Jim Finnegan

This is Part Two of AFTAH’s interview with Jim Finnegan [click HERE to listen; listen to Part One HERE]. He is joined on air by Americans For Truth Board Member John McCartney. This was pre-recorded and aired Feb. 25, 2012. Finnegan, McCartney and AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera discuss Catholic Church doctrine opposing all legislative affirmations of homosexual behavior and (positive) identity — and how this basic teaching has been undermined and violated by senior church leaders.

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

2-25-12, Jim Finnegan & John McCartney, Part Two

Pro-life/pro-family advocate Jim Finnegan has fought long and hard in Illinois for "Choose Life" specialty license plates, which would raise funds for adoption. Democratic politicians, influenced by pro-abortion lobbyists, have stalled the plates for years.

This is Part One of AFTAH’s interview [listen HERE] with Jim Finnegan, a longtime pro-life and pro-family Catholic advocate in the Chicago area who is active with Defend Marriage Illinois. Finnegan is also leading the campaign for “Choose Life” specialty license plates in Illinois – thwarted for years by liberal Democrats. This interview was pre-recorded and aired February 18, 2012. Finnegan and AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera discuss the radical group Gay Liberation Network’s ongoing attacks on Cardinal Francis George, due to George’s and the Catholic Church’s opposition to homosexual “marriage” and homosexual acts.

LaBarbera describes the GLN’s hateful protest Feb. 12, 2012, directly in front of Chicago’s Holy Name Cathedral, with signs mocking George as “Archbigot.” He also notes GLN’s refusal to condemn a pro-homosexual brick attack against a Christian school hosting AFTAH’s October 2011 banquet — and says that if he had refused to condemn such an assault on a homosexual group he would legitimately be called a “hater.” (See AFTAH report on GLN’s record of hate HERE.) Both men discuss a newly introduced “same-sex marriage” bill [more info HERE] introduced by three openly homosexual Illinois legislators — and how House Speaker Mike Madigan (himself a “Catholic”) has blocked pro-family bills in Springfield while allowing pro-homosexual bills to be considered.

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

2-18-12, Jim Finnegan, Part One

Note: it is outrageous that the State of lllinois would even consider FORCING religious adoption agencies (or irreligious agencies, for that matter) to place children in homes that are motherless or fatherless by design. Adults (proudly) practicing homosexuality are not good role models for impressionable children, who need a mom and a dad. (No, the sexes are not  interchangeable.) The new Illinois “Civil Unions” law — rammed through Springfield in a lame-duck session — must be repealed to preserve religious liberty in the Land of Lincoln. ”Exemptions” — even if they are strengthened – won’t preserve freedom.

In the meantime, a new movement has been launched to place an Advisory Referendum on “same-sex marriage” (and “civil unions”) on the Illinois ballot in 2012. Almost 300,000 signatures of Illinos voters must be gathered and turned into the Illlinois Board of Elections by April 2012 to make that happen. To get involved, go to www.DefendMarriageIllinois.org and download a petition and instructions. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org   

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                     

CONTACT:  Tom Ciesielka, 312-422-1333; tc@tcpr.net; June 7, 2011                                                                                                                   

Catholic Leaders Take Legal Action Over Risk of Losing Foster Care Services

Catholic Charities in Illinois Seek Remedy for Best Interests of Children, Families

(SPRINGFIELD, IL) Leaders of three Catholic dioceses – the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, Peoria and Joliet – took legal action today as their charities fight to continue their work in serving the best interests of thousands of needy children and families throughout the state.

In March of this year, the Attorney General’s office issued a letter stating that the office “received notice that Catholic Charities … discriminates against Illinois citizens based on race, marital status and sexual orientation” in the provision of foster care and adoption services and demanded that Catholic Charities turn over a wide range of documents in response. The June 1 law authorizing civil unions in Illinois has raised further questions and criticism about Catholic Charities’ longstanding position not to place children for adoption and foster care with non-married couples who live together – regardless of sexual orientation.

This lawsuit, filed in Sangamon County Circuit Court, seeks a declaration that the charities are in full compliance with Illinois law in their current practices and an injunction against further action by Illinois government officials to the contrary. The charities argue both that the Illinois Human Rights Act exempts religious adoption agencies from the provisions relied upon by the Attorney General’s office and that the new Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act includes an express protection for the religious freedom of entities like Catholic Charities.

The charities ask the court to declare that they are legally justified to continue their current practices of working only with married couples and single, non-cohabiting individuals. Civil union couples are free to choose among dozens of other organizations for these services.

“Child welfare advocates know it is in the best interest of Illinois children for Catholic Charities to stay in this business,” said Steven Roach, Executive Director for Catholic Charities in the Springfield Diocese. “It’s tragic that there are people who believe unnecessarily disrupting the lives of thousands of vulnerable children is an acceptable outcome in this situation.”

Catholic Charities have served thousands of children and families with top-quality, nurturing care since 1921 and handle about 20 percent of the cases in Illinois. Charities’ leaders are extremely concerned what will happen with those children and families if they are forced out of this work.

“Religious and faith-based entities need not check their beliefs at the door when providing vital social services for the benefit of needy and vulnerable children and families in Illinois. Catholic Charities has a clear right under Illinois law to pursue its charitable good works in the true spirit of the Gospels and the Sermon on the Mount, faithful to the essential tenets of its Catholic faith. We will advocate strongly to protect Catholic Charities’ continuing its mission of social service,” said Tom Brejcha of the Thomas More Society, which is representing the charities in the lawsuit.

About the Thomas More Society

Formed in 1997, the Thomas More Society is a national public interest law firm based in Chicago. The Society defends religious liberty, marriage, and the sanctity of human life in courtrooms across the country. For more information, please visit www.thomasmoresociety.org.

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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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gay Liberation Network activists marched in front of Catholic Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago Sunday morning, chanting against the church's supposed "hate." Pro-perversion militants like the GLN classify church opposition to homosexuality as "religious-motivated bigotry."

Following is an account by Renew America writer Matt Abbott of AFTAH’s silent “counter-protest” against the radical Gay Liberation Network’s outrageous protest Sunday, February 13, 2011, directly in front of Holy Name Cathedral in downtown Chicago. Homosexual activists chanted against the supposed “hate” of Cardinal Francis George — a preposterous accusation given George’s soft-spoken manner. Of course, the mere defense — any defense — of historic church beliefs proscribing homosexual conduct is enough to earn one the “hate” label from the likes of GLN.

Following the article is George’s statement about the GLN protest, and then a reply by the Gay Liberation Network. We must all stand together to defend against the aggressive secular “gay” assault on marriage and the Judeo-Christian values that have served America well as the foundation of our freedoms. If you still believe that hard-core homosexual activists as represented by GLN actually respect the Church and the right of people to disagree with their sinful yet changeable lifestyle, it’s time for you to wake up and start defending Marriage, Truth — and your religious liberty to live out your faith. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

TAKE ACTION: Thank Card. Frances George for his and the Catholic Church’s defense of marriage — and strong stance against recently passed “civil unions” legislation in Illinois. You can write him at archbishop@archchicago.org [see contact page HERE]. Or call the Office of the Archbishop at 312-534-8230 (hit #4).

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Homosexual activists protest in front of Holy Name Cathedral

By Matt C. Abbott; reprinted from Renew America (support RA’s good work HERE)

February 14, 2011

On Sunday, Feb. 13, in front of Chicago’s Holy Name Cathedral, a group of homosexual activists protested Cardinal Francis George’s opposition to “civil unions” as well as the Church’s opposition to homosexual “marriage.”

Our sign thanking Chicago Cardinal Frances George for opposing homosexual "civil unions" bill, which passed and was signed into law by Gov. Pat Quinn.

Thankfully, a group of Catholic and Protestant counter-demonstrators was present to defend the Church. Among the pro-family counter-demonstrators was Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality, an organization dedicated to exposing and fighting the homosexualist agenda.

In an e-mail to me, LaBarbera described the situation as follows (edited):

“AFTAH’s silent counter-protest was a success. My sign read, ‘Thank you, Cardinal George, for Defending Marriage.’ At one point about 10 people were holding ‘No Same-Sex Marriage’ signs. The Gay Liberation Network’s protest was smaller than last year, Church officials told us. Of course, they chanted against the cardinal’s and the Church’s supposed hate.

“At another point two homosexual activists stood in front of us with their huge anti-bigotry banner. Then the cops moved them back to their side of the sidewalk. There was also a large contingent of people from a church group whose goal was to talk with the homosexual activists — a ministry approach.”

Though he’s not Catholic, LaBarbera strongly defends the Church’s teachings on marriage and family.

“We felt compelled to come to Holy Name Cathedral to defend Cardinal George, who is being smeared as a ‘hater’ because he eloquently spoke out against the recent ‘civil unions’ bill,” says LaBarbera.

“But the real bigots in this story are the Gay Liberation Network protesters. That GLN accuses the Catholic Church of hate merely because of its teachings on marriage and family is itself an act of hatred and bigotry.”

[Above right] is a photo of the protest, courtesy of LaBarbera. (Visit AFTAH’s website: www.americansfortruth.com.)

Matt C. Abbott is a columnist based in Chicago focused on Catholic and social issues. He can be reached at mattcabbott@gmail.com.

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Statement by Cardinal Frances George on GLN protest:

Scene in front of Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago Sunday morning, Feb. 13, 2011.

“Some members of the Gay Liberation Network demonstrated in front of Holy Name Cathedral on Sunday, February 13, protesting against Catholic Church teaching on the immorality of homosexual genital relations and opposition to so called ‘gay marriage.’

“These are deeply felt issues, because they speak to the personal identity of some and to the religious beliefs of others.

“No matter the issue, Catholics should be able to worship in peace, without fear of harassment. An open display of prejudice against the Catholic Church because of resentment of Church teachings prejudices civil discourse in our society.” (http://www.facebook.com/l/6edb7LNto-Y1q5-3Ll39TyxwmMw;www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=9245)

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AFTAH NOTE: I hesitate to include this GLN statement in our story — as if this notoriously anti-Christian Marxist organization, which regularly and hatefully lashes out against pro-family advocates, deserves equal time. But I include it to illustrate their mindset (note how they purport to speak for Catholics). At the GLN protest at Holy Name, two GLN activists stood in front of our counter-protest with their huge anti-”bigotry” banner — to block sight of us from the street. Though they were moved away by the police to the GLN side of the sidewalk, their action symbolized the censorious goals of GLN and the larger homosexual activist movement, which despises biblical Truth on this issue. See our other articles about GLN HERE, HERE, and HERE. – Peter LaBarbera

Response by Gay Liberation Network to Card. George’s statement:

1) That the Cardinal feels that our protest yesterday — a peaceful expression of 1st Amendment rights — constitutes “harassment,” shows his contempt for the free expression of opinions which is a necessary component of democracy. The fact that the Cardinal and the rest of the Catholic leadership is at odds with the overwhelming majority of Catholic lay opinion on issues such as equal marriage rights for gays, equal rights for women, contraceptive use, and many other issues, also demonstrates the Cardinal’s contempt for democracy within the Church.

2) The Cardinal lies by saying that our protest was “against the Catholic Church.” As repeated several times in written GLN statements prior to the protest, a handbill distributed at the protest, and in our public comments during the course of the protest, our protest was against the LEADERSHIP of the Catholic church and not the Catholic laity, a majority of whom SUPPORT equal rights for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender people. Cardinal George, while opposing our legal equality, attempts to “play the victim” by falsely claiming that we oppose the Catholic Church in general, rather than its anti-equal rights leadership.

3) The Cardinal as head of a tax-exempt organization apparently believes that he should have the right to lobby against gay rights in Springfield and give anti-gay statements from his church pulpit, but that tax payers who are for gay rights should be prohibited from protesting on a public sidewalk outside of his church. Apparently his ideas carry so little intellectual weight that they cannot withstand public debate.

and,

4) We are intrigued that Cardinal George feels that he has a particular expertise to comment regarding “homosexual genital relations,” particularly since he and his colleagues ostensibly lack first-hand knowledge of same. Please correct us if we are mistaken regarding your qualifications to comment on this issue, or any “genital relations” for that matter.”

In Defense of the Pope

By Bryan Fischer, Tuesday, November 23, 2010 10:31 AM

The New York Times has done to the Pope on condoms what the out-of-the-mainstream has done to me on the Medal of Honor: so distorted his words that they accuse of him of saying the exact opposite of what he actually said.

According the Gray (and fading) Lady, the Pope said “that condom use can be justified in some cases to help stop the spread of AIDS…”

Sorry, Charlie, that’s not what he said.

For openers, he flatly denied that condoms are the solution to the AIDS problem: “We cannot solve the problem by distributing condoms.” It’s difficult to be any clearer than that.

Here is the central paragraph in the Pope’s interview, with emphasis added:

“There may be a basis in the case of some individuals, as perhaps when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be a first step in the direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibility, on the way toward recovering an awareness that not everything is allowed and that one cannot do whatever one wants. But it is not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection. That can really lie only in a humanization of sexuality.”

What part of “not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection” does the New York Times not understand? A third grader can understand that better than the arrogant, out of touch, and self-appointed elitists at the Times.

The Pope’s point is that if a homosexual begins to use condoms, it could represent a dawning moral awareness on his part that homosexual conduct is not a victimless crime, and that his action of using certain body parts for sexual pleasure poses a real, live health risk to the passive recipient of his sexual expression.

It may be the first step on a path that could lead a practitioner of sexually abnormal behavior back to normative and normal sexuality.

Rather than a ringing endorsement of condom use, it is rather a recognition that such use may represent the first step in repudiating homosexuality altogether. [continued at "Rightly Concerned"...Click HERE to read the rest of Fischer's column]

September 22, 2010
 
“CATHOLIC GAY” GROUP REBUKED
 
His Excellency, Timothy Broglio, the Archbishop for the Military Services, released a statement to the Catholic News Agency responding to a letter from Catholics for Equality; the gay advocacy group pleaded with him to support the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
 
Catholic League president Bill Donohue spoke to this issue today:

On June 1, Archbishop Broglio released an excellent statement recounting the Catholic Church’s opposition to homosexuality. He called on Catholic chaplains in the armed forces to show respect for the dignity of homosexuals, but he also implored them to “never condone—even silently—homosexual behavior.”
 
On September 17, a new dissident group, Catholics for Equality, wrote a letter to the archbishop that was not only critical of his Catholic position, it reeked with smugness and arrogance: “We are ready to help you and Catholic chaplains in the transition to full acceptance of gays and lesbians in the military and respectfully request a meeting with you….” So thoughtful of these malcontents to offer their help in transitioning the bishop to oppose the Catholic Church’s teachings on sexuality.
 
Archbishop Broglio’s response pulled no punches. He wondered how Catholics for Equality got the authority to identify itself as a Catholic entity, maintaining “it cannot be legitimately recognized as Catholic.”
 
He’s right. While any group can slap the label Catholic on itself, bona fide Catholics are under no obligation to acknowledge it. And by bona fide, I simply mean Catholics not in open rebellion against the teachings of the Magisterium.
 
Archbishop Broglio deserves the respect and support of all lay Catholics. His courage and erudition make

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

Former British P.M. Tony Blair used state power to promote the acceptance of homosexuality in the U.K. He is now working to make Christianity "gay"-affirming.

By Peter LaBarbera

I was sent this must-watch CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network) video by my friend Gary Glenn, head of the American Family Association of Michigan. Glenn is backing a civil rights lawsuit by the Thomas More Law Center against Attorney Gen. Eric Holder over the new homosexuality/transsexuality–inclusive “hate crimes” law. This video deserves wide circulation as a warning to America.

The Homosexual Activist Movement, aided and abetted by liberal straights, currently is the greatest threat to religious freedom in the United States. This is because homosexual radicals like lesbian Chai Feldblum (appointed by President Obama as a Commissioner on the E.E.O.C.) believe “gay rights” supersede Americans’ freedom to oppose homosexuality and gender confusion. To quote Feldblum, “Gays win, Christians lose” when the “zero-sum” game of “gay rights” versus religious freedom hits the courts.

More commentary follows the video below:

Already, we in the USA are seeing the same sort of persecution for opposing homosexuality as is occurring in Great Britain, only on a lesser scale. (See University of Illinois story over dismissed Catholic professor Kenneth Howell HERE.) It will only get worse if homosexuality- and transsexuality-based special “rights” are federalized under the proposed “Employment Non-Discrimination Act.”

(A Note on “Islamophobia”: the effort to push for acceptance of Islam — insofar as it becomes official government policy — is also a threat to liberty; however, unlike in the U.K., state punishment of “Islamophobia” in the United States has not reached a fever pitch. But isn’t it interesting how activist Muslims, who reject homosexuality as sinful and bemoan Western promotion of homosexuality, have nevertheless copied the manipulative “gay” tactic of accusing opponents of possessing an irrational “phobia”?)

Willow Creek “Leadership”?

Another key difference between the USA and Britain is that biblical Christianity is much more vibrant and common here, although of course its strength varies geographically. That is why homosexual activists are struggling to “re-interpret” the Word of God and turn it into a “gay”-affirming text. Given the crucial role that churches and pastors (should) have in maintaining our religious freedom, I have another question regarding the CBN video:

Are American churches up to the challenge of defending our precious liberty and their freedom to preach the truth about any sin, including homosexuality, uninhibited by the state?

I wonder, because here in Illinois, one very influential, trend-setting mega-church — Willow Creek Community Church, which holds annual “Leadership Summits” for pastors and Christian leaders — honored former British Prime Minister Tony Blair last year — the very same Tony Blair credited in this CBN video with ushering in a sweeping “gay rights” to the U.K. with its attendant anti-religious persecution.

Not only did Mr. Blair make Britain safe for same-sex immorality, as it were, but he helped establish a legal “anti-discrimination” system that led inexorably to Christians and moral-minded British citizens being investigated and even jailed for “anti-gay” discrimination. See this recent case of a Dale McAlpine, a British evangelist who was arrested for preaching against the sin of homosexuality (the charge against him was ultimately dropped).

As he revealed to British homosexual writer Johann Hari, Blair counts his pro-”gay rights” work as one of his singular achievements. This excerpt of Blair’s 2009 interview with Hari (in the British gay magazine Attitude) is telling:

Hari:  You are a very rare example of a person who is publicly very religious, and very pro-gay. Did you ever see a conflict between the two?

Blair: No. Not for me. Because I came to a religious faith through people who were themselves very much open and liberal on all these issues, and who would have regarded it as bizarre to have attitudes of hostility to gay people. I think it would have been, actually, the other way around. If in the end I’d felt that my religious faith was pulling me in an opposite direction, I’d have had real difficulties with it. I think that for all religions, the challenge is how do you extract the essential values of the faith from a vast accumulation of doctrine and practice? For many people, the reason for their religious faith is less to do with the doctrine and practice, and more to do with the values like love of God and love of your neighbour. And one of the things I do through my Foundation, through trying to bring different religious faiths together, to show how, actually, there is a huge common space around these values between the different religious faiths.

Like Obama, Blair conveniently ignores or dismisses biblical texts that might interfere with the noble sense of good that he associates with affirming homosexuality and “equal rights” based on same. Blair, a Catholic convert, once even lectured the pope on the latter’s “entrenched” attitudes about homosexuality.

Tony Blair was a featured speaker (by video) at Willow Creek's 2009 "Leadership Summit." Click on graphic to enlarge. The above is the cover of a DVD of the Summit (see Blair photo at bottom) available on Amazon.com.

Is this the kind of “leadership” that Willow Creek and its charismatic pastor Bill Hybels hope to spread throughout American Christendom, and the world? Blair with his New Age-ish brand of (c)hristianity certainly has “led” on homosexual rights — but doesn’t that mean that he utterly failed to model godly, biblical leadership? Would Hybels agree? Once again it’s that pesky homosexual issue — if we publicly agree with the God of the Bible on this issue, there is a price to pay in worldly fame — one apparently too great for many who still claim the mantle of moral leadership. Just ask Rick Warren, or Dr. Laura Schlessinger, or Tony Blair.

I have not seen Hybels’ 2009 Willow Creek “Leadership Summit” interview with Blair, but I would be surprised if there were any queries about Blair’s enthusiastic state promotion of homosexuality-based “rights” (the very opposite of God-given liberties) — or his campaign to synthesize his socially liberal views on sex and marriage with the historic Christian faith. Clearly, Blair was honored by Willow Creek, and Christians and lovers of religious and moral freedom everywhere have the right to ask: why?

As AFTAH readers know, in 2008 this writer and another pro-family advocate picketed Willow Creek church after its leadership agreed to meet with the homosexual activist group Soulforce. (Would WCCC also meet with pro-pornography activists demanding a meeting?) At issue is the nature of Willow Creek’s and Hybels’ “leadership” in Christian circles. It should be remembered that Willow Creek rejected numerous high-level requests to actively assist the 2006 “Protect Marriage Illinois” campaign to place a statewide referendum affirming traditional marriage on the Illinois ballot .

We will be doing more examinations into just what kind of leadership WCCC is exerting — as well as that of the larger evangelical Church — in the cultural sphere of sexual sin and marriage.

______________________________

CBN YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UZVlh3U-kc

From: Margaret Hemenway [mailto: ------]
Sent: Wednesday, January 20, 2010 6:17 PM
To: ‘rgjewell@gcc.edu‘ [Grove City College President Richard Jewell]
Subject: RE: Professor Throckmorton

Sir, as we begin to review materials mailed to us from colleges soliciting applications for admission from my bright and accomplished 16-year-old daughter, we regret that we are now leery of considering your campus, Grove City, after hearing about Professor Throckmorton’s open advocacy of homosexuality.  All three of our children are enrolled and flourishing academically in Catholic schools, and part of the reason we chose religious schooling is that we wanted them to avoid the inappropriate and misleading homosexual propaganda that our youngest experienced in first grade–in D.C. public school–when subjected to a “gay marriage” lesson plan without parental notification or approval and in contravention of our religious beliefs (and contrary to much lip service to the concept of “parental rights”).

We want our children to grow up to be healthy and happy–enjoying a wholesome college experience–not one which will undermine their years in a safe and nurturing Catholic educational environment.  It is remarkable that the College would permit this professor, given your school’s Biblical charter, to crusade on behalf of homosexuality–would you also allow your staff to advocate openly for adultery, pornography or prostitution–other sexual sins?  Where do you draw the line and how is the professor’s conduct and activity consistent with your Christian mission?  We would look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

The Hemenways
17 E. Maple St.
Alexandria, VA  22301

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.” (Daniel 3: 16-18)

By Peter LaBarbera

Folks, in the few years I have known Matt Barber — I met him in 2005 after he was fired by Allstate Insurance Company after writing an article on his own time critical of homosexuality — I have come to see him is an antidote of sorts for the ills besetting the “anti-homosexual-agenda” movement. (Calling it “anti-gay” makes it sound like we’re against people when we really oppose destructive, unnatural and changeable behaviors that for centuries have been prohibited according to Judeo-Christian moral teachings; “gay” self-identity is a very new concept, historically speaking.)

Barber’s contribution to our noble cause should not be underestimated: he is just as unapologetic and aggressive for biblical truth as hell-bent activists like Kevin Jennings and HRC’s Joe Solmonese are for their evil agendas. That’s why coming to see him at AFTAH’s banquet on Saturday, October 24 will be so good for your soul. Each of us needs to have our batteries recharged to fight the anti-Christian Left — and there is no force, short of Muslim extremists perhaps, that poses a greater threat to our God-given American liberties than the homosexual/transsexual activist juggernaut.

Matt will pump you up to fight on for God, family and country and help put things in perspective about why we must resist the nefarious “GLBT” (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) lobby — or lose our nation and its precious freedoms as we know them.

STUDENT/PASTOR DISCOUNT:  I am so convinced that Matt will spur you on to do good deeds for the Kingdom that I have cut the price in half for pastors and teenage students to attend: from $50 to $25 per person. Would you please prayerfully consider sponsoring your pastor or teenage students (and their friends) for $25 to hear Matt’s talk? If you cannot muster up the $25, then e-mail AFTAH and we’ll find a way to get that person there — because I do not want anyone to miss this uplifting presentation for lack of money. You can call 910-308-7619 or write us at americansfortruth@comcast.net.

In a world of insane political correctness and perversion- and gender-confusion-based “rights,” our young people and spiritual leaders NEED to hear Barber’s bold defense of truth.

If it is true that religious America is filled with “evangellyfish” and “Catholic cop-outs” who are marked by their timidity in the public square and disdain for the “culture wars,” then Matt is just the shark we need to tear down their bogus excuses and restore a vision of courageous Christian citizenship in this blessed nation. He doesn’t try to be “nicer than Jesus,” as many Christians do today who cannot bear to apply God’s “tough love” standard to this Sin Movement euphemistically known as “gay civil rights.” Instead, Matt just stands fearlessly on the truth that flows from the Bible — backed by reason — and fights as hard for it today as he did in the ring as a professional heavyweight boxer who went undefeated before bowing out due to an injury. (Click HERE to watch Matt’s knock-out fights on YouTube.)

If you fall into one of these categories, then hearing Matt’s tough but true message on Oct. 24 is just what you need:

• Are you overly defensive about fighting in the “culture war” or think that it gets in the way of Christians “ministering to the gay community”?
• Do you shy away from cultural confrontation and think it’s more “Christ-like” for believers to stay out of the messy Culture Wars?
• Do you have doubts about the rightness of our cause or whether God’s word remains valid in today’s “gay”-affirming culture? Are you sometimes embarrassed or resentful about the Bible’s strong prohibition against homosexual sin, or find yourself questioning God’s word even as you accept the flawed presumptions of homosexual apologists?
• Are you nervous about being called “intolerant” or hateful if you stand up for real marriage and against the many demands of the GLBT movement?
• Do you feel homosexuals largely have no choice about their “orientation” so why shouldn’t they have (homosexuality-based) “civil rights” like other minorities?
• Do you feel we’ve already lost this battle so what’s the point of fighting on? That “same-sex marriage” is inevitable? Or that the Culture War is futile because the “end times” are upon us and Bible predicts immorality will continue to grow anyway?
• Are you beaten down by the persistence and power of ungodly forces in our culture? Are you so sick of this issue you just don’t want to deal with it anymore?
• Do you think protecting the word “marriage” is the best we can hope for when it comes to stopping the GLBT movement?
• Do you feel like “gays and lesbians” are largely victims in our culture — including at the hands of “rigid,” pharisaical Christians — and that the Church should move away from its “obsession” with this issue and on to more pressing matters like Global Warming?
• Are you largely ignorant of the size, financial resources and clout of the GLBT movement? Would your attitude toward the Culture War change if you saw how outgunned pro-family forces are in this battle?
• Do you have trouble answering this question from the other side: “How does my gay marriage affect your marriage?”

Now be honest: most of us struggle with at least one of those questions, and many justify inaction using similar lines of thinking.

Matt Barber’s inspiring story is the answer to such Christian confusion and defeatism. He is the personification of that very non-obscure verse in the Book of Romans (8:28): “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” He could never have predicted what his Heavenly Father had in store for him when he was fired by Allstate in a heavy-handed act of anti-religious bigotry. (If you doubt that, apply the “gay-Christian” substitution test: can you imagine a Fortune 500 corporation abruptly firing a homosexual employee who was privately championing “gay pride” on the web? Exactly.)

Matt and his wife faced financial ruin and a sudden dead-end to his solid career path thanks to Allstate’s liberal intolerance. However, through God’s amazing grace and provision, he now rhetorically battles the very same Homosexual Activist Lobby that cost him his job. (The homosexual group Human Rights Campaign, which played a key role in Matt’s demise at Allstate, is welcoming President Obama as keynote speaker at its fund-raising dinner Saturday night.) And frankly, Matt is amazed that so many fellow Christians are now bowing out of the “culture war” on the “gay” issue despite the clear and present danger that organized homosexuality poses to our children and to our First Amendment liberties — at at time when our political enemies are boasting that they are on the precipice of total victory!

God wouldn’t have us quit the battle for Truth in a free society and concede to a powerful special interest lobby that despises and twists His Inerrant Word to rationalize their particular besetting sin (one He calls “detestable”). We must defend the Truth no matter what comes — as Matt has — because God wins in the end, and His truth will set men free.

_________________________________

Read these Matt Barber columns:

Matt Barber Answers Charge that Christians Focus Too Much on Homosexuality

Matt Barber: Commies, Fascists and Perverts, Oh My!

Also relevant:

Dr. Michael Brown Corrects Andrew Marin and Emergent Evangelicals on their ‘Celebration of Ambiguity’ on Homosexuality

Promoting Human Wrongs in the Name of Human Rights: HRC and its president, Joe Solmonese, love to smear defenders of traditional marriage and the Bible’s teaching on homosexuality (including preachers) as “haters” and “extremists.” Barack Obama demeans the office of the presidency of the United States by celebrating this radical and profoundly anti-Christian organization.

President Barack Obama is telegraphing his left-wing sympathies and defiance of America’s historic, Judeo-Christian-based morality to the world. The same man who didn’t have time for the National Day of Prayer has worked into his busy schedule a keynote address at a fundraiser Saturday for the world’s largest homosexual lobby group — one that glories in its anti-religious bigotry (masquerading as tolerance, of course). Yes, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is really all about Human Wrongs — whether it’s demonizing as “extremists” Americans who are simply trying to protect the age-old definition of marriage; crusading for legislation that denies our First Amendment right to defend normalcy and Judeo-Christian mores; lobbying for taxpayer funding of transsexual “sex-change” mutilations operations; or its ongoing attempt to redefine the clear Word of God to serve the sinful cause of “proud” homosexuality. (HRC’s Harry Knox — an Obama “faith council” appointee — outrageously calls his own homosexuality a “gift from God.”) At bottom is the HRC press release below highlighting Obama’s address Saturday evening.

Obama’s friend, HRC President Joe Solmonese (above left), is to true respect and “tolerance” what John Edwards and Mark Sanford are to “family values.” Solmonese revels in his role as D.C.’s top homosexual power-broker. A former exec with the pro-abortion PAC EMILY’s List, he embodies the spirit of the age that elevates subjective feelings and libertine, godless ideologies over timeless revelation of right versus wrong. Moreover, Solmonese and fellow “queer” advocates arrogantly behave as if there is no legitimate “other side” to their homosexual movement. He has no problem castigating religious foes of the homosexualist agenda — including pastors, who he accuses of “preaching hatred from the pulpit” for merely agreeing with God about homosexual sin. (Much as they hate religious “fundamentalists,” those homosexual activists sure do have their own set of absolute “fundamentals” down pat, huh?)

Solmonese even has the chutzpah to accuse the Vatican of having a “truth” problem when the Catholic Church tries to deal with its crisis caused by homosexual priests (you know, the ones with a sexual preference for adolescent boys). What he and fellow “gay” activists call a witch-hunt was actually an attempt by the church to prevent further man-boy predations that have badly damaged its reputation. When the pope condemns same-sex “marriage,” HRC and Solmonese dismiss him as “anti-gay” and say he is out to divide “faithful Catholics.” (Last I heard, people who champion sins are not called “faithful.”)

I remember way, way back when HRC joined other “gay” organizations in blacking out its websites following the murder of college student Matt Shepard — and shamelessly used the tragedy as an opportunity to promote “Hate Crimes” legislation. They cynically demonized Christian pro-family groups as somehow having a role in the crime. This is a profoundly anti-Christian organization, so when President Obama celebrates HRC and helps it raise funds, he honors their particular brand of animus and bigotry, which equates genuine, God-fearing Christians (and orthodox Jews, and traditional Muslims) with “hatred” and vile prejudice. That makes this a hateful act by Mr. Obama, and one that demeans the office of the presidency of the United States. Pray for Obama — he cannot serve both God and a Bible-distorting sin group. You can contact the White House HERE. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

______________________________

HRC’s press release follows:

President Barack Obama to Deliver Keynote Address at the 13th Annual Human Rights Campaign Dinner

U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy will also present first Edward M. Kennedy National Leadership Award to Judy and Dennis Shepard

10/5/2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, announced today that President Barack Obama will deliver the keynote address at the 13th Annual National Dinner on Saturday, October 10th, in Washington, D.C.  U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy will also present the first-ever Edward M. Kennedy National Leadership Award to Judy and Dennis Shepard.  The award is named in honor of the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), a champion in the fight for LGBT equality.

“We are honored to share this night with President Obama, who has called upon our nation to embrace LGBT people as brothers and sisters,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.  “It is fitting that he will speak to our community on the night that we pay tribute to his friend and mentor Senator Edward Kennedy, who knew that as president, Barack Obama would take on the unfinished business of this nation – equal rights for the LGBT community, and for every person who believes in liberty and justice for all.”

The event will begin at 7 p.m. at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.  All media planning to attend the Human Rights Campaign National Dinner must pre-register by Thursday, October 8.  ….

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

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

Following are the remarks by Preston Noell, President of Tradition, Family, and Property, at yesterday’s coalition press conference in Chicago against Obama’s homosexual agenda:

“President Obama’s much vaunted ‘search for a common ground’ no longer passes even a perfunctory smell test. His bromides are designed to soothe and assuage. But his hypnotic rhetoric belies his actions.

“By appointing Harry Knox to his Faith Advisory Council, Obama panders to the homosexual movement, and manifests cynicism at its worst.

“Knox is the very incarnation of hate-filled, anti-Catholic bigotry and must go. His militant, hate-mongering anti-Catholicism is amply on display. Knox’s malicious attack on Pope Benedict as a “discredited leader of an army of oppression” is the rallying cry portending the persecution of the Church.

“Knox is the ugly new face of anti-Catholic oppression and persecution.  President Obama has a choice: either give Knox a pink slip or be known not only as the abortion president but the anti-Catholic president as well.

“Mr. President, fire Knox, NOW!!”

__________________________________

Related AFTAH stories on Harry Knox:

• VIDEO: Satan’s Talking Points? HRC’s Harry Knox Claims Homosexuality Is ‘Gift from God’ in MSNBC Debate with CWA’s Matt Barber
• White House ‘Comfortable’ With Anti-Catholic Homosexual Activist Harry Knox on Faith Council

Harry Knows Better than God?  Homosexual activist and Obama “faith council” appointee Harry Knox calls his homosexuality an “unchangeable gift from God” in an MSNBC debate. Knox has also called Pope Benedict a “discredited leader” and the (Catholic) Knights of Columbus the pope’s “foot soldiers” in a “discredited army of oppression.” TAKE ACTION: urge your Congressman and Senators (202-224-3121; 202-225-3121) to ask President Obama to remove Knox — with his deep prejudices against traditional religion — from his Faith Advisory Council.

Folks, click here to see the AFTAH’s “Satan’s Talking Points” post on Harry Knox’s MSNBC TV debate with AFTAH Board Member Matt Barber, in which he claimed that: “being gay or lesbian is an immutable, unchangeable gift from God, one for which I am very grateful. And it would fly in the face of my respect for God to give that gift back.” (The YouTube video is embedded in the story.) We highly recommend LifeSiteNews.com, from which this article is reprinted, and also CNSNews.com, which has done several excellent pieces on the Knox controversy:

By Peter J. Smith, reprinted from LifeSiteNews.com

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 5, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The White House says the President is “comfortable” with a homosexual activist on his advisory council of faith-based initiatives, a man who has come under attack for having vilified the Catholic Church, calling the current Pope a “discredited leader” and the Knights of Columbus his “foot soldiers” in a “discredited army of oppression.”

CNSNews.com reported [June 3] that the White House has essentially shrugged at calls from Catholics that Harry Knox, the former director of the “religion and faith program” at the Human Rights Counsel, a homosexual lobby group, be removed from the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships for his insulting and bigoted language toward the Catholic Church (see LSN coverage).

Prominent Catholic figures, including House Republican Leader John Boehner, Catholic League President Bill Donohue, American Life League’s Judie Brown, and members of the Family Research Council, expressed their concern to Obama in a May 13 letter, citing Knox’s remarks as proof he is “unfit to serve” on an advisory board billed as fostering interfaith cooperation.

“As Catholics, we call on you to remove Mr. Knox from his position and to formally disassociate yourself from his militant anti-Catholicism,” stated the letter, signed by 22 Catholic leaders. “Failure to do so will result in the tainting of your Faith-Based Council – and indeed, your entire administration – as anti-Catholic.”

The letter also stated, “We do not know if you or members of your Administration were aware of Knox’s deplorable, abusive attitude towards the Church and Pope Benedict XVI when you named him to the Council. We assume you were not.”

The letter continued, “But since then, there have been numerous press reports on Knox’s loathsome and clearly bigoted rhetoric, so there no longer is any excuse for your failure to act. We can remain silent no longer.”
A CNSNews reporter finally obtained comment from White House press secretary Robert Gibbs on the issue, who made clear Obama had no problem with Knox on his advisory counsel.

“The president is comfortable with the makeup of his faith advisory council,” Gibbs said

Knox has refused to back down from comments in which he accused Pope Benedict XVI of being “morally reprehensible” for not supporting the use of condoms in Africa.

“The Pope’s statement that condoms don’t help control the spread of HIV, but rather condoms increase infection rates, is hurting people in the name of Jesus,” Knox said in a March statement, two weeks before his appointment to the council.

In 2007, Knox called it “immoral and insulting to Jesus” when the bishop of Cheyenne, Wyoming instructed that an activist lesbian couple not receive Communion.

“If all Knox had done was to criticize the Catholic Church on public policy issues, there would be no problem,” said Catholic League President Bill Donohue. Instead, Donahue said Knox had stepped beyond merely disagreeing with the Church to demonizing it, “slamming the Catholic Church on internal matters that are none of his business.”

“In short,” continued Donahue, “the letter by Catholic leaders to President Obama requesting him to remove Harry Knox from his post is entirely warranted.”

_________________________

Related stories:

Obama ‘Comfortable’ with Adviser Who Made Repeated Anti-Catholic Statements, Says White House: this CNSNews story contains links to several other CNSNews pieces on the Knox controversy

LifeSiteNews.com: “Catholics Call for Obama to Oust Homosexualist Pope Critic from “Faith” Council”

Americans For Truth: “VIDEO: Satan’s Talking Points? HRC’s Harry Knox Claims Homosexuality Is ‘Gift from God’ in MSNBC Debate with CWA’s Matt Barber”

This book is a must for any social conservative’s library. (Order it HERE.) I’ve known Dale for over a decade, and few in the pro-family movement have demonstrated the diligence, courage, dedication and intelligence that she has in answering the various propaganda myths and lies emanating from the radical feminists and their homosexual and gender-confused (“transgender”) allies. Here is a typically sensible quote from One Man, One Woman (p. 217):

It’s true that human beings can be weak, selfish, and sinful, and not every married couple will be good parents. But a male/female married couple nonetheless has built into it all the things children need for healthy development: a mother and a father to fulfill parenting roles and to model gender identity; a vowed bond of permanent commitment between two persons with sexual complementarity; and freedom from the stigma and distractions that accompany “experimental” family forms.

As you can see from the book’s outline below, there are several chapters on the cause and development of “SSA” — Same-Sex Attraction (Disorder), as some call it. I doubt I will agree with everything presented in those chapters, but I’ve always known Dale to make her case thoughtfully, so it will be engaging. You can order Dale’s book HERE. It’s a few dollars cheaper on Amazon. — Peter LaBarbera, Americans For Truth

This outline is taken from the Sophia Institute Press website, where there is also an essay from Dale titled, “Why I Spent Ten Years Writing This Book, and Why You Need to Read It.”

Contents

Introduction: Clarion Call at Cairo

Part I: The Politics of Sex and Marriage

1. The Political Struggle Over the Definition of Marriage
2. The Ideology of the Sexual Left
3. The Debate Over Same-Sex Attraction

Part II: Understanding Same-Sex Attraction

4. How Sexual Attraction Develops
5. Same-Sex Attraction in Men
6. Same-Sex Attraction in Women
7. SSA Treatment and Change

Part III: Marriage and Intimate Relationships

8. The Definition and Purpose of Marriage
9. Why Redefining Marriage Will Harm Persons with SSA
10. Why Redefining Marriage Will Harm Society

Part IV: The Effects on Children

11. Same-Sex Parenting Places Children at Risk
12. Dangerous Lies: The Politicization of Research

Part V: Beyond Same-Sex Marriage

13. Same-Sex Marriage and the Slippery Slope
14. The Threat to Religious Freedom
15. The Threat to Public Schools

Conclusion: What Must Be Done?
Biographical Note: Dale O’Leary

___________________

LaBarbera response to “Kyle”:

Kyle …

…I don’t know where my feelings of lust, etc., came from.  So should I join the Lust Pride Movement and rationalize the embrace of that sin. (I’ll call myself a “Luster,” which is analogous to you calling yourself “gay.”) Grow up, Kyle. This is the cop out of the century –– and then you go on to support “gay marriage” –– an incredible blasphemy against God, who created man and woman for each other.  You are responsible for your behavior –– period. Sodomy and all homosexual acts are deeply sinful, the Bible teaches (see Romans 1), so what does it mean to say your “orientation” is “gay”?  Repent and believe Jesus Christ as so many FORMER “gays” – now born again of God — have done. (See Steve Bennett’s wonderful story at www.sbministries.org.)  Are you born again? Do you deny Jesus Christ has the power to help you heal or at least help you remain out of homosexual sin?  There is NO way a faithful Christian can embrace homosexuality.  You are deeply deluded, but there is hope in the Lord, and He WILL forgive you if you humble yourself and seek him like a child, and repent and accept Jesus’ death on the cross as the penalty for your sin. I suggest you start by reading the Gospel of John.

God bless you –– and try reading the Bible to apprehend who God is, so you can conform yourself to His holiness (a never-ending process) –– rather than seeking to conform God to YOUR image of what YOU think He should be, and what YOU think He should accept. All the best on your journey: www.biblegateway.com.

Sincerely,

Peter LaBarbera
Americans For Truth
www.aftah.org

——————————————————————————–

Letter from “Kyle” to Americans For Truth:

From: Kyle
Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2009 12:22 PM
To: americansfortruth@comcast.net
Subject: [AFT Web Site] Gay Rights and Religion

The following message was sent from the Americans for Truth Web site:

——————————————————————————–

I\’m a gay Catholic (yes, it is possible). The Church teaches that for something to be a sin, the person doing the action must fully know what they are doing is wrong and then freely choose to do the action anyway, yet the Catechism teaches that being gay is not a choice. Therefore according to the church being gay is not a sin. If that\’s true, then why do they campaign against it so much? Do they not realize that God made me just as He made you and your family and everyone else you know? And one more thing. I firmly believe that the gay marriage ban in several states is unconstitutional and should be repealed, as there are nearly 1,200 rights that are only guaranteed through marriage. Since gay marriage is illegal in almost every state, the laws banning it are unconstitutional! I can\’t wait for the Supreme Court to rule in favor of our community. And quite honestly, if you have a problem with my arguments, please either respond to me or post it on your webpage.

Leo, Italy