
• At the 2006 Vision America conference in question, “The War on Christians,” LaBarbera did not call homosexuality “disgusting” but referred to specific homosexual acts and their unhealthy consequences as such. He continues to believe that shame, not pride, should be associated with all homosexual conduct because it is immoral.
• At the same Vision America conference, LaBarbera did not call for the closing of all homosexual “establishments,” but for shutting down homosexual sex clubs and bathhouses as public health hazards. These sex businesses — which helped AIDS explode nationally in the eighties — facilitate anonymous homosexual sexual encounters and hyper-promiscuity, which spreads disease and harms both men who have sex with men and and the women who are in relationships with these men. (The latter often are unaware of their partners’ secret promiscuity.)

AFTAH repeats its challenge to Mark Potok, Southern Poverty Law Center’s director, to a public “Debate on Hate” regarding the SPLC’s politically-motivated “hate” designations.

________________________________

Two SPLC reports with errors (unfixed as of May 6, 2010):

• “‘A Mighty Army’: A dozen major groups help drive the religious right’s anti-gay crusade” (2005; see section on CWA, p. 3);
• “Passive Aggressive” (2006)

________________________________

Related AFTAH articles:

• SPLC Plays Politics with Hate, Smears Americans For Truth as ‘Hate Site’
• AFTAH’s LaBarbera Challenges SPLC’s Potok to a ‘Debate on Hate,’ Asks to Reverse ‘Hate’ Designation
• Barber: Southern Poverty Law Center Officially Declared ‘Left-Wing Hate Group’
• LISTEN – CWA: SPLC Takes ‘Hate Group’ Definition Too Far

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.”

_________________________________

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:

_______________________________

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

_________________________________

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.

“When you say that your organization is no more hateful than the Catholic church, we have a rare point of agreement. You are both haters.” — Bob Schwartz, Gay Liberation Network

The Catholic Church should also be on the "hate" list, says Bob Schwartz of the Gay Liberation Network.

Bob Schwartz, a leader of the Gay Liberation Network, a Marxist “direct action” group that reportedly lobbied the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) to mislabel Americans For Truth as a “hate” website, sent the e-mail below to AFTAH through our website. Schwartz describes himself as a Trotskyist (after Bolshevik Leon Trotsky, who advocated worldwide communist revolution before being assassinated by a Soviet agent in Mexico in 1940). Communists have such a long and storied history defending human rights and individual rights and dignity, you know.

Note that you don’t have to agree with the Catholic Church’s handing of its homosexual/pedophile crisis (most Catholics I know do not) to see the absurdity of labeling the church a “hater” because it defends traditional sexual morality and natural marriage between a man and a woman. The folly of the SPLC’s expanding “hate” dragnet is that it threatens to engulf all religious/moral opposition to homosexuality. Indeed, it would be revealing to query the top 25 “GLBT” activist across the nation and ask them if they would also label, as Matt Barber pokes fun HERE, the following as “hate groups”: Family Research Council, AFA, the Roman Catholic Church, Focus on the Family, the Southern Baptist Convention and ADF. (I posed the question to one young “gay” activist, Alex Blaze, HERE, and received no response.)

[Homosexual activists] Wayne Besen/Evan Hurst/Joe Jervis/Jeremy Hooper/Rea Carey/[insert GLBT activist here]: take up the challenge!

Yes, we’re all “haters” now (except the likes of Schwartz, despite his bully tactics and GLN’s ugly, anti-Christian bigotry). And just like ObamaCare is padding the rolls of the IRS to keep Americans in “compliance” with government “health” mandates, perhaps the SPLC needs an infusion of Obama stimulus funds to expand its already large staff and huge budget to accommodate its “reporting” on the ever-expanding “hate” network.

Note Schwartz’s reference to an article in the Naperville (Ill.) Sun, reprinted below.  The headline for the print edition of this story was changed from “Local anti-gay group rejects ‘hate site’ tag” to “Web site called hateful by civil rights group.” The task ahead, to demonstrate that the SPLC is more of a pro-homosexual, left-wing advocacy group than an honest “civil rights” organization, is a necessary but difficult one. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

GLN’s Schwartz writes:

______________________________________________
From: [Bob Schwartz, Gay Liberation Network]
Sent: Saturday, March 27, 2010 1:26 PM
To: americansfortruth@comcast.net
Subject: Fwd: [GLN Organizers] LaBarbera Says Group “No More Hateful Than the Catholic Church”

When you say that your organization is no more hateful than the Catholic church, we have a rare point of agreement.  You are both haters.  Hopefully, Ratzinger’s cover-ups of criminal pedophiles will result in more people leaving the gay- and woman-hating Church of Rome.

Bob Schwartz

_______________________

Naperville Sun article:

Local anti-gay group rejects ‘hate site’ tag

March 27, 2010

By JENETTE STURGES  jsturges@stmedianetwork.com

Naperville-based Americans for Truth About Homosexuality describes itself as “dedicated to exposing the homosexual activist agenda.”

Others just describe the group as “hateful.”

The anti-gay group was called out by civil rights group Southern Poverty Law Center for operating a “hate site,” one of 670 identified by the SPLC in its latest issue of their publication, Intelligence Report.

President of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality Peter LaBarbera says he has “taken issue” with that, and is asking for a public apology from the organization and a debate with its president, Mark Potok. His organization, he says, while against homosexuality, is not a hate group. “You can disagree without being hateful,” LaBarbera said.

The Southern Poverty Law Center did not add Americans for Truth About Homosexuality to its yearly listing of hate groups, which this year includes 932 groups including the anti-gay Family Research Institute, chapters of the Ku Klux Klan and the Nation of Islam. Also included on this year’s list of hate groups is Downers Grove-based anti-gay Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment.

But the content of AFTAH’s Web site did warrant the listing, according to Booth Gunther, public affairs coordinator at SPLC.

The AFTAH Web site, www.americansfortruth.com, is largely a collection of articles from across the Web focused on homosexuality that “defend historic Judeo-Christian moral norms,” according to the site.

The Chicago-based Gay Liberation Network, which contacted SPLC to have Americans for Truth About Sexuality added to the list, however, contends that the site, the group and its president spread inciting misinformation about homosexuality.

“Mr. LaBarbera has not only opposed marriage rights, he’s opposed equal employment and equal access. If that criterion were ever applied to other groups, the would be called a hate group,” said Andy Thayer, co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network.

Those who label the site as a “hate site” point to the repeated inclusion of research by Paul Cameron, psychologist at the Family Research Institute whose writings have claimed gays and lesbians are more likely to be child molesters and criminals, as well as the site’s association of homosexuality to everything from crystal meth to the North American Man/Boy Love Association.

Still, LaBarbera contends that his organization and its Web site are no more hateful than the Catholic Church.

As for a public apology or debate, the SPLC says there’s none coming.

“He can debate all he wants,” said Gunther. “We stand by our designation.”

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