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Heath, who is also Board Chairman of AFTAH, writes on his blog:

Righteousness prevails

There’s lots of disappointed people today.  Not just in Maine, but all across America.  Maine was supposed to become the first state to endorse homosexual marriage on a statewide ballot.  It didn’t happen, thank God.

It was close, but they’ve always been close.  Ever since I helped start the debate about using referendums to stop the queer political movement in 1991 its been close.  We realized then that the politicians would be incapable of halting the slide toward the full legal endorsement of sex outside of marriage.  We believed that the people would do the right thing.

In referendum after referendum over nearly twenty years I fought side-by-side with thousands of fellow Mainers and slowed the propagandists and politicians.  Working behind the scenes gay activists still managed to enact all of their agenda except for marriage.  It was gratifying this year to finally see substantial statewide and national groups step up to face this goliath.  I was, however, horrified by the concession proclaimed by Stand for Marriage this past weekend.  They repeated their endorsement of domestic partnerships and gay rights, going so far as to suggest that more rights to protect homosexuality may be in order.

I pray this election result signals that we have turned the corner, and that we are going to listen to our hearts.  Sexual love is made for a man and a woman to enjoy in the context of a life long commitment.  Surely we don’t want to build a society where our children and grandchildren are encouraged to invent new perversions to avoid boredom?

The path to sanity is well defined.  We don’t need experts to help us define marriage.  We already know it when we see it.  We simply need to see more of a commitment to it in ourselves, and those we love.

Homosexuality has absolutely nothing to do with marriage.  Homosexuality is a sickness.  It’s a sin.

We need to stop putting up with it.  There is nothing civil about hiding the truth from those we love.  And the truth about sex outside of marriage is that it hurts, it’s bad for us.  We need to avoid it.

We need to choose life over sex.  Sex is for life … it creates life.  Sex and life must be connected in our thinking.  We come together sexually in the context of marriage to celebrate creation, the creation of a unique individual human life.  It is perilous to disconnect sex from creation.  It is even more perilous to pretend that pleasurable sex should be associated with acts unspeakable.

In the interest of protecting and affirming all of Maine’s people, especially our children and grandchildren, we must repeal domestic partnership laws that provide benefits on the basis of homosexuality, we must de-fund the so-called “civil rights teams” [pro-homosexual student groups] and remove “sexual orientation and gender identity” from the Maine Human Rights Act and the Maine Civil Rights Act.  It would also be prudent to reinstate Maine’s anti-sodomy law that was quietly removed from our criminal code in the late 1970s.

We must not stop fighting until Maine’s laws are once again just, and equal rights are guaranteed to all Maine citizens on the basis of good conduct, not sinful behavior.  For the sake of our children and grandchildren we must fight this evil.  And we will fight.

We will never surrender.  There is too much at stake.

By Peter LaBarbera

Folks, Dr. Michael Brown gave an excellent presentation at AFTAH’s monthly dinner-lecture last week. We hope to post a YouTube on Dr. Brown’s succinct and compelling response to my question on the “Big Three” hostile questions thrown at Christians who defend the Bible’s prohibitions against homosexual conduct:

1. “But Jesus Christ never said anything about homosexuality”;
2. “Why should we believe the Old Testament says about homosexuality when it also bans wearing polyester and eating shellfish?”; and
3. “You Christians are so judgmental.”

Dr. Brown, a world renowned biblical scholar, hit it out of the park. He also challenged what he calls the “celebration of ambiguity”in describing neo-evangelicals’ and the “Emergent Church’s” evasive and equivocating — and unbiblical — positioning on the issue of homosexuality.

Brown specifically challenged Chicago evangelical Andrew Marin (right), founder of the Marin Foundation and author of “Love Is Not an Orientation.” Brown praised Marin for wanting to reach out to homosexuals and the portions of the book in which Marin relays personal stories of homosexuals he has encountered who have been hurt by the Church. But he was highly critical of Marin’s misuse of Scripture in interpreting verses dealing with homosexuality.

Brown said of the Emergent Church — which is much more accepting of homosexual identity, uses the controversial term ”gay Christian,” and generally scolds Christians for actively condemning homosexuality and the “gay” political/cultural agenda: “Their cure is worse than the sickness …. [they] have shown more solidarity with [homosexual] people than with God.”

“How are we helping anyone when we make the clear unclear … the unambiguous ambiguous? … How is that love?” Brown asked, calling on Christians to share the full truth of the Gospel in love. After first noting that Christians need to repent for neglecting to lovingly share God’s salvation plan with people caught up in homosexuality, Brown warned against believers falling into a “soulish sympathy” for homosexuals that overrides Biblical truth and their Christian conscience. [AFTAH will be offering a DVD of Brown's talk; write americansfortruth@comcast.net for more information.]

“There is a fundamental denial of the power of the Gospel,” Brown said, noting that a key requirement of being a disciple of Christ is to “deny yourself.”

Brown — who strongly urged Christians to humble themselves and repent for not offering the grace and love of Christ to homosexual friends and acquaintances — will be writing a review of Marin’s book for AFTAH. We will also transcribe Brown’s important critique of Emergent philosophy in a future post.

DISCLAIMER: I have not read Marin’s book yet, but have been deeply troubled by his chameleon-like approach to ministry and his watered-down Gospel as it relates to the issue of homosexuality. Marin — a self-described former “bible-bangin’ homophobe” who moved to Chicago’s homosexual “Boystown” community to reach homosexuals after three of his friends “came out” to him as “gay” – turned on me last year after we both appeared on a Moody Radio broadcast in Chicago.

After our mutual appearance on Moody’s WMBI Radio, I posted a sympathetic Moody commentary about it by WMBI’s Julie Roys. After we republished Roys’ piece, Andrew and his wife pleaded with me to take it off AFTAH’s website to accommodate their covert-like approach to ministry (an approach that has earned him criticism and distrust from both homosexual activists like Michaelangelo Signorile and biblically faithful Christians). After I rejected his appeal, Marin did an online interview on ExGayWatch, a homosexual activist website, to supposedly “clear the record” and distance himself and his work from Americans For Truth.

Marin’s turnaround came just days after he praised me enthusiastically on Moody Radio for “[taking] the bullet for all of us” in opposing the homosexual activist movement. Predictably, ExGayWatch used Marin’s interview as an opportunity to bash my alleged “shameless self-promotion.” I was appalled that Marin would use a blatantly anti-biblical website — one bitterly hostile to the truth that Jesus Christ can help homosexuals leave the lifestyle – to undermine a fellow Christian believer.

(I have worked with Andrew before: in 2006 he once almost appeared at a press conference that I organized as executive director of Illinois Family Institute — comprised of local pro-family leaders confronting the “Gay Games,” which were being held in Chicago. Marin supported IFI’s efforts — which included a Gospel outreach to Gay Games participants – but he pulled out as a speaker at the press conference, fearing that his public stance would hurt his ministry.)

Below is Marin’s startling post on the ”gay”-affirming site, ExGayWatch. I say “startling” because Marin — who regularly works with Moody Bible Institute and is promoted through sympathetic Moody Radio interviews – now seems intent on muddying up the Bible’s clear truth: that homosexual practice is sinful yet changeable through Christ. Dr. Brown noted the exact same tendency in Marin’s book, which he critiqued at AFTAH’s talk.

Needless to say, Christians like Marin who equivocate on biblical truth will be championed by the same homosexual activists who viciously (and erroneously) denounce AFTAH and groups like us as “hateful.”

The highly “ambiguous” Marin “Is Homosexuality a Sin?” piece below is actually a long comment posted on the same ExGayWatch thread that contains his self-serving online interview with homosexual activist David Roberts. To be honest, I was so disturbed by Marin’s actions that I could not bring myself to listen to his XGW interview, but now that he’s “out of the closet,” as it were, with his “Love is an orientation” approach toward homosexuality, it’s time to review his comments and correct the record ourselves. We will respond point-by-point to Marins’ take on what transpired with WMBI and his dubious exegesis of Scripture.

I do not believe — or at least I hope — that the equivocating Andrew Marin, who seems ashamed of the Gospel of Christ (at least as applied to homosexuality),  represents Moody Bible Institute’s approach towards the homosexual issue. Moody has faithfully served the Lord for decades. And I regret that despite Julie Roys’ hopeful commentary, we must now openly oppose Marin’s habit of downplaying the sin of homosexuality — forgiveness for which is part of the great transforming work of Christ!

Dr. Brown is absolutely right: there is a great need for ministry-minded Christians to lovingly share the Gospel with practicing homosexuals, but they should never resort to publicly obfuscating or denying biblical Truth to carry out that mission. Please pray for Andrew Marin – that he will return to the truth on this issue, including the parts that are politically incorrect. – Peter LaBarbera, Americans For Truth

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DL Moody once preached:

That’s the trouble with the sinners in Chicago.  They’ve turned against God, broken His commandments, trampled His law under their feet, and their sins hang upon them; until they show signs of repentance their sin will remain.  But the moment they see their iniquity and come to God, forgiveness will be given them and their iniquity will be taken out of their way.  Said a person to me the other day, “It is my sin that stands between me and Christ.” “It isn’t,” I replied, “it’s your own will.” That’s what stands between the sinner and forgiveness.  Christ will take all your iniquities away if you will. Men are so proud that they won’t acknowledge and confess before God.  Don’t you see on the face of it, if your boy won’t repent you cannot forgive him, and how is God going to forgive a sinner if he don’t repent? If He was allowing an unrepentant sinner into His Kingdom, there would be war in Heaven in twenty-four hours.  You cannot live in a house with a boy who steals everything he can lay his hands on.  You would have to banish him from your house.

__________________________________

Andrew Marin’s Post on ExGayWatch

Andrew Marin’s comment posted on the homosexual activist website “ExGayWatch,” on April 24th, 2008:

Hello Everyone,

I am part of the subject of this post [referring to his online interview] and I wanted to say a few things. First, I appreciate the opportunity that I was given by David to explain what happened. I also appreciate everyone’s comments, and I want to let all of you know that I want to be as open and transparent as I can possibly be.

With that in mind I would like to address Bob’s concerns one by one because I am not trying to hide anything from anyone. I want to be honest about my life, my experiences and my organization – and so here are detailed answers for each of the concerns that were raised.

1. To explain my verbiage of “love” and “not judging” and how that influences our “educational work”:

As I said on the interview, my view of love is lived out through the following definition – love is a tangible and measurable expression of unconditional behaviors that no matter who you are, what you say or what you do I have your back 110% and will never leave or give up on your salvation/belief in God. I believe that the word love has become a trivial word coming from the Christian community to gays and lesbains because too often Christian expressions of love has become conditional. My goal is to unconditionally be apart of, and involved in people’s lives to overcome that negative perception and truth of what “love” has become. The Father is unconditional; Jesus is unconditional; and so to do I want to follow that example whether or not there is any “change” because at the end of the day only God can allow someone into heaven. So why not seek validation from the One who can bring eternal validation. Humanly opinions have no bearing on heavenly judgment, and therefore my wish is to take those humanly judgments away and focus on our Lord and let Him do as He sees fit for each of our lives. Therefore our entire educational work is based off of this premise.

2. Is homosexuality a sin?

Does anyone else ever wonder why when it comes to the most divisive topic in the church today that most questions revolve around one word, yes or no answers? I started to think about that, and I’ve come to the conclusion that both sides ask those same yes or no questions at the beginning so they can then label you and place you on their side, or the opponent’s side. This is nothing more than an expression of an “us vs. them” mindset. Building bridges cannot happen through an us vs. them mindset. Therefore, is homosexuality a sin?

I have three clear answers:

1. Romans 3:23 – we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God

2. James 2:10 – in God’s eyes, if you have committed one sin you have committed them all

3. Matthew 7:1-2 – the measure you use to judge others will also be used to judge you

Theologically I believe that sin has been propitiated to us all through the Original Sin, and we are all born sinful into a sinful world. My position is that it is time to elevate the conversation past what is always fought about and shift our mind-frames to belief and communication with the Creator. If we can focus on a tangible expression of love, belief and a humbled understanding of ourselves, and each other’s point of view as valid to their experience – in our lives and our sexuality (from both sides) –then we can advance the worship and dialogue past negative debates and onto more important eternal issues. I strongly believe that we are all on the same plain constantly learning and growing in our lives and faith trying to figure this life out. The unique juxtaposition is that we will never figure it out and have to live by that same faith to continue on another day, in what many times is a non-felt security by God. We know He’s there and yet there are times, especially during the extremes of when things are great and when things are horrible, that we don’t feel Him. Hebrews 11:1 states that faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. I feel as though it is my job to tangibly reach out to the GLBT community and apologize for what has happened in the past – and then help both sides to move forward to bring faith and spiritual reconciliation to a community evangelical Christians have traditionally only fought against.

3. Where do I stand of civil rights issues such as marriage equality?

I let the politicians handle the politics. I head a religious organization that is solely focused on religion and spirituality and to a bridge being built between time-tested opposing communities. I believe that politics does not have to enter into every conversation. I understand that many of the “religious right” have placed themselves in the middle of political debates and agendas, as well as many on the “left” have done the same. I will do neither. I have been put here for spiritual things, and that is my only focus. When our government decides either way, I will so live by those laws and not argue, disagree or fight in either direction. My world is not of this world because of what is to come.

4. “If I love gays, why do I oppose gay rights?”

I have never commented on gay rights so I am not sure where that statement is coming from – this is the first time. Just because I was connected by a third party to LaBarbera does not mean I agree or disagree. Others can continue to fight over politics, I just wish to focus on being as best of a representation I can to the one true God.

5. “In a Reader interview I flunked both tests”

The link to the Reader article is
http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/andrewmarin/

and if so inclined, please read it in its entirety. I believe that all quotes need further context, but becuase this issue was brought up here is a direct quote from that article:

The Marin Foundation takes no official position on gay marriage or gay adoption, although Marin praised one of his gay students who took in foster children from a third world country with his partner. And he says there’s no reason gays shouldn’t serve in the military. But these familiar debates are, for Marin, “nitpicking,” so mired in the realm of politics and worldly power that they detract from his broader spiritual mission. “I’m not political,” he insists. “I’m religious.”

6. There are other denominations that affirms the GLBT community so why do you need a “ministry”?

First, The Marin Foundation is not a ministry. We are an organization that is not connected to a church or denomination. We work with 9 different denominations in fact, including Episcopal and UCC churches. We are here because there are many people in the GLBT community who are frightened of church – the building, the dogma, the stigma that comes with the name. As a non-profit organization we are not a church, and therefore a safe place for people to come to talk, be validated as a child of God, listened to and not have to feel like they are being preached to or tied down to one thing or the other. Many people in the GLBT community who participate in our organization say that is the reason they go to us and not a church. Also, the Episcopal and UCC are traditionally liturgical in their approach. We have found that there are many GLBT people who were raised in evangelical homes and wish for that same environment. The Marin Foundation is one of the ways to return into spiritual things that are more comfortable for them then attending a church of any particular denomination. My denomination is the belief in God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit who love me as their child.

7. Bob [Schwartz, of the hard-left Gay Liberation Network] called me an “unabashed homophobe” and that I am a “velvet-gloved hammer of antigay bigotry and discrimination.”

I in deed was, for the first 19 years of my life a homophobe. There was no two-ways about it. But to call me that now, with so many people in the GLBT community who love and respect me and the work that I do through The Marin Foundation who has helped so many GLBT people who have been really hurt by religion, is off base. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and after I read Bob’s post I had an epiphany this morning.

“I need to release the burden of having to feel like I have to convince people who don’t like me, of the things that I know are true in my life whether they agree or not.”

This might seem like old hat to all of you reading that, but my problem is that I take way too much too personally. So when I am insulted it really hurts my soul. I’m not a hardened season veteran of this issue that insults don’t hurt. I don’t have people call me names everyday of my life, so it stings when it does happen. Maybe it’s because I’m younger than most who are already involved, maybe I am naive? I don’t know. But regardless of where it comes from the reason I felt that I needed to write all of these issues down was to clear my conscious of being saddened by what Bob said.

I believe now, that I have covered all of his major points. I am very open to peaceful discussion and I look forward to continuing this very important dialogue.

Thank you very much.

[Marin posts again in the discussion on ExGayWatch; you can also listen to his interview in which he opposes AFTAH's Peter LaBarbera; go to: http://www.exgaywatch.com/wp/2008/04/labarberas-shameless-self-promotion-may-damage-a-real-ministry/]

RSVP to aftahangela@gmail.com (847-722-5330) or and you can get additional information by calling 630-717-7631 or e-mailing americansfortruth@comcast.net. I hope to see some of you tomorrow evening!  — Peter LaBarbera, www.americansfortruth.org

Here are the event details:

WHO:  Dr. Michael Brown,  director of the Charlotte, NC -based Coalition of Conscience and president of FIRE School of Ministry in Concord, North Carolina. Dr. Brown, who holds a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Literatures from New York University, is the world’s foremost Messianic Jewish apologist. (Messianic Jews are Jews who believe in Jesus Christ (who was Jewish!) as their Messiah.) Brown is the author of 20 books and in 2010 will publish “A Queer Thing Happened to America,” which exposes the extremist teachings of “queer theology.”

WHAT:  AFTAH’s monthly dinner-lecture: Dr. Brown will be preaching on how faithful Christians are called to both RESIST the radical homosexual activist agenda and REACH OUT in grace and love with the Gospel of Jesus Christ to men and woman practicing homosexuality.

WHEN:  Thursday, Sept. 17, 6:00-9:00 PM.  Casual dinner begins at 6:00, followed by Dr. Brown’s talk from 7:00-9:00.  There will be a time for Q&A after a mid-talk break for refreshments.  A free will donation will be taken to cover the cost of the event. This event will be videotaped and a tape will be offered by AFTAH for purchase.

WHERE:  AFTAH’s office at 25W560 Geneva Rd., in Carol Stream, IL.  We are located on Geneva Rd., just west of Gary Rd.; (Carol Stream is next door to Wheaton in Chicago’s western suburbs.)  Look for the “Kingsland” sign out front and park in the rear.

WHY YOU SHOULD COME (and bring your PASTOR): If you struggle with or wonder about questions like these, this event is a great opportunity for you to strengthen your heart and mind on the issue of the Christian approach towards homosexuality and “gay” activism:

• If as a Christian, I want to lovingly minister to gays and lesbians, shouldn’t I avoid the anti-homosexual-agenda “culture war”?
• As a pastor, how best can I minister to active homosexuals?
• What responsibility do I as a pastor have in helping to resist the homosexual activist agenda and to proclaim biblical truth outside my church doors about homosexuality?
• How does the “GLBT” agenda threaten our religious and First Amendment freedoms?
• How are “queer” theologians undermining and distorting the Word of God? How does the gay theologians’ “Jesus” differ from the biblical Christ?
• Can I still love my “gay” friends or relatives while helping the pro-family movement resist the demands of the  homosexual activist agenda?
• How do I respond to gay activists who compare the Bible’s condemnation of homosexuality to “wearing polyester” or eating shellfish? Why should I take what the Old Testament says about homosexuality seriously when it also advocates the stoning of rebellious children, etc.?
• How do I respond to people who tell me that I’m being judgmental if I don’t accept people being gay?
• Shouldn’t Christians stop condemning homosexuality as sin to show their love for the homosexual?
• Can a person be “gay” and a faithful Christian? Is the term “gay Christian” acceptable?
• Why are so many Christians AWOL in the Culture War?
• What have Christians done wrong in opposing the “gay” movement?
• Can homosexuals really change and leave their “gay” lifestyle and identity behind?
• What about the idea that churches should put a “moratorium” on preaching against homosexuality to help reach out to gays with the Gospel?
• My liberal friends tell me that Jesus never said anything about homosexuality: how do I answer that?
• If we’re against promiscuity, shouldn’t we let two people of the same sex who love each other and want to commit themselves to each other at least have their “civil unions” be recognized by the government? Shouldn’t we be FOR (same-sex) monogamy?
• If gays and lesbians didn’t choose their attractions, why is it a sin?
• Are transsexuality and cross-dressing sins in the Bible?
• I am not a Christian: give me some other reasons why I should oppose homosexuality in general, and “gay rights” laws in particular

Other AFTAH articles about Dr. Michael Brown:

• A Model Christian Response to ‘Gay’ Pride: ‘God Has a Better Way’ in Charlotte
• ‘Can You Be Gay and Christian?’ Dr. Michael Brown Invites Homosexual Clergy to Dialogue
• Should Christians Support Same-Sex Unions as a Matter of Justice? Dr. Michael Brown Responds to Jim Wallis
• LISTEN ONLINE: CWA Interviews LaBarbera and Dr. Michael Brown on ‘God Has Better Way’ Outreach
• Higgins Responds to Wayne Besen’s Screed against Dr. Michael Brown
• Dr. Mike Brown’s Debate with HRC’s Harry Knox to Air on Free Webcast May 5th

_____________________________
RSVP for the Dr. Michael Brown dinner-lecture to: aftahangela@gmail.com (847-722-5330) or and you can get additional information by calling 630-717-7631 or e-mailing americansfortruth@comcast.net. I hope to see some of you tomorrow evening!  — Peter LaBarbera, www.americansfortruth.org

SAVE THE DATE, Saturday Oct 24: Please save the evening of Saturday, October 24 to attend Americans For Truth’s banquet. Our featured speaker is Matt Barber, culture warrior for Liberty Counsel. Matt is quite a guy, to say the least. He’s gone from being a professional heavyweight boxer, to being fired by Allstate Insurance Company in 2005 because he wrote an online article — on his own time — critical of organized homosexuality, to his current position as one of America’s leading defenders of natural marriage and family. AFTAH got rave reviews for its last banquet; you won’t want to miss this one! The event will be held outside Chicago, at the Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights, IL. Tickets are $50 per person. You can prepay online at www.americansfortruth.com/donate/ (just note “AFTAH banquet” in the Paypal or Credit Card form) or mail your check (designate: “AFTAH banquet”) to: Americans For Truth, PO Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522.  Write us at  americansfortruth@comcast.net, or call Donna at 910-308-7619, for additional information. Please spread the word and we hope to see you there on Oct. 24th!

Note: you can read some of Matt’s columns by plugging his name in the “Search” button on the upper right corner of the AFTAH website.

– Peter LaBarbera, Americans For Truth About Homosexuality, www.aftah.com

By Peter LaBarbera

Here’s a bit of history on “gay” activist intolerance — representative of what has gone on for decades across the country whenever citizens try to resist the homosexual activist agenda using the freedoms we possess as Americans. These are photos of a sign for the Christian Civic League of Maine in front of their headquarters that was defaced during the League’s successful 2005 drive to repeal a “gay rights” law using Maine’s “People’s Veto.” Under the Veto, citizens can repeal legislation passed by the Maine legislature through a statewide ballot vote. Multiply this harassment by a thousand and you will understand what proponents of Proposition 8 were up against in California.

This may seem like a minor act of vandalism (note the number “666,” symbolic of Satan, spray-painted in red), and it is, but applying our “Gay-Christian” Substitution Test puts it in proper perspective. Can you imagine the yelling and screaming (and government hate crimes charges?) that would have ensued had Christian activists defaced a sign on the private property of Equality Maine (the state’s leading homosexual group), or the Maine Civil Liberties Union? Exactly.

There is another People’s Veto vote coming up in Maine in November to overturn a homosexual “marriage” bill that was signed into law in May by Gov. Baldacci (D) — who rationalized that he had to sign it, against his convictions, “to uphold the Constitution” (nice try, guv). Homosexual activists will lose the marriage referendum — of that we are quite confident, due mainly to the groundbreaking work that Mike Heath (executive director of the League), Catholic pro-family stalwart Paul Madore, and Paul Volle of the Christian Coalition of Maine did in fighting against homosexual special rights in Maine over the last two decades.

These valiant culture warriors never received the credit they were due from the larger, national pro-family movement because, well, Christian pro-family groups were so petrified of being labeled “anti-gay” that they rarely gave enthusiastic support to efforts to resist “gay rights” laws the way they should have. That defensiveness, or perhaps we should say cowardice, now translates into a pro-family movement that still defends traditional marriage (sometimes in name only), but is woefully under-funded and inadequate when it comes to stopping the rest of the pro-homosexual agenda. (Americans For Truth supports a full repeal of all “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” laws, which began  undermining religious freedoms long before the onset of “same-sex marriage.”)

Heath (Board Chairman of AFTAH) is participating in but not leading the current drive to overturn Maine’s “gay marriage” law. He rejects the politically correct “spin” of fellow marriage defenders who argue that this battle (against homosexual “marriage”) is not about homosexuality itself. Sure it is, which is why we can expect more intolerance and thuggery in the weeks and months leading up to the November vote.

Many homosexual activists, imbued with their own propaganda equating a sexual sin movement with “civil rights,” have adopted an arrogant, ends-justifies-the-means attitude in the service of their misguided cause. Like AFTAH, Mike Heath and friends are compared to bigots, anti-Semites and Nazis because … well, doggonit, that’s how judgmental “queer” activists and their liberal allies see it! (Don’t expect logical reasoning from the pro-”gay” side on this — the modern liberal takes it almost as a matter of faith. Besides, it’s much easier to simply claim the mantle of civil rights and keep repeating it with the media’s help, even though this fiction has been roundly rejected by the vast majority of African Americans.)

I will be visiting Maine next month to speak at the Christian Civic League, and plan to discuss how the current push for oxymoronic “gay marriage” is precisely an outgrowth of the homosexualist agenda — which will continue to threaten religious and moral freedoms even after Mainers pass the People’s Veto and sweep “same-sex marriage” off the law books in November. As usual, AFTAH will keep you abreast of the ongoing, anti-democratic tactics of homosexual activists in Maine, California and across the nation.

Mike Heath

The following news release is by PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays):

August 10, 2009

News Advisory:  August 10, 2009

Contact:  Regina Griggs, Executive Director, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX), 804-453-4737, PFOX@pfox.org

American Library Association Asked to Condemn Banning of Ex-Gay Books

West Bend, WI — Despite public opposition, the West Bend Community Memorial Library continues to stock gay books for children and teens while neglecting books by ex-gay authors.

Many of the gay books promote homosexual behavior to youth and are the subject of protests by concerned parents, whose request to have the books moved to the adult section were denied.

“Our requests that the Library balance some of its homosexual material for children with material written by ex-gays or with a heterosexual slant have been ignored,” said Regina Griggs, executive director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX).

“Apparently, the West Bend Community Memorial Library is not interested in diversity,” said Griggs.  “We urge Michael Tyree, the library’s director, to be inclusive of the ex-gay community and accept our donation of ex-gay books.  According to its own policy, the Library has a ‘professional responsibility to be inclusive, not exclusive, in developing collections.’”

“For a library to provide children’s books which promote homosexuality while denying ex-gay books smacks of censorship and indoctrination of youth with a one-sided ideology,” said Griggs.

“It is also contrary to the American Library Association’s policy against book banning and censorship in any form,” said Griggs.  “We call upon Deborah Caldwell-Stone, acting director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, to publicly condemn the censoring of ex-gay books in any community.  Public libraries should be for everyone.”

###

Visit http://pfox.org/about_us.html for information about the ex-gay community.

Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) promotes an inclusive environment for the ex-gay community, and educates youth with factual information about same-sex attractions.

A copy of this press release is available online at http://pfox-exgays.blogspot.com/2009/08/american-library-association-asked-to.html

More on this story is available at the CNN web site at http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/22/wisconsin.book.row/index.html

PS. Don’t forget also to save Saturday, Oct. 24th for AFTAH’s fund-raising banquet featuring dynamic culture-warrior Matt Barber as our keynote speaker.

Concerned Women for America writes [click HERE to listen online]:

Homosexual “pride” events and street fairs are growing in number and size. A number of them are also becoming increasingly risqué despite their public nature; except in Charlotte, North Carolina. There, Dr. Michael Brown and the Coalition for Conscience have been taking a stand for truth while actively and civilly reaching out to those attending the “gay” pride gathering. Just this month, 500 Christians came to Charlotte to pray, worship and share the Gospel with those at the event, and proclaim that God Has a Better Way. Dr. Brown joins Peter LaBarbera from Americans for Truth in comparing the events in San Francisco and Chicago with those in Charlotte. Listen | Download

Related AFTAH links:

• No Nudity Crackdown in San Francisco – Police Again Allow Rampant Public Nudity, Sex Acts at Deviant ‘Up Your Alley’ Street Fair
• A Model Christian Response to ‘Gay’ Pride: ‘God Has a Better Way’ in Charlotte

Leading by Example: Tim Tebow

Folks, isn’t it interesting that in our morally challenged culture “saving yourself for marriage” is about as politically incorrect as … opposing homosexual behavior? — Peter LaBarbera, www.americansfortruth.com

By John Jalsevac, reprinted with permission from LifeSiteNews.com; sign up for LifeSite’s daily news e-mails HERE

July 30, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Last week Florida Gators Quarterback Tim Tebow’s photo may have graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, the same magazine that is best known for its annual “swimsuit issue,” but the contrast between the two cover stories couldn’t have been more glaring.

At 21 years of age and graced with boyish good looks, Tebow is one of the most talked about rising stars of the NCAA; but the football superstar literally left reporters speechless last week when he answered a question during a press conference about whether or not he is “saving himself” for marriage.

“Yes I am,” said Tebow briefly, who then indicated he was ready for the next question. However, in the video of the press conference, a reporter is heard stumbling over his words in the background as he tries to ask a follow-up question. Tebow then laughs, obviously reacting to the reactions of the reporters in the room.

“I think y’all were stunned by that,” he says. “Y’all can’t even ask a question. Wow. I mean, I was ready for that question. I don’t think y’all were.”

It wasn’t the only controversial remark that Tebow made that day. In response to another question about whether or not people may be tired of the volume of coverage devoted to the young football star, Tebow, a devout Christian, said that the level of exposure he receives is a mixed blessing. However, he said, he looks at the positive side that, thanks to his fame, he has been able to share his Christian faith with so many people.

In addition, the football star told the reporters that he believes that the publicity given to his mother’s story has helped other women choose not to abort their unborn children. Tebow’s mother, who serves as a Christian missionary together with her husband, was pressured to abort Tebow following a life-threatening infection she suffered while pregnant with him. Doctors pressured her to abort her son to save her own life, but she ultimately resisted the pressure and both mother and child survived the birth.

“There has been a lot of people that have been encouraged not to have an abortion because they heard the story of my mom, or they have been encouraged because they have heard me give my faith on TV or in a report or something,” said Tebow.

“You know what, although there has been a backlash, oh, well. You know what, I’ll deal with it if I have to. It’s not a big deal to me because of the kids and people that have been encouraged by the stories we have tried to tell and by the life that I’ve tried to live.”

Growing up Tebow would often help his parents with their Christian mission work in the Philippines. He was homeschooled by his mother, who instilled in her children strong Christian values.

Tebow was the first home-schooled athlete to be nominated for the Heisman Trophy. “That’s really cool,” he said at the time. “A lot of times people have this stereotype of homeschoolers as not very athletic – it’s like, go win a spelling bee or something like that – it’s an honor for me to be the first one to do that.”

“Coalition of Conscience” crowd of more than 500 prepares to offer Gospel witness at homosexual “pride” event in Charlotte, N.C.  Their message: “God has a better way.” See www.godhasabetterway.com.

Dear Readers,

I commend to you my friend Dr. Michael Brown’s and the Coalition of Conscience’s response to the “gay pride” movement in Charlotte, N.C. In a speech last week to Reclaiming Oklahoma for Christ, I said that the appropriate Christian response to homosexual/”trans” activism and homosexual strugglers is a tightrope walk — balancing a witness for truth on the one side and the gracious love of Christ for sinners on the other. I too often fall off that tightrope, but Michael hangs on it as well as any pro-family leader I have observed in the last 20 years. (My only cautionary note is Brown’s use of the term “homophobia” [see this excellent NARTH analysis] — an artificial construct that is now so elastically defined that almost any rejection of homosexualist goals (including same-sex “marriage”) can be and is deemed “homophobic” by “gay” activists and the liberal media. That said, his point it correct: it is wrong to fear and hate men and women trapped in homosexuality — people who need God’s love and grace.)

How I wish that decades ago Christian leaders in Chicago had taken Dr. Brown’s “God has a better way” approach of a mobilized witness against “proud” homosexuality and the dangerous agenda that goes with it. Perhaps if they had, we wouldn’t be seeing the annual, raucous, debauched homosexuality “pride” celebrations on Chicago streets with attendees (”gay” and straight) numbering in the hundreds of thousands. The Church of Jesus Christ in America has largely abdicated its role as a bold witness for truth and Biblical morality in the culture. (And who says proclaiming the Gospel and confronting sexual sin agendas must be mutually exclusive?) I challenged Oklahoma Christians to be as aggressive in defending God’s truth about homosexuality as self-described “queer” activists are in advancing their lies (enumerated below). Such is the spirit that Michael Brown and the Coalition of Conscience have displayed in Charlotte; believers across the nation would do well to learn from and imitate them. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH, www.americansfortruth.org

P.S. As if to prove my theory that no matter how loving biblically faithful Christians are, they will always be cast as hateful, “homophobic” bigots by radical “queer” activists, click HERE to read homosexual militant Wayne Besen’s response to Michael Brown’s “God has a better way” campaign. It is vicious, even by Besen’s low standard.

_________________________________________________

Dr. Michael Brown

STATEMENT TO THE MEDIA, JULY 25, 2009
GOD HAS A BETTER WAY RALLY, CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA

DR. MICHAEL BROWN, DIRECTOR, THE COALITION OF CONSCIENCE [links added by AFTAH]
www.coalitionofconscience.org; www.godhasabetterway.com

We are here today to reach out and resist –– to reach out to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community with compassion, as neighbors and friends and fellow-workers, and to declare God’s great love for GLBT [gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender] people. And we are here to resist the gay activist agenda and to send a message to the nation.

As followers of Jesus, we first confess our own sins –– our lack of ardent love for homosexual men and women, our lack of compassion for their struggles, our adding to their sense of rejection through insensitive words and deeds.

We acknowledge the fact that homophobia is alive and well in some churches, and we renounce and repudiate that hateful and destructive attitude.

Our love also compels us to speak the truth, and we do not believe that all sexual orientations should be celebrated.

We do not celebrate the fact that some people believe they are women trapped in men’s bodies;

We do not celebrate the fact that two men or two women cannot reproduce their own unique offspring and that same-sex families guarantee that a child will never have either a mother or a father;

We do not celebrate the fact that some people choose to surgically mutilate their God-given organs and must take hormones for the rest of their lives just to be at peace with themselves;

We do not celebrate the sexual confusion that exists in many young people today, to the point that they can only identify themselves “as genderqueer”;

We do not celebrate the pain and brokenness that exists in the lives of many of those attending Pride Charlotte today –– completely apart from societal rejection –– and we proclaim to our GLBT friends that God has a better way, that there is a place of wholeness and transformation to be found in Jesus. And we are here for the long-term to help them on that journey.

And because of our sense of justice and rightness, we take strong exception to the gay activist agenda. We watch its trajectory, we see where it has gone and where it is going, and we say, “It stops here in Charlotte.”

Since gay pride events have been rallying points for GLBT activism, we take our stand here today and declare:

We don’t believe that elementary school children should be taught to find their “inner-trannie” (meaning their inner transgender identity) as advocated in GLSEN’s training materials.

We don’t believe that it is in the best interest of our society to seek to eradicate gender or to multiply it exponentially.

We completely reject the Los Angeles Unified School District Reference Guide when it states that Gender identity “refers to one’s understanding, interests, outlook, and feelings about whether one is female or male, or both, or neither, regardless of one’s biological sex.”

We don’t believe it is good or right for four-year-old children to have their preschool teachers read them books like One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dads or to be lined up by sneaker color rather than gender so they don’t feel “boxed in.”

We don’t believe in “Queering Elementary Education,” to use the title of a well-known book.

We believe it is outrageous when an African American woman is fired from her university position of vice-president of human resources because she writes an editorial objecting to the concept that sexual orientation is equivalent to skin color.

We believe it is outrageous for the media to cover up the gay identity of a sexual predator who repeatedly raped his adopted, five-year-old African American son and offered him for sex through the internet – for fear of making homosexual couples look bad.

We believe it is outrageous for the mayor of San Francisco to welcome warmly a public fair featuring nude, sado-masochistic displays, and to do so in the name of “diversity.”

And what does it say of our country today when our president, in the White House, could say “We are very proud of you” to a man who leads an organization devoted to making harder core pornography more readily available and who says that bestiality is fine as long as the animal doesn’t mind?

We don’t believe in fining a Christian photographer in New Mexico for politely declining to shoot a lesbian commitment ceremony, or punishing an Anglican bishop in England for choosing not to hire an openly gay youth worker, or for putting a lifetime ban on Christian leaders in Canada, forbidding them from expressing the biblical teaching on homosexual practice and threatening them with imprisonment.

We don’t believe in laws that could jail the owner of a Christian bookstore for choosing not to hire a cross-dresser as a receptionist.

We don’t believe in a Hate Crimes bill that is so flawed that even the ACLU is concerned that it could restrict freedom of speech.

We don’t believe it is right for major Charlotte-based companies like Bank of America and Wachovia and Duke Energy to pour tens of thousands of dollars into a radical organization like the Human Rights Campaign, an organization that has stated that supporters of male-female marriage are “right wing extremists” and that mandates that businesses must have special bathroom accommodations for employees undergoing sex-change surgery.

We are saddened by the fact that some of those who came out of the closet forty years now are now trying to put conservative Christians in the closet.

We don’t believe in tampering with the foundations of human society –– male-female marriage and family –– and creating a new institution previously unknown in human history.

We utterly reject the new theologies that advocate “Queering Christ” and writing “Queer Commentaries” on the Bible, and we say to Charlotte and the nation, “By God’s grace, it stops here.”

So, we say “Enough is enough” to the destructive goals of gay activism, and we say to the GLBT community, “Jesus loves you and God has a better way!”

I sent a version of the following letter to Jeff, who wrote Americans For Truth in February urging us to respect the “civil rights” of homosexuals (who he believes are born that way). Jeff’s letter is beneath mine at bottom. — Peter LaBarbera:

Peter LaBarbera’s Letter to Jeff:

…Jeff, I doubt the accuracy of your numbers (I believe 1-3 percent of the population is homosexual), but did you know that there are many men and women who once identified as “gay” or “lesbian” who left that lifestyle and are now living happy lives free of homosexuality?  I respect them and their choices; do you? Have you ever met a former homosexual or read one of their testimonies?  If not, here’s a website for you to visit: www.exodus.to.  (Keep in mind that homosexual activists like Wayne Besen (www.truthwinsout.org) relentlessly demean, ridicule and even harass former homosexuals and the whole idea of “ex-gays” — strange conduct from a group that demands tolerance and respect from others.)

We disagree on the morality of homosexual practice, it’s that simple. I don’t ask you to “respect” all my decisions and behaviors — or my arguments — but I do ask you to respect my freedom to live according to my conscience, in a nation founded on religious freedom. And though as a Christian I respect the dignity of all human beings (who are made in the image of God), I will never respect the choice to embrace homosexual/bi/trans behavior — any more so than I would respect people self-identifying by any other sexual sin. (Of course, there are no Adultery Pride Parades.)

That said, speaking as a sinner myself, I have no use for people who hate homosexuals — who need the hope and grace of the Gospel like everyone else.  Rather, I would ask people practicing homosexuality to consider the possibility that they are wrong about this behavior (and their “gay” self-identity), and to be open to the possibility of leaving it through a relationship with Jesus Christ. (Of course, people can leave homosexuality and other sinful patterns without God, but I have found that the most satisfied ex-gays are those who have embraced Christ; see http://www.redeemedlives.org/index.asp, a ministry led by another ex-gay, Mario Bergner.)

So the gist of this debate is: do I and others like me have the right not to approve or subsidize behavior we consider immoral and changeable — or will that right be stripped from us in the name of “LGBT rights”?  Should a small businessman, say an Orthodox Jew with 25 employees, be required by the state to subsidize the homosexual relationships of his employees against his will?  You see, this is far different from traditional civil rights — based on unchangeable skin color — which perhaps explains why African Americans are the strongest sub-group in opposition to “same-sex marriage.”

Besides, the science isn’t in on the supposed “gay gene” so why do you assume it’s fact? (Check out the American Psychological Association’s recent retreat on the alleged innateness of homosexuality: http://www.washblade.com/2009/7-10/news/national/14849.cfm.)

Since you “care about freedom,” will you stand up strongly for the liberty of all Americans to live by their moral and religious beliefs, even if you don’t agree with or understand them?  I hope so.

Thanks for taking the time to write, and sorry for the late reply. We get thousands of emails a month and many are not as respectful as yours.

Sincerely,

Peter LaBarbera
President
Americans For Truth About Homosexuality
www.aftah.org

July 17, 2009

——————————————————————————–

Jeff’s Letter to AFTAH:

From: Jeff H. [mailto:--------]
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2009 12:59 PM
To: americansfortruth@comcast.net
Subject: introduction

Hi,

I am a straight man, married for 30 years. As an entrepreneur and capitalist I have created thousands of jobs. I am no “left wing” radical.

About 5% of the people of the world are gay or lesbian, one out of twenty people. Just as you and I didn’t pick our sexuality, they didn’t pick theirs. Their “agenda” is the agenda of civil rights. It is also my agenda and the agenda of everyone who cares about freedom.

It would be great if you were to respect all humans regardless of what their genes are, and fight for human rights for everyone.

Thank you for your time.

- Jeff

Rev. Kristopher Okwedy, a Nigerian immigrant, thought he would have the freedom to proclaim Biblical truth about homosexuality in the “the land of the free and home of the brave,” but alas, New York City politicians banned his billboard (left). Judge Sonia Sotomayor joined a Second Circuit order that denied Okwedy’s free speech. The ruling was obviously hostile to religion despite the Court’s claim otherwise. 

________________________

American Family Association Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 26, 2009

SOTOMAYOR: It’s okay for Government to ridicule Holy Bible

In 2003, Judge Sonia Sotomayor joined a Second Circuit order that excused government hostility toward religion.  In 2000, Rev. Kristopher Okwedy and Keyword Ministries, Inc. –– a Christian Church –– put up a billboard sign quoting a verse of the Holy Bible, Leviticus 18:22, that says, “Thou shall not lie with a male as with a female –– it is an abomination.”  The sign included the postscript, “I AM YOUR CREATOR.”  After three days and much public outcry, Staten Island Borough President Guy Molinari called the display “mean spirited” and said the Bible verse “conveys an atmosphere of intolerance which is not welcome in our Borough.”  He then attempted to have the sign removed or covered up.

Okwedy and Keyword Ministries sued in federal court, contending that Molinari’s statements violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, i.e., that the government must remain neutral in matters of religion.  The district court dismissed the case and Okwedy appealed.  A Second Circuit panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals that included Judge Sotomayor found no Establishment Clause violation because Molinari’s statement did not target a particular religious denomination or disapprove of religion.

“The U.S. Supreme Court has stated unequivocally that government must remain neutral in matters of religion,” said AFA General Counsel Patrick J. Vaughn.  “Judge Sotomayor joined a summary order that said it’s okay for government to condemn the Bible,” he added.  Don Wildmon, Chairman of American Family Association, observed that Sotomayor’s opinion “places a judicial stamp of approval on the comment of renowned communist Karl Marx that ‘religion is the opiate of the masses’ and further would permit a government official to say that the Bible is akin to Aesop’s Fables.”  Wildmon added that Sotomayor’s appointment to the Supreme Court would have “grave consequences for religious freedom.”

The case is Okwedy v. Molinari, 01-7941 (2d Cir. 2003) (unpublished summary order). To read a terrific albeit dated article about Okwedy and his billboard, see Stephen Crampton’s 2006 piece, “Okwedy’s Oddysey: The Bible as Hate Speech,” in Renew America.

American Family Association is a pro-family advocacy organization with over 2.5 million online supporters.

The issue of homosexuality is tearing apart youth culture, transforming schools and turning kids away from Christianity. Adults with a mind and a heart are needed! Have you ever wondered if you are called to serve in this area of public life? Come listen to a veteran who felt God’s call to this unique and challenging public policy and mission field over a decade ago.

Folks, lots of good things are happening at Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH). We are moving into our new offices in Carol Stream, Illinois, and are delighted to welcome Linda Harvey, founder of Mission America, as our first guest speaker. Please come to one or both of these talks if you are in the Chicagoland area, and pass this notice on to your pastor, co-workers, family and friends and invite them to attend. Linda is a good friend and a national treasure as a pro-family Christian advocate who doesn’t pull any punches in defending Truth. If only more American men had her guts and were as willing as she is to take a stand in saving our nation!

Linda is a leading Christian conservative authority on the issue of homosexuality/bisexuality/transsexual agendas and youth, and the growing “paganization” of America– so naturally we are asking her to speak on both topics. Here are her presentation titles:

Tuesday, June 2: “The Destructive Effects of ‘Gay’ Activism on America’s Youth”

Thursday, June 4: “How the Democratic Party and the Religious Left Are Constructing a New False Faith for America”

The evenings will go from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM, beginning with a simple dinner buffet. Donations will be accepted at the door to help cover costs. Please indicate if you plan to attend so we can get an idea of the numbers; e-mail americansfortruth@comcast.net. Our new address is at the Kingsland Ministry Center building on  Geneva Rd. just west of Gary Rd. in Carol Stream (near Wheaton, Illinois). Look for the “Kingsland Ministry Center” sign. The exact address is: Americans For Truth, 25W560 Geneva Rd., Suite 8-D, Carol Stream, IL 60187. Call Angela at 847-722-5330 or AFTAH at 630-717-7631 with any questions. Or e-mail us at: americansfortruth@comcast.net. We look forward to seeing some of you tonight and Thursday evening!

– Peter LaBarbera, www.americansfortruth.com.

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin [or, a sin offering] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (the Apostle Paul’s 2nd Letter to the Corinthians; 2 Corinthians 5:13-21)

Mike Heath, head of the Christian Civic League of Maine (now renamed the Maine Family Policy Council), has led two successful statewide drives to turn back “sexual orientation” (homosexuality) laws in Maine, in 1998 and 2001. Now Heath (Board Chairman of AFTAH) will lead the effort to preserve the real definition of marriage in his state. We predict that he will win. Thanks to the efforts of Heath, Paul Volle, Paul Madore, and others, the homosexual agenda has encountered more serious resistance in Maine than in any other New England state. Sure, Mainers are worn out by the “queer” debate — something that GLBT activists count on to achieve their misguided goals — but they still know a fraud when they see one. Please help Mike — who needs to raise $100,000 immediately for the marriage-defense campaign — and the good people at Maine Family Policy Councill any way you can. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.com

_________________________

From the Maine Family Policy Council:

Heath Will Lead Peoples Veto
By Staff

In the early 1990s Mike Heath said that the push for gay rights wouldn’t end until homosexual marriage was enacted.  Twice he persuaded a majority of Mainers to affirm common sense in statewide voting.  The 47 year old father of three is prepared to do it again.  Today he announced that he would lead his third peoples veto of sex outside of marriage.

The people of Maine know what marriage is,”  said Heath.  “Politicians pretend this debate is complicated and emotional.  It isn’t.  Maine people know the difference between right and wrong.  What has been going on in Augusta for the past twenty years is a horrific farse.”

In 1998 Heath campaigned for equal rights [against a pro-homosexual "sexual orientation" law].  He said he will do that again this time.

He continued, “The other side has that part right.  This is about equal rights.  It is about making sure everyone has equal legal rights that are rooted in something substantial.  Common sense tells all of us that you can’t give rights to people for doing wrong!”

“It is also a matter of freedom of conscience.  No government has the right to silence the people in a matter pertaining to a grave moral evil, nor will any government ever have the right to equate a grave moral evil with a sacred institution,”  he said.

Heath has been married for 27 years.  He reminded everyone that all Mainers can already get married.  They can marry someone of the opposite gender.  Real equal rights preserve, honor and uphold that reality.

The Peoples Veto will begin as soon as the Secretary of State provides petitions to Heath.  He said he looks forward to working with everyone in Maine who wants to preserve marriage and urged people to call 207-592-4137 or e-mail him at  mike@mainefpc.com.

“Passage of ‘hate crimes’ legislation would place the behaviorally driven and fluid concepts of ’sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity’ on an equal footing with legitimate, neutral and immutable ’suspect class’ characteristics such as skin color or a person’s true gender. This creates both a sociopolitical and legal environment wherein traditional sexual morality officially becomes the new racism.” – Matt Barber

By Matt Barber, Liberty Counsel

Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan) and Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Illinois) have quietly re-introduced the federal thought crimes bill, H.R. 1913, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009. As has proved to be true in both Europe and Canada, this Orwellian piece of legislation is the direct precursor to freedom killing and speech chilling “hate speech” laws. It represents a thinly veiled effort to ultimately silence – under penalty of law – morally, medically and biblically based opposition to the homosexual lifestyle. The bill is expected to be marked up Wednesday before the full House Judiciary Committee.

Under the 14th Amendment, victims of violent crime are currently afforded equal protection under the law regardless of sexual preference or proclivity. If passed, H.R. 1913 will change all that.  It overtly and, most likely, unconstitutionally discriminates against millions of Americans by granting federally preferred status, time and resources to individuals who define their identity based upon aberrant sexual behaviors (i.e., “gay” and lesbian “sexual orientation” or cross-dressing “gender identity”).

Of course, this entire concept flies in the face of the 14th Amendment. It inarguably codifies unequal protection under the law, creating a two-tiered justice system made up of first-class victims such as those who self-identify as homosexual or “transgender” and second-class victims such as the elderly, children, pregnant women, veterans, the homeless and others who choose not to engage in homosexual or cross-dressing behaviors.

There is exactly zero evidence to suggest that homosexuals or cross-dressers do not currently receive equal protection under the law. In fact, you need only look to the most famous “hate crime” of all – Matthew Shepard – for proof. Although the evidence determined that Shepard’s murder was not a “hate crime” by definition (a misconception still widely propagated by the homosexual lobby, the media and liberal lawmakers), the two thugs who committed the crime nonetheless received life in prison – and rightfully so. (Shepard’s murder turned out to be the end result of a robbery for drug money gone from bad to horrible).

Likewise, the murderer of Mary Stachowicz – a devout Catholic grandmother who reportedly was brutally killed by a homosexual man in Chicago merely for sharing the Bible – was also given a life sentence. The system worked in both cases and both victims received equal justice under the law apart from any discriminatory “hate crimes” legislation.

Yet, proponents of H.R. 1913 claim it’s needed to curb an epidemic of so-called “hate crimes” committed against homosexuals and those who suffer gender identity disorder. This is a lie that is knowingly and intentionally cultivated by a very well funded and intrinsically deceptive homosexual lobby.  The alarmist propaganda simply doesn’t square with the facts.

According to the latest FBI statistics, in 2007 there were about 1.4 million violent crimes committed in the U.S. Of those, only 1,512 were reported as “hate crimes” motivated by “sexual orientation” bias. Over two thirds of those were allegations of “hateful” words, touching, intimidation, pushing or shoving. There were a mere 247 cases of aggravated assault (including five deaths) allegedly motivated by “sexual orientation” bias nationwide. In each case, where appropriate, offenders were prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and victims were afforded the exact same justice guaranteed every other American.

The entire push for federal “hate crimes” legislation is rooted in fraud. In fact, many of the most high-profile reports have turned out to be false. For example, investigators determined that the very “hate crime” (Andrew Anthos in Michigan) exploited by liberal lawmakers to justify the same legislation in the last Congress, was a false report. It never happened. (See report from Detroit News [PDF].) And instances of such fabricated and politically motivated “hate crimes” continue to pile up.

So, if proponents of H.R. 1913 are neither justified nor motivated by an actual need for the bill – as clearly demonstrated – then what drives them? The answer is twofold. First, passage of “hate crimes” legislation would place the behaviorally driven and fluid concepts of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” on an equal footing with legitimate, neutral and immutable “suspect class” characteristics such as skin color or a person’s true gender.

This creates both a sociopolitical and legal environment wherein traditional sexual morality officially becomes the new racism. Those who publicly express medical, moral or religious opposition to the homosexual lifestyle are tagged by the government as “homophobic bigots” to be treated no differently by law enforcement, the courts or larger society than the KKK or neo-Nazis.

In short, this bill places newfangled “gay rights” in direct conflict with our enumerated constitutional rights. It becomes the first step in the official criminalization of Christianity. It’s a zero sum game and someone has to lose. Ultimately, what we lose are our First Amendment guaranteed rights to freedom of speech, religious expression and association.

But the threat is not just some shadowy phantom looming in the near future. It’s a clear and present danger. While debating the notion of “conspiracy to commit a hate crime” in the last Congress, Representative Artur Davis (D-Alabama) admitted that the legislation could be used to prosecute pastors for merely preaching the Bible under the concept of “inducement” to violence.

Furthermore, under existing criminal statute if H.R. 1913 becomes law, actual violence or injury need not take place for a “hate crime” to occur. For example, if a group of Christians are at a “gay pride” parade and a one of them gently places his hand on a homosexual’s shoulder and shares that there is freedom from homosexuality through a relationship with Jesus Christ, then, voila, we have a battery and, consequently, a felony “hate crime.”

But the Christian needn’t even touch the homosexual.  If the homosexual merely claims he was subjectively placed in “apprehension of bodily injury” by the Christian’s words then, again, the Christian can be thrown in prison for a felony “hate crime.” The FBI has included mere words – “insults” and “intimidation” – in calculating “hate crimes” statistics and – under the current political regime in Washington – there’s every reason to believe they’ll subjectively consider “insults” and “intimidation” (read: traditional sexual morality) for purposes of prosecuting “hate crimes.”

Yes, it’s a brave new world and with H.R. 1913 – among other things – a once free America has moved, both literally and figuratively, a quarter of a century beyond Orwell’s 1984.

Matt Barber (jmattbarber@comcast.net) is director of cultural affairs with Liberty Counsel and associate dean with Liberty University School of Law. He also co-hosts the nationally syndicated “Liberty Live” talk radio program on AFR Talk. This column is printed with permission.

Send To Phone

By Peter LaBarbera

OK, where do we start with the Perez Hilton-Carrie Prejean Miss USA controversy? Earlier today I was a guest on the Bob Dutko Show on WMUZ in Detroit, and observed that Hilton epitomizes the spoiled-brat aspect of “queer” activism. It’s bad enough that this obnoxious and rude “gay celebrity blogger” calls Miss California a “dumb bitch,” and then stands behind his ugly remark after initially apologizing for it. I want to know why this nasty fellow is then treated so deferentially by the media — first by this MSNBC anchor Norah O’Donnell and then NBC’s Matt Lauer? Are the liberal media — like those irresponsible parents who let themselves be manipulated by their spoiled children — now so indulgent toward homosexuals that they can’t even call out an angry activist whose vicious and juvenile conduct is obvious to most everyone else? Would NBC have accorded similar respect to a right-wing blogger who blasted a homosexual contestant as a “dumb fag”? Of course not (but they would have made an example of him as a hateful bigot, which is precisely what Mr. Hilton is). Watch this YouTube of this morning’s NBC Today Show, followed by more commentary after the jump:

… The reflexively pro-”gay” media have become the enablers of creeps like Perez Hilton because they allow themselves to be used and intimidated by them. (See Hilton’s penis-humor doctored photo of Carrie posted at bottom.) And when you give in to the bully, the bully steps up his abuse of others. In fact, Hilton with his absurd rationalizations for his misbehavior is himself the product of a media/Hollywood culture that rewards homosexual militants while demonizing sincere Christians. The good news is that the gay/liberal media overreach is starting to backfire: everyone can see that Hilton, and not Prejean, is the real hater here — just as most TV viewers who are not hardened liberal ideologues saw that MSNBC and CNN’s Anderson Cooper with their crude sex jokes about “Tea Party” rallies nationwide were the true extremists — while the ralliers themselves were mostly just good Americans with a beef against Big Government.

Check out his MSNBC clip (caption: “Miss California Stirs Controversy”! — in which O’Donnell is disturbingly solicitous of Hilton — how strange that she and the feminists aren’t coming to Prejean’s defense?:

Beyond the intimidation factor, many morally-challenged media professionals agree with Perez Hilton’s basic premise (minus the rudeness–except for potty-mouth MSNBC): they, too, barely acknowledge the anti-homosexual-”marriage” position as legitimate, as they stoke the “gay” story line that “same-sex marriage is inevitable” (despite 30 states passing anti-gay-”marriage” amendments). Here again note Hilton’s mindset, also representative of the GLBT movement: he is angry, stunned and horrified at Prejean’s answer — not because she disagrees with him on “gay marriage” (or so he says) — but because Miss California took sides and hence was “divisive.” This despite the fact that Prejean went out of her way not to alienate those who feel differently about this issue. Surely, the crazed Hilton would not have found Prejean “divisive” had she made an impassioned plea FOR “gay marriage.”

You see, it’s all about holding the “right” position — that is, the “gay” position — and shutting up or overriding your beliefs, or risk being smeared as a hateful “homophobe” if you dare to disagree. This is the emboldened Queer Lobby’s and their Amen Corner’s M.O. — whether it’s forcing a New Mexico Christian photographer to shoot a lesbian “wedding” against her convictions; trying to get Prop 8 thrown out and declared “unconstitutional” because you lost at the ballot box; equating opposition to “gay marriage” with rank bigotry, or moral opposition to homosexual behavior with “bullying gays”; or pressuring the media into rejecting ads featuring successful ex-”gays” (as GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, has done).

God bless you, Carrie Prejean, for being, as you said, “Biblically Correct” and not “Politically Correct” when it came to sticking up for natural marriage — and for pleasing God rather than man in this defining moment of your young life. Yes, it’s sad that one state’s legislature has chosen to legalize homosexual marriage, but even if sizeable majorities of Americans turn against God and support these counterfeit, genderless “marriages,” that won’t make them right. Corrupt politicians can’t negate moral truth by a vote.

And as for you Perez, you need to ask this woman for forgiveness, but more importantly, you need to repent to a holy God for not only embracing sin in your own life, but shoving it down the throats of the rest of us with such callous arrogance.

One more request for Miss California: since you’re in the area, why don’t you pay a visit to Saddleback Pastor Rick Warren, or stop by the headquarters of eHarmony.com: they could use some of your courage and Biblical Correctness.

DOCTORED PHOTO FROM PEREZ HILTON’S WEBSITE: How Low Can You Go? — On his website, homosexual activist and celebrity blogger Perez Hilton doctors a photo of Miss California, Carrie Prejean, answering a reporter’s question, by drawing a penis ejaculating into the mouth of Carrie Prejean over the microphone. How dare the media treat the hateful Hilton as a serious commentator!

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It’s comical to watch homosexual activists call others liars — even as they promote the colossal falsehood that denies the “queer” threat to Americans’ religious liberties and freedom of conscience. Heck, HRC staffers have cut their teeth demonizing faith-based pro-family advocates as bigots on a par with vile racists of the past — while working to squelch our voice in the public square. (I wonder if HRC staffer Darryl Herrschaft got bonus pay for kicking me off a “DiversityInc” panel discussion on “Religion in the Workplace” in 2007.) Worst of all, they maliciously link pro-family and church speech to violence against homosexuals in their cynical campaign to pass “hate crimes” legislation. Make no mistake: if HRC’s agenda is enacted at the federal level, your freedom to live by your beliefs will take a big hit. Please support NOM’s work. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.com

Gary Glenn, president of American Family Association of Michigan, sent out the following letter Friday:

Dear AFA-Michigan supporter,

Under pressure from multiple sources on and off campus, Central Michigan University’s student newspaper Friday morning published — on page two of its on-campus print version — a three-sentence retraction of the false report included in its story regarding my visit to the campus Tuesday night.

In response to my phone discussion today with student editor-in-chief Jacob May, pointing out that their ethical obligation to correct their false report extended beyond the confines of the CMU campus, he later in the day added the retraction to the CM Life website at the top of the Wednesday story which falsely reported that “many groups” had accused me of being “anti-Semitic.”  (In fact, no group has ever made such an accusation.)

Here’s the retraction:

“Editor’s note: Because of an editing error in Wednesday’s edition of Central Michigan Life, this article originally included uncorroborated remarks alleging that American Family Association (of Michigan) President Gary Glenn was ‘anti-Semitic.’  This is incorrect.  Central Michigan Life regrets publishing this error.”  http://media.www.cm-life.com/media/storage/paper906/news/2009/04/08/News/Hundreds.Protest.Conservative.Speaker-3701563.shtml

What CM Life terms an “editing error” was in fact the now former managing editor’s insertion of the false allegation into the story after the reporter had turned it in for publication; thus, the reporter — under whose name the false information was published without his prior knowledge — joined us in demanding it be removed.

Jacob advised me that the managing editor guilty of this “error” has been fired, as first reported yesterday by the Campus Conservatives group which invited me to speak…see their news release below.

Still having not fully learned their lesson, CM Life editors as of this moment have let remain on their website the “corrected” version of Wednesday’s story, which merely diverts what they now admit was a false attack on me personally to an equally unsubstantiated attack on the national AFA organization — again, without citing or identifying any factual sources or substance for the slur.

Thus, what originally read — “Glenn also denied any allegations of being anti-Semitic, which many groups have accused him of.” — now reads instead — “…which some people have accused the national AFA of being.”

Folks, this student newspaper is funded and operated by your tax dollars.

If you’d like to join us in demanding that CM Life remove all “anti-Semitic” slurs from their story — a subject which, by the way, had nothing whatsoever to do with the topic on which I spoke Tuesday night — please join us in contacting the CMU president’s office as follows:

Phone: (989) 774-3131
E-mail: president@cmich.edu

Thanks as always for your support!

Gary Glenn, President
American Family Association of Michigan

Further background:
_______________________________________

From: Dennis Lennox
To: cmucampusconservatives@gmail.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information, contact:
Dennis Lennox, CMU Campus Conservatives

Central Michigan student newspaper fires managing
editor for falsifying attack on conservative speaker

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — The managing editor of Central Michigan University’s student newspaper was fired for falsifying accusations that libeled Michigan’s leading traditional values spokesman.

Garrett Ellison had changed a piece after the reporter turned it in for publishing in Wednesday’s edition of Central Michigan Life. His changes claimed American Family Association of Michigan President Gary Glenn was an anti-Semite.

The thrice-weekly newspaper is retracting the story and issuing a full apology in Friday’s edition.

Glenn was at CMU to speak during a Campus Conservatives meeting. He is the author of the 2004 constitutional amendment that enshrined traditional marriage in the Michigan Constitution.

“This is a victory for conservatives, who have been oppressed for years at CMU,” said Campus Conservatives spokesman Dennis Lennox. “One has to wonder how many other utter falsehoods have been published.”

Lennox has also called for the firing of another editor, Caitlin Foyt, who attacked Glenn on Twitter calling him “homophobic” and “anti-semitic (sic).” Foyt, who is bisexual, according to her Facebook profile, has been previously banned from writing about Campus Conservatives because of her biases.

“As a taxpayer-funded newspaper, Central Michigan Life has an obligation to be objective and impartial,” said Lennox. “Students need to know they can trust the school newspaper.”

###

————-
Letter to CMU newspaper by Rabbi Glenn Harris,
Congregation Shema Yisrael, Bloomfield Hills

From: [Rabbi Glenn Harris]

To: studentlife@cm-life.com
Sent: Thursday, April 09, 2009 11:56 AM
Subject: Truth in reporting

To the Editor (Central Michigan Life),

There is a thing called libel. It consists of putting falsehood to print. It potentially carries criminal charges.

Joe Borlik authored  an article (”Hundreds protest conservative speaker: Group closes meeting in response to demonstrations” April 8, 2009), in which he commented about American Family Association (of Michigan) President Gary Glenn, and I quote:

“Glenn also denied any allegations of being anti-Semitic, which many groups have accused him of (italics mine). He said the mission statement of his organization has always been to promote Judeo-Christian values.”

Unless Mr. Borlik’s is intentionally sabotaging any future career in journalism, I call on him to either provide the organizations, names and dates of the alleged allegations of anti-Semitism against Mr. Glenn (and they must be verifiably dated prior to 4/8/09), or else retract his statement in writing, with appropriate apologies to your constituency and to Mr. Glenn.

I am all for free speech, but I have a particular disdain for false accusation, particularly when it is memorialized in print. I have known Mr. Glenn for the better part of a decade, and this man has not a shred of anti-Semitism in him.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Glenn Harris
Congregation Shema Yisrael
Bloomfield Hills, MI

——————————

Message from Joe Borlik, the student reporter under whose
byline the false CM-Life report was published (highlights added):

From: [Joe Borlik]

To: Gary Glenn [AFAM@chartermi.net]
Sent: Wednesday, April 08, 2009 3:49 PM
Subject: Re: Retraction of false statement in Gary Glenn story

Gary Glenn,

I apologize if you were unhappy with the article and I will
forward this to the managing editor. But I would like you to
know that when I wrote the article in the newsroom I never
wrote that “many groups have accused you of being anti-
semitic.” If I had wrote that I would have said which groups
accused you of such allogations. It is not like I wrote it and
it instantly went into print. It was edited by three editors
after it was written and one of them must have added
that in. Once again I apologize.

Joe Borlik
Central Michigan Life
_______________________________

Original news story published by CMU student newspaper:

CENTRAL MICHIGAN LIFE
Central Michigan University
Mount Pleasant, Michigan
April 8, 2009

Hundreds protest conservative speaker

Group closes meeting in response to demonstrations

by Joe Borlik

Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association in Michigan, was greeted by about 200 protesters when he arrived to speak with the Campus Conservatives Tuesday night.

The crowd, which waited behind the metal gate across the street from the Bovee University Center harmoniously chanted “Gay, straight, black, white, marriage is a civil right,” and “Hey, hey, ho, ho, homophobia’s got to go.”

Signs were printed with statements like “hate is not a family value,” and “you don’t have the balls to be queer.”

The AFA is strongly opposed to laws allowing gay marriage. Glenn is the author of Proposal 2, which in 2004 called for marriage to be defined in Michigan as between a man and a woman.

“I wanted to send a message to Gary Glenn and the organization he represents that we won’t represent hate on campus,” said Tennessee senior Ben Dotson. “He has the right to freedom of speech, but we have the right to take a stand against the bigotry he stands for.”

Many of the protesters heard about the event from a Facebook event that was created by Dotson on Monday. Several officers with the Central Michigan University Police were on hand, presumably for crowd control.

In response to the protest, Campus Conservatives decided to close the meeting to the general public.

“Tonight is just for us because we don’t want people coming in and attacking him,” said Hart sophomore and Campus Conservatives president Bryant Greiner.

Many protesters waited outside the University Center Isabella Room where Glenn spoke to make their presence heard.

Glenn was prepared for the crowd who awaiting his arrival after seeing the protest scheduled on Facebook.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever had my own Facebook (page),” he said. “They preach tolerance and diversity, yet if they had it their way, I wouldn’t be here.”

Glenn spoke on the importance of traditional marriage and said the majority of Americans, including two thirds of blacks and more than 50 percent of Democrats agree that marriage should be between a man and a women.

He also said that people who preach love and diversity can sometimes be the most hateful and intolerant people.

Glenn also denied any allegations of being anti-Semitic, which many groups have accused him of. He said the mission statement of his organization has always been to promote Judeo-Christian values.

According to Glenn, an Oxford University study suggests that college-aged gay men will die eight to 20 years earlier than straight men, and that gay people are more likely to experience domestic violence, a life-threatening disease and premature death.

At 6:30 p.m., a half hour before the protest was scheduled to begin, Campus Conservatives sent out a press release to media entitled “Radical bullies try silencing Campus Conservatives meeting.”

The statement read that “radical activists from the fringe of the political spectrum are threatening to disrupt tonight’s meeting.”

Journalism professor Timothy Boudreau, adviser to the Campus Conservatives, said he wished Glenn’s speech would have been open to the public.

“I find it ironic and profoundly disappointing that on a night when they preached the value of free expression, they closed the door on opposing points of view,” he said.

“I probably will get hate mail for saying this but this type of hookup culture is common in the homosexual world. Another guy in NY who did the same thing was murdered. And yes heterosexuals do it to, but no matter what type of sexual proclivity it is, SIN leads to death. The best course of action is to get out of the deadly sin business and live for Christ.“
–DL Foster, former homosexual and publisher of Gay Christian Movement Watch, commenting on the murder of homosexual New York City newsman George Weber.

DL Foster, founder of Gay Christian Movement Watch, and
the beautiful family that his former life of homosexuality could not have produced.

By Peter LaBarbera

Folks, I heartily recommend that you become regular readers of DL Foster’s important blog, Gay Christian Movement Watch, analyzing and monitoring the so-called “gay christian” movement. DL gets attacked often by loving and tolerant homosexual activists because he tells it like it is. Go there often, tell all your friends about it, and take a stand for truth with DL against those who would pervert the Gospel of Christ.

(Speaking of which, renegade Christian and Grove City College prof Warren Throckmorton now seems to be on a crusade against pro-family veteran Scott Lively — joined by Warren’s homosexuality-promoting buddies, of course. We think Warren ought to deal with that heretical log in his own eye –  Throckmorton agreed in a 2007 interview with “gay” activist Mike Signorile that “being gay” is “normal, natural and healthy” — before picking at the speck in Scott’s.)

But I digress. Below Foster comments on the sad irony that less than a year before his death, George Weber — who was murdered by a 16-year-old boy he hooked up with for sex — complained about evangelical Christians witnessing at an airport. “Jesus freaks,” he called them. DL is right: many of America’s problems can be traced to the fact that there is so little fear of God in this nation. There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is the ways of death (Proverbs 14:12).

Who can doubt that if Weber had stopped and listened to those “Jesus freaks” in the airport and allowed the Gospel of grace to penetrate his heart and change his life, he likely would have escaped putting himself in the dangerous circumstances that exposed him to a sadomasochistic, teenage, sex-crazed murderer. Go to “A Tragic and Ironic End” on the on the GCM Watch site to read the whole entry:

Little did the gay man [George Weber] who wrote that tragically ironic blogpost March 30, 2008 know that his soul would be required of him less than a year later.  George Weber, an ABC News broadcaster in New York was stabbed to death March 22, 2009, by a 16 year old boy he picked up for sex. The report said Weber routinely picked up men for sex from Craigslist. [source]

No one knows when their time to die will come. If you are reading this and you have not given your life to Christ, don’t delay. Don’t turn a deaf ear and go on enjoying your sin. Don’t mock God or the people he sends to you to tell you time is winding up and your soul is at stake. The only payment you can receive from sin is death.  And when death comes and you are not in relationship with Christ, hell and eternal torment await you. That’s not to scare you, its just the unfettered truth.

Read HERE to read what another man who turned his former “gay” life around by accepting Christ says about the Weber murder.