Here’s a great column by Matt Barber, who sits on AFTAH’s Board. To listen to Part One of AFTAH’s interview with Trail Life USA Founder and Board Chairman John Stemberger, go HERE. To listen to Part Two of the interview — in which Stemberger relates that he was told be a high-ranking Boy Scout official that the BSA’s new “gay”-affirming policy will result in more boy-on-boy sexual contacts through Scouting — go HERE. And here is the link for Trail Life USA; please promote this Christian alternative to the BSA far and wide. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH

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By J. Matt Barber, September 15, 2013

It was Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 6, 2013. The huge hall was overflowing, the convention sold out. Over 1,200 attendees, with many spilling out into the foyer, eagerly awaited the announcement. What would this safe, moral and non-sexualized alternative to the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) look like? With a stirring introductory video came the answer: “Trail Life USA” would now endeavor to “be the premier national character development organization for young men, which produces godly and responsible husbands, fathers and citizens.”The reveal, eagerly anticipated by hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of Americans was met with rousing cheers. “Our mission is simple and clear,” came the official mission statement, “to guide generations of courageous young men to honor God, lead with integrity, serve others and experience outdoor adventure.”

A brief summary from the new scouting-like organization’s website (TrailLifeUSA.com) reads as follows:

“Most guys want exciting outdoor adventure with their friends. We’ve got that! Trips and travel? That, too. Camping. Check. Physical and mental challenge? Yep. And awards? Of course!

“Trail Life USA is a Christian adventure, character and leadership movement for young men. The K-12 program centers on outdoor experiences that build a young man’s skills and allow him to grow on a personal level and as a role model and leader for his peers. Living the Trail Life is a journey established on timeless values derived from the Bible.”

Countless men and boys who once called themselves “Boy Scouts” will now proudly bear the title of “Trailman.”

Back in May, millions of Americans were shocked and saddened when the BSA inexplicably bowed to left-wing political pressure and became something it had never before been: a hyper-politicized, aberrantly sexualized petri dish for social and sexual experimentation.

Created in 1910 to “prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes,” the BSA, on May 23, 2013, tragically voted to welcome into its ranks “open and avowed” homosexuality (boy-on-boy sexual attraction and behavior), thereby disavowing the “morally straight” Scout Oath its members have been sworn to uphold for over a century.

Even worse, and in so doing, the BSA effectively waived the only legal defense it once had to preclude openly homosexual Scout leaders and gender-confused girls from its ranks: religious and moral conviction. It’s only a matter of time until the BSA is forced to capitulate to sexual extremists’ political demands and allow homosexual adults – men who define their identity based upon carnal appetites for other males – to take your boys on overnight camping trips.

Ex-football star and sports commentator Craig James was fired by Fox Sports Southwest as a college football analyst due to the following comments he made in the GOP candidates’ primary debate in 2012 in Texas. [See Michael Brown’s column on the firing.] This YouTube video from a homosexual publication Dallas Voice shows the large video screen above the candidates; those who are shown are, left to right: Ted Cruz (who won the Republican race and eventually became U.S. Senator from Texas; Craig James; former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert; and Leia Pettinger. The video opens with Cruz saying, “I have something against gay marriage”…:

Former football star and TV announcer Craig James becomes the latest victim of intolerant, pro-homosexual liberal groupthink. In a 2012 GOP debate in Texas, James said America is in a moral crisis and that homosexuals will have to answer to God for practicing that sin.

TAKE ACTION: 1) Contact Fox Sports HERE about their firing of Craig James just because he voiced his Christian moral convictions during a GOP candidates debate. You can watch on YouTube what James said in 2012 HERE.; 2) Read the America’s Survival in-depth report by AFTAH’s Peter LaBarbera on Fox News’ growing pro-homosexual bias and urge Fox to include more social and moral conservatives in its reporting and commentary; contact Fox HERE.

The excerpt below is from a terrific column by our good friend Michael Brown (author of A Queer Thing Happened to America), which was published today in Charisma magazine’s website. Regarding Fox Sports’ shameful firing of Craig James, I sent out these tweets this morning:

Watch out, Christians (and moral-minded people): The (Pro-) ‘Gay’ Thought Police are EVERYWHERE, and they WILL find you! #CraigJames

Craig James gets fired for saying homosexuality is sin. Dan Savage gets new MTV show after “redefining” Rick [Santorum’s last name] as fecal matter.

Liberal intolerance is growing + it’s not good for America. Craig James joins list of #Christians PUNISHED for expressing their faith.

As America rapidly de-Christianizes, it becomes more and more intolerant of biblical speech. God help us if we continue down this road of sexual immorality that has brought about the downfall of other great civilizations. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH; on Twitter @PeterLaBarbera; “Like” and follow AFTAH on Facebook

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Keith Olbermann, Craig James and the Shocking Example of Double Standards

By Michael Brown, CharismaNews.com

So this is what our society has come to. Within a 10-day period, sportscaster Craig James was fired by Fox Sports for comments he had made against homosexuality during a political campaign last year while Keith Olbermann was lauded for his 9-minute anti-Russia, pro-homosexuality rant on ESPN. The double standards are as glaring as they are shocking.

As reported on Advocate.com, a leading gay website, “Keith Olbermann opened his ESPN show last night with a scathing rant against Russia’s antigay laws and the International Olympic Committee’s response to calls for a boycott of the Winter Games in Sochi.

“Olbermann’s nine-minute tirade brilliantly pointed out the ridiculousness of recent comments by President Vladimir Putin—who has tried to claim Russia’s so-called gay propaganda law is not homophobic.”

CDC funds “gay” activist groups like GLSEN that promote acceptance of behavior tied closely to HIV

By Peter LaBarbera

The following is a graphic from a CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) online slide presentation, “HIV Surveillance in Adolescents and Young Adults” ^[1]— breaking down the incidence of HIV among young men ages 13-24. In 2011, an astonishing 94.9 percent of HIV diagnoses among teenage boys (13-19-years-old) were linked to homosexual (“male-to-male”) sex. And 94.1 percent of the cases among young men ages 20-24 (more analysis follows graphic) were from “gay” sex:

With the incidence of HIV among men so closely tied to homosexual sex, shouldn’t the government and all concerned and compassionate adults be urging young men and teenaged boys NOT to engage in or experiment with dangerous homosexual behavior? And yet, the CDC and other pro-“gay” institutions (including many schools public and private) are doing exactly the opposite, as they focus instead on affirming “gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender” youth as a “sexual minority.”

Feds Fund ‘Gay’ Youth Activist Groups

Another CDC document, “HIV and Young Men Who Have Sex with Men” (June 2012), reports that in 2011, the CDC awarded funds to two homosexual activists groups — the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and the Gay-Straight Alliance Network (GSAN) — “to assist CDC-funded public health and environmental changes to help schools and communities meet the health and medical needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth.” See this CNSNews article on the CDC grant.

With HIV rates growing among YMSM (young men who have sex with men), the CDC’s focus on building self-esteem among LGBT youth and creating a “positive school climate” for homosexuals — includes forming “gay”-affirming clubs in schools — seems disconnected from reality. The aforementioned CDC report on HIV and YMSM states:

“Gay-straight alliances (GSAs) are one approach being used to create safe and welcoming school environments. Research has shown that in schools with support groups such as GSA’s, lesbian, gay and bisexual students were less likely to experience threats of violence, miss school because they felt unsafe, or attempt suicide than those in schools without such groups.”

In the same report, the CDC identifies the behaviors among young homosexuals that are causing the escalating HIV rates:

“A CDC analysis of date from 13 YRBS [Youth Risk Behavior Survey] sites found that sexual minority students, especially those who identified as homosexual or bisexual, were disproportionately likely to engage in many health risk behaviors, including sexual risk behaviors (such as having sexual intercourse for the first time at younger ages, having multiple sex partners, and not using condoms); tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use; and behaviors related to attempted suicide.”

Elsewhere in the CDC report it touts CDC funding for “school health professionals … to help them understand the needs of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth and shape behavioral messages accordingly.” But those behavioral messages apparently do not include discouraging students from engaging in homosexual sex.

Elephant in the room

The chasm between the obvious and extreme health risks associated with “gay” male sex and the CDC’s politically correct, pro-homosexuality mindset reflects public policy malpractice on an Orwellian scale. “Gay” activist ideology and assumptions — including intrinsic (many would claim innate) “gay”/bi/transgender identities — go unquestioned at the CDC. Ironically, the most direct answer to the HIV-youth crisis — teaching young people NOT to practice unhealthy homosexual sex — is the one thing that is essentially forbidden.

All across America, “gay” activists and their straight liberal allies are advocating “gay”-positive lesson plans and strategies in response to anti-homosexual bullying. However, while everyone can agree that all bullying is wrong, many “anti-bullying” programs double as pro-LGBT affirmation programs. This is troubling because:1) bullying can be discouraged with neutral messaging that does not promote “out and proud” homosexuality and transgenderism; and 2) in the name of “safety,” educators and cultural elites are advocating a sexual lifestyle that has continually been shown to be dangerous, particularly for males.

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^[1] Produced by the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD & TB Prevention, a division of HIV/AIDS Prevention. Data is for 2008-2011.

Matt Barber turns tables on ‘homofascists’ who put bakery out of business

Sweet Cakes by Melissa owners Melissa and Aaron Klein — born-again Christians — were forced to shut down their storefront business in Gresham, Oregon after a lesbian couple sued them for refusing to make a cake for their “wedding.” Said Aaron “I don’t want to help somebody celebrate a commitment to a lifetime of sin.”

First published by WND.com, September 6, 2013

By J. Matt Barber

At least Oregon is applying its anti-discrimination laws evenhandedly. Interesting story out of Gresham: The Oregonian is reporting that Bruce Bottoms – a homosexual baker and owner of “Cakes By Cupcakes” – has been charged with anti-Christian discrimination by the Oregon Ministry of Human Rights (OMHR). Mr. Bottoms and his partner, Lance Limpkowski, recently declined to bake a cake for the notoriously anti-”gay” Westboro Baptist Church (WBC). As a result, they’ve been forced to shut down their business.

It seems that, in another tired attempt to be provocative, representatives from the attention-starved WBC demanded that Bottoms and Limpkowski bake a cake for a Westboro fundraiser with the group’s trademark slogan, “God Hates Fags,” emblazed in rainbow frosting across the top. Mr. Bottoms, who reportedly moonlights as a part-time blogger for the homosexual activist “Human Rights Campaign,” was understandably appalled. He refused.

“Look, I’ll serve anybody, Christian or otherwise,” said Bottoms. “I just refuse to bake a cake that endorses an ideology that I find obscene. If Westboro came in and asked me to bake a birthday cake with the words ‘Happy 120th, Papa Freddy,’ it’d be my pleasure,” he said. “I didn’t decline to bake the cake because the customers defined themselves as ‘Christian’; I refused because nobody should be forced to lend their talents to endorse – whether directly or indirectly – a message or event that they find repugnant.”

Tolerance Enforcement Commissioner Brad Avakian disagreed: “We are committed to a fair and thorough investigation to determine whether there’s substantial evidence of unlawful discrimination,” he told the Oregonian. “The goal is never to shut down a business. The goal is to rehabilitate. For those who do violate the law, we want them to learn from that experience and have a good, successful business in Oregon. Everybody is entitled to their own beliefs, but that doesn’t mean that folks have the right to discriminate,” he said.

Meanwhile, churches and Christian groups across America organized a boycott of Cakes By Cupcakes, picketing the business and threatening to target other businesses that associated with Bottoms and Limpkowski. The two men have additionally reported multiple death threats, with one Presbyterian preacher leaving a voicemail: “Die bigots! You anti-Christian haters need to keep your Christophobia to yourselves!” he said.

Just kidding.

Sort of.

Although the “Cakes By Cupcakes” incident didn’t actually happen, something quite similar is happening across America. It’s a photo negative of the above scenario, but it’s equally absurd. Homosexual activists and “progressive” government officials are targeting Christian business owners – true Christians, not hateful Wesboro-types – for real anti-Christian discrimination.

‘Gay’-Manufactured “Hate”: This note was posted by Sweet Cakes owners Aaron and Melissa Klein on their Facebook page September 6, 2013. Click on graphic to enlarge

And they’re doing it in the name of “non-discrimination.”

Todd Starnes of Fox News reports: “A family-owned Christian bakery, under investigation for refusing to bake a wedding cake for a lesbian couple, has been forced to close its doors after a vicious boycott by militant homosexual activists.

“Sweet Cakes By Melissa posted a message on its Facebook page alerting customers that their Gresham, Ore., retail store would be shut down after months of harassment from pro-gay marriage forces.

“‘Better is a poor man who walks in integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways,’ read a posting from Proverbs on the bakery’s Facebook page.”

“It’s a sad day for Christian business owners, and it’s a sad day for the First Amendment,” owner Aaron Klein told Starnes. “The LGBT attacks are the reason we are shutting down the shop. They have killed our business through mob tactics.”

“Last January, Aaron and Melissa Klein made national headlines when they refused to bake a wedding cake for a lesbian couple.

“Klein tells me he has nothing against homosexuals,” reports Starnes, “but because of their religious faith, the family simply cannot take part in gay wedding events.

“‘I believe marriage is between a man and a woman,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to help somebody celebrate a commitment to a lifetime of sin.’”

Below is adapted from my response to William May of Catholics for the Common Good, who told Mercator.net (an excellent resource) that the same-sex “marriage” debate is “not about homosexuality at all.” May is to be commended for his work defending marriage, but I’m afraid he hurts the larger pro-family cause by denying the obvious: that the LGBT push to mainstream homosexuality is behind the aggressive push to radically redefine marriage. Over the years I have observed that the “guilt” is pretty much on one side of this debate — ironically, the side that testifies to absolute truth. Homosexual activists have skillfully manipulated that misplaced guilt to lobby successfully for homosexuals in the military, pro-LGBT programs in schools, “special rights” (so-called nondiscrimination) laws, and other dubious agendas. May’s full interview with Mercator is reprinted below my comment. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH

Rarely have I read something as ridiculous as William May’s comment that the national debate over same-sex “marriage” is “not about homosexuality at all.” The ONLY reason we are radically redefining marriage is the aggressive (and successful) advocacy of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) movement — aided increasingly by sympathetic liberals and libertarians (and activist judges). It is not only disingenuous to assert otherwise — it is simply untrue. Do you want to know why we are losing this debate? Because people like May, perhaps well-meaning, are riddled with guilt for doing the right thing. Homosexual activists (uh-oh, I uttered the “H-word”) selfishly aim to redefine “marriage” for their MAIN purpose: winning (even forcing via the State) approval of their aberrant lifestyle.

I can think of no other cultural debate in which such obvious truths are so often denied out of a politically correct fear of being labeled a bigot. (And we all know the most virulent bigots are anti-Christian homosexual activists.) Get over it. We don’t hate people but we oppose homosexual conduct as immoral, unhealthy, unnatural and –the best news of all, as proved by the existence of many ex-“gays” — changeable. (I know dozens of former homosexuals.) Funny how those who are on the side of attaching the noble institution of marriage to a sin — see the Catholic Church’s teachings on homosexuality — do not shy away from asserting that this is all about GAY rights.

PS. Faithful and compassionate Christians must NEVER encourage or sanction homosexual relationships, which are — another hard truth here — essentially the domestication of disordered and sinful behavior, hence destructive to the souls of those involved. — Peter LaBarbera, 9-6-13

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Click on the above graphic to go to a printable PDF of Scott Lively’s “Fact Sheet on Uganda.”

Click on the link below or the graphic at right for a PDF “Fact Sheet on Uganda and Homosexuality,” by pro-family advocate Scott Lively — who has been sued by the Ugandan homosexual group SMUG (Sexual Minorities Uganda) — working with the far-left American group Center for Constitutional Rights — for “Crimes Against Humanity” for his Christian advocacy in that African nation. We’ve also reprinted the Fact Sheet below (after the jump).

Scott Lively – Uganda Fact Sheet–PDF link 

Scott Lively

Few people in the world have been lied about and demonized by homosexual activists as much as Lively. This Fact Sheet is merely the beginning of what must become a comprehensive effort to set the record straight. Clearly, the nefarious goal the CCR and its leftist/LGBT comrades in its legal harassment of Lively is to intimidate pro-family advocates everywhere from speaking out against the aggressive homosexual-bisexual-transgender agenda. In the Left’s playbook, the ends justify the means — but even for the Hard Left, charging a decent, Christian man like Scott Lively with “Crimes Against Humanity” — for his public advocacy — is beyond outrageous. In fact, it is evil and profoundly un-American. And yet, Clinton-nominated federal District Judge Michael Ponsor has allowed the SMUG lawsuit to proceed. We will be following this case closely. Please pray for Scott Lively. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH

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Stemberger says senior BSA official admitted to him that new “gay” policy “will increase boy-on-boy sexual contact.”

John Stemberger has overseen the formation of a new, wholesome alternative to the Boy Scouts of America — which sold out to the immoral homosexual activist agenda by opening its membership to boys who openly identify as “gay.” Stemberger founded OnMyHonor.net.

Here is Part Two of AFTAH’s interview with “On My Honor” founder and CEO, John  Stemberger [click HERE to listen], who is also President and General Counsel of the Florida Family Policy Council. We apologize for the delays (due to technical issues) in publishing this interview, which was recorded August 15, 2013. Stemberger discusses On My Honor’s upcoming inaugural 2013 National Leadership Convention in Nashville (Sept. 6-7) — where this new wholesome alternative to the (now pro-homosexual) Boy Scouts of America will unveil its new name and logo. The convention is sold out but you can follow the proceedings online for $24 via a live streaming connection (go HERE). Stemberger compares the new organization’s policies to the BSA’s (which he says is slated to lose 200,000-400,000 members). He notes that the BSA has still not issued a policy on “how it’s going to tent” openly homosexual boys (i.e., in camping trips) [listen at 11:28]. He says that one of the highest-ranking officials in the Boy Scout organization admitted to him privately: “This [the BSA’s new pro-“gay” policy] will increase boy-on-boy sexual contact” [listen at 12:20]. Stemberger also discusses his previous work in Florida leading the successful campaign to pass an amendment preserving marriage as one-man, one-woman.  And Stemberger addresses the recent Supreme Court decisions affecting the marriage debate.

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

8-15-13, John Stemberger, Part Two