By Sonja Dalton

Do not be deceived:

• Ruth (a woman) was married to Naomi’s son (a man) until he died — ie, Ruth was in a heterosexual marriage with a man who died, not in a “committed same-sex relationship” with her mother-in-law. Maybe Mr. Miner and Mr. Connoley should finish reading the Old Testman book of Ruth to learn that, after being widowed, she re-married her kinsman-redeemer, Boaz (a man), and that the natural offspring procreated by their heterosexual marital sex is included in the lineage of Christ. The story of Ruth has absolutely nothing to do with homosexuality.
• The word in Matthew 8:5-13 for the centurion’s servant is “pai’ß” which is rendered servant because that is what it means. End of story.
• Homosexuality, like all sin, is primarily a spiritual disorder. Here is the “Gay-Friendly” Gospel: With sacrificial love for all sinners, Jesus Christ came as a physician to heal the spiritually sick — and He still offers healing today, including to homosexuals. But He demands repentance from sin, not self-justification while continuing in sin.

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The following is excerpted from Reading the Bible the Gay-Friendly Way, by Will Kilburn, published Nov 26, 2006, by Boston Globe:

In the battle over gay rights and same-sex marriage, those who oppose both often cite Biblical passages which, they believe, clearly state that homosexuality is wrong.

Trying to rebut this view is a movement led by people who are both gay and Christian who say that the Bible is on their side.

“Most people think that the attitude of gay Christians is, ‘Who cares what the Bible says?’ when in reality, we care deeply what the Bible says,” said the Rev. Jeff Miner , pastor of the Jesus Metropolitan Community Church , a gay-friendly congregation in Indianapolis. He led a forum on the topic last weekend at Arlington Street Church. “We think there are a lot of powerful, affirming things that are in the Bible that have been ignored.”

Those affirming messages were detailed by Miner and forum co-leader John Tyler Connoley in their 2002 book, “The Children are Free: Reexamining the Biblical Evidence on Same-sex Relationships.” The book served as the text for the forum, sponsored by an array of gay-friendly local church groups, which drew about 200 people.

Most of the forum was devoted to passages that the authors say treat homosexuals and heterosexuals equally. In the Old Testament, claim the authors, Ruth’s covenant with Naomi, which includes the memorable phrase, “Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live,” actually refers to a committed same-sex relationship. They also offered a different interpretation of a story that appears in both Matthew and Luke, in which a centurion asks Jesus to heal a man who is typically identified — misidentified, says Miner — as the centurion’s servant.

“That story’s often preached about in straight churches,” said Miner, but “nobody bothers to mention that the Greek word used to describe the sick man is the word used in the ancient world to describe your same-sex partner.”

Both Miner and Connoley said they had to leave the relatively conservative churches of their childhoods when they came out as gay, Connoley spending two years in so-called “ex-gay therapy,” in which homosexuality is treated as a mental disorder. Similar conflicts, both internal and external, were recounted by some of the organizers of the forum.

“My primary goal was to provide an opportunity for people who are gay, bisexual, transgender, to come and be affirmed and to be loved,” said Sam Gloyd , 60, an Arlington Street Church congregant who came out as gay when he came to Boston for graduate school 20 years ago.

Gloyd says he got the idea for the forum partly in response to a conference held in Boston last year by the Colorado Springs-based group Focus on the Family . Called “Love One Out,” the event, held at nearby Tremont Temple Baptist Church, offered instruction to families on how to convert a gay relative back to heterosexuality. While some protested on the street, Gloyd chose to go inside and hear what the group had to say, a move that turned painful a few hours later. “I wasn’t just traumatized, I was re-traumatized, because for 40 years of my life I lived this trauma of feeling like I was unacceptable to God,” he recalled. “So it was inspiration from that conference that sort of spurred me on to say we need to offer some alternative voice to this hateful message that’s masked in love.”

That alternative voice doesn’t sway the Rev. Ray Pendleton, pastor of Tremont Temple Baptist Church, where the “Love One Out” event was held.

“The Biblical view of sexuality is pretty clear,” he said. “It says that genital sexuality is to be expressed between a man and woman in the context of marriage, period.” Pendleton was careful to make a distinction between homosexual orientation and the practice itself. “When you look at what the Bible teaches, the Bible doesn’t talk about orientation; the Bible talks about behavior.”

Continue reading at Boston Globe…

When you read this post, ask yourself: If “transsexuality” is a healthy lifestyle option, why is it necessary for the government (taxpayers) to extend grants for disease treatment and mental health counseling?

Excerpted from UCSF to Close Trans Programs, by Heather Cassell, published Mar 8, 2007, in Bay Area Reporter:

The University of California at San Francisco’s Transitions and Transgender Resource and Neighborhood Space projects are scheduled to close July 1 because grants that fund the programs are ending.

The only projects of their kind in the Bay Area, the closures will leave an estimated 1,300 transgender and gender variant people who have used the services during the past four years without anywhere to go.

The Transitions Project, housed under the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies at UCSF, has an annual budget of $450,000…

But on July 1, the three major grants that fund the programs – including those from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute of Drug Abuse – will end, according to Susan Kegeles, co-director of CAPS.

Continue reading in Bay Area Reporter…

Note: We have a suggestion as to where these 1300 precious human beings should go: to a Bible-believing church where they can hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and be healed emotionally and spiritually.

When will the Catholic church hierarchy exercise Biblical church discipline and expel those who work directly against their teachings on homosexuality and extramarital sex? At the website for the Archdiocese of Birmingham, Nichols writes:

TAKE ACTION — Let Archbishop Nichols know that the issues are perfectly clear: Children should not be placed with unrepentant, practicing homosexuals. Agencies which exist to embody Christian teachings must not be compelled by government to act against their religious beliefs. Catholic adoption agencies should not be placing children with homosexuals or unmarried, cohabiting couples.

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Excerpted from Birmingham Archbishop: “Oh by the way,” Britain’s Catholic Adoption Agencies Already Adopt to Gay Singles, by Hilary White, published Jan 29, 2007, by LifeSite News:

…Archbishop Vincent Gerard Nichols of Birmingham admitted that his own adoption agencies were already adopting children to homosexual singles.

Nichols told the BBC’s Newsnight on Tuesday that his agencies were happy to place children with single gay people, just not couples. Catholic agencies are equally happy to place children with unmarried but cohabiting couples, despite clear and even more widely understood Catholic teaching on the sinfulness of such arrangements.

The announcement has frustrated those defending the rights of Christians to their conscience who are complaining that the laxity of their bishops has caused the argument to unravel.

One popular clerical Catholic blogger, Fr. Tim Finigan, a seminary professor and founder of a pro-life organisation for priests, wrote that while it might be possible for a Catholic adoption official to allow a child to be adopted by a person with homosexual temptations, it is impossible for a Catholic to agree to adoption to those who adhere to the “gay” philosophical and political outlook.

“I cannot see how it would be possible for a Catholic agency to place a child with someone who defined themselves publicly as ‘gay’, was regularly part of the gay ‘scene’, was involved in sexually active gay relationships, or opposed the teaching of the Church.”

Continue reading at LifeSite News…

In a two-part series against Catholic teachings against birth control (posted Part 1, Jun 14, 2006 and Part 2, June 14, 2006), Amanda Marcotte wrote:

Please read — We need your help!

“Day of Silence” is an annual event promoted by Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and is scheduled for April 18 this year. (Some schools observe “Day of Silence” on a different date, a few days or a week before or after the official date.)

Last year over 4,000 schools and 500,000 students participated, allowing junior high and high school students who identify as homosexual, bisexual, or “transgender” (or as an “ally”) to remain silent through the day (including in class) as a protest against alleged injustices toward “GLBT” students.

Americans for Truth, Mission America, and other pro-family groups are working together to compile a list of schools that plan to allow “Day of Silence” (including the date of the planned observance).

TAKE ACTION — Please call your local junior high and high school and ask:

• Do you have a Gay-Straight Alliance?
• Will any students participate in GLSEN’s “Day of Silence”?
• If so, will it take place on April 18 or on another date?

Please contact us with what you learn — we’ll need the name of the school, city and state, and the answers to the three questions above.

Matt Barber on MSNBC!

Matt Barber, CWA’s Policy Director for Cultural Issues, recently appeared on MSNBC Live debating Harry Knox from Human Rights Campaign on comments made by Rev. Al Mohler that there is a biological basis for homosexuality. Click HERE to watch!

From Keeping Pace with the Right Stuff, by Jan LaRue, Esq, published Mar 16, 2007, by Culture and Media Institute:

Apparently some sensitivity sops in the White House have decided that we can’t have the military man charged with saving us from the Jihadists sounding soooo insensitive and judgmental.

There’s no other plausible explanation for the Marine chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff doing a mea culpa lite after stating a self-evident truth about homosexual conduct: “I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts. I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way.”

That’s what Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the joint chiefs, told a reporter for the Chicago Tribune on Monday. Pace equated homosexual acts with adultery and said the military should not condone it by allowing gays to serve openly in the armed forces. Pace also said he supports the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” (DADT) policy, which prohibits commanders from asking about a person’s sexual orientation.

The usual moral savants in Congress, who like to say “it’s wrong to say what’s right and wrong,” quickly passed judgment on Pace.

Leading the congressional critics’ chorus was the perpetually perplexed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco): “We don’t need moral judgment from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs.” Couldn’t somebody think to ask Pelosi whether Pace’s moral judgment about adultery is morally acceptable?

All of this degradation and suffering is avoidable — God can renew the mind and enable a man to master his lust…

Excerpted from Accused Of Spreading HIV, Man Allegedly Bragged About It, published Mar 20, 2007, by the pro-homosexuality 365Gay:

A 48-year old married Melbourne man on trial for knowingly spreading HIV to other men allegedly bragged that he had made “75 people pos,” a court was told on Tuesday.

…Rochford said that Neal met the victims in parks and other areas where gays cruise for sex and on the internet.

He allegedly tried to get one victim to help him spread the disease and drugged another man — who is now HIV-positive — because he refused unprotected sex.

…Rochford said that Neal knew what he was doing and regularly held “conversion parties” to create more people with HIV so that he could have “bareback sex”.

Continue reading at 365Gay…