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Suddenly Shy? Why didn’t Gov. Chris Christie praise the Supreme Court decision on Hobby Lobby protecting religious freedom?
The following is taken from Gary Bauer’s daily “End of Day” e-mail sent out today (July 1) through his organization, Campaign for Working Families. Gary has long been one of the best thinkers and most informative writers in the pro-life and pro-family movement. Few conservatives leaders can write like Gary (or hire someone to ghost-write like him!), so if you are conservative or pro-family, I guarantee you will not regret signing up for his daily e-newsletter HERE.
Regarding Chris Christie and the Hobby Lobby SCOTUS decision, isn’t it odd that the outspoken (Republican) New Jersey governor has the audacity to play God by proclaiming that homosexuality not a sin as he signed a freedom-crushing ex-“gay” change therapy ban last year–yet he couldn’t muster up the courage to praise a critical victory for religious freedom at the Supreme Court? I’m no fan of the liberal Huffington Post, and their women-as-victims spin on Hobby Lobby is obnoxious, but they got it at least half right in this piece on Christie’s sudden shyness and craven bully pulpit politics. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH
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The Day After
By Gary Bauer
The left is in full spin mode after the Supreme Court struck down Obamacare’s abortion mandate. Please tell the women in your life that nothing happened yesterday that will deny them access to contraception.
The issue in this case was not contraception. Let me remind folks once again that Hobby Lobby’s insurance policy covered 16 out of 20 forms of contraception. But the owners of Hobby Lobby drew the line at the last four methods, which they believed could cause abortions. And during oral arguments, the Obama Administration actually claimed that it could force companies to pay for abortions.
The issue in this case was individual religious liberty. Consider this statement from Justice Samuel Alito’s majority opinion:
“A corporation is simply a form of organization used by human beings to achieve desired ends. Protecting the free-exercise rights of corporations like Hobby Lobby … protects the religious liberty of the humans who own and control those companies.”
Yesterday’s ruling was a major victory won by a disturbingly slim margin of one vote. Now comes the hard part of winning the debate, which will be difficult in no small measure because of the cowardice of establishment Republicans.
Law banning pro-heterosexual Reparative Therapy for minors now likely to go into effect
Mat Staver
June 30, 2014
The following is reprinted from LC.org (web links added by AFTAH); to donate to Liberty Counsel, go HERE:
Washington, DC—The Supreme Court passed on Liberty Counsel’s petition regarding California’s ban on change therapy in the case of Pickup v. Brown. Two lower court judges and two separate appellate panels have issued conflicting opinions upholding and blocking the ban on change therapy. A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an injunction pending appeal, followed by a three-judge panel that upheld the law. That panel then agreed to continue the injunction blocking the law until he Supreme Court had a chance to weigh in on the case. Today’s decision by the Supreme Court to pass on the case means the proceeding will go back to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which could lift the injunction and allow the law to go into effect.
Former homosexual David Pickup says, “Reparative Therapy helped save my life.” Read his testimony HERE; read other ex-“gay” and ex-lesbian testimonies on the PFOX website.
The California law was the first to restrict licensed counselors from offering, and minor clients and their parents from receiving, any counsel to change unwanted same-sex attractions, behaviors, or identity.
“I am deeply saddened for the families we represent and for the thousands of children that our professional clients counsel, many of whom developed these unwanted attractions because of abuse of a pedophile. The minors we represent do not want to act on same-sex attractions, nor do they want to engage in such behavior. They are greatly benefiting from this counseling. Their grades have gone up, their self-esteem has improved, and their relationships at home are much improved,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. “These children have been victimized twice – first by the likes of Jerry Sandusky, and second by legislators and judges who have essentially barged into their private therapy rooms and told them that they must pursue their unwanted and dangerous same-sex sexual attractions and behavior,” said Staver.
Jack Roeser, a phenomenally successful entrepreneur, leading Illinois conservative philanthropist and a faithful AFTAH and pro-family benefactor, passed away June 13 at the age of 90.
I got to know Jack long after he had achieved his business success. I remember a decade ago when he gave me a tour of Otto Engineering–which he started humbly in his basement in 1961 in Park Ridge, Illinois (childhood home of Hillary Rodham Clinton)–and which makes specialty electronic and communications products, including control switches for American fighter jets. Though by this point Jack was retired from day-to-day operations at Otto, he was hardly detached as he proudly explained the history of Otto, including products he invented that were still key to the company’s success.
It was Jack’s ingenuity and determination that builtOtto. A friend, relaying a conversation with Jack, told how he was awarded a coveted supplier contract by simply out-hustling much larger, competing corporations and by demonstrating Otto’s ability to rapidly turn around his innovative switch design. Jack was truly a classic American success story–a living testimony of what one person can accomplish in a free society that rewards hard work and creativity. [See this Breitbart tribute to Jack.]
A little-known legacy of Jack’s is how Otto’s continued growth and success dramatically transformed the small town of Carpentersville, Illinois, where it is based. Otto, now run by Jack’s son, Tom, employs around 600 people in its beautifully-restored factory complex on Main Street along the Fox River. In 2008, Tom and Jack launched a remarkable home renovation project, Homes by Otto, that has rejuvenated Carpentersville, one gutted-and-rebuilt house at a time. It is a model for private industry and charity doing efficiently what governments the world over have failed to do despite their profligate spending of taxpayer dollars (think HUD projects). [See this FOX News interview with Tom Roeser.]
So Jack’s legacy of productive and compassionate conservatism lives on through his son. I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree after all.
You can watch a short video celebrating Jack’s fascinating life produced before his death below.
Fighting the Left
Jack was an engineering genius with more than 50 patents, but he was no fan of the Left’s social engineering. He possessed the wisdom and common sense of a more grounded and God-fearing generation that instinctively knows the difference between right and wrong. Scoffing at the idea of legal “same-sex marriage,” he didn’t need to be convinced of the immorality of homosexuality–and the folly of promoting it through the government as a “civil right.”
WARNING: contains photo with male rear nudity; graphic acts described
Manhood Crisis: The leftist “Right Wing Watch”–a project of People For the American Way–did not like AFTAH president Peter LaBarbera’s criticism of “leather” male homosexuality as “faux masculity.” LaBarbera’s comments were focused on pseudo-macho “leathermen,” but all of male homosexuality revolves around a crisis of manhood. See RWW’s short video below and also the longer interview with David Ortiz from which it was excerpted.
By Peter LaBarbera
Folks, one of many “elephants in the room” of politically incorrect topics that most people dare not discuss in debating homosexuality is that–for self-described “gay” men–homosexuality is a masculinity crisis. The bottom line, confirmed tragically by nature and the design of our bodies, is that men were never intended by their Creator to have “sex” with other men–and certainly not with adolescent boys, a common practice of male homosexuality throughout history. The converse is also true: lesbianism is a femininity crisis, although there are some key differences between male and female homosexualities.
When we as common-sense, God-respecting conservatives bring out basic points like this, it enrages our “progressive” foes. How dare we publicly violate the tenets of their core, deviant orthodoxy–that LGBT practice and ideology are not to be questioned, at least by outsiders. Thus it was to be expected that Right Wing Watch–a mischievous arm of People For the American Way (PFAW), the leftist outfit founded by Norman Lear–would not like my recent interview with YouTube host David Ortiz.
Is this real “masculinity”?Contestants at the annual “International Mr. Leather” contest in Chicago Labor Day weekend 2014 line up with rear ends bared for the judges. The sadomasochistic male “leather” movement features pseudo-“macho” homosexuals who engage in rough sex, including, for some, heinous perversions such as “fisting” and “pig sex” orgies. Certainly, despite their play-acting at toughness, this is the ultimate perversion of true, godly masculinity. Men were never intended by their Creator to have “sex” with other men. In fact, the Bible says such sins are “detestable” in God’s sight. Photo: IML website.
Below is the short excerpt of my June 2 Skype interview with Ortiz, a portion of which was posted by Right Wing Watch, followed by the actual interview divided into three parts. Ortiz started the discussion by declaring, “You cannot be a masculine nation and support homosexuality, in my opinion.” From there I brought up the pitiable homosexual “leathermen,” with their “overkill” attempt at being “macho men”–even as they engage in the most degrading (and unmanly) sexual perversions known to the human race–not the least of which is male-to-male anal sodomy.
I brought up with David Ortiz the uber-debauched “International Mr. Leather” (IML) spectacle held every Memorial Day weekend in Chicago, and hosted by a major hotel–this year the Marriott Hotel on Magnificent Mile. Once again, purveyors of leather-sex hawked their deviant wares and twisted pornography at IML, as the nights were filled with homosexual orgies so vile that it is difficult for the Average Joe to imagine such evil. (Then the poor hotel staff have to disinfect the rooms afterward.)
What is fascinating about left-wing “tolerance/diversity” ideology is that it invariably leads to the acceptance and lack of questioning of even the most extreme–and obviously dysfunctional–subcultures of whatever “protected category” is in question, in this case, the LGBTQ movement. As AFTAH has shown and will continue to show, there is nothing more bizarre, and wrong, than the homosexual BDSM (bondage & discipline, dominance & submission, sadism & masochism) world, which is now drawing plenty of “kinky” heterosexuals as well.
I just talked with our lawyer Michael Weber (part of Tom Schuck’s NSWB lawfirm). The trial date for Peter LaBarbera and I for witnessing at the University of Regina will be October 29, 2014. We were charged with Mischief after we set up abortion signs and one sign saying “Sodomy is a sin,” on the public walkway at the University of Regina back on April 14th. Approximately 20 or so pro-abortion and pro-homosexual protesters set up a counter protest across from us. Notwithstanding that I have two Court of Queen’s Bench decisions affirming my right to protest on public university campuses, Peter and I were arrested and charged and the pro-abortion/pro-homosexual protesters were allowed to continue with their demonstration unmolested.
No ray of sunshine, no warm ocean breeze rustling through the palm leaves can bring cheer to Isla Vista. A cloud of sorrow covers the picturesque college town and seeps though every fastened gate, through every locked and bolted door, and pierces every bewildered heart.
Nothing is more precious than the life of a young woman who eagerly awaits the joys of life. And no hurt exceeds the pain of a father or mother who sees a cap and gown replaced by a funeral shroud.
America should weep bitter tears over this. America must. Like the Prodigal Son who abandoned his father’s ample table to feed on the husks of swine, America has exchanged traditional views on marriage and the family for an unworkable code of sexual liberation. Under this dubious code, each man and woman becomes a law unto himself. If anyone doubts this, let him contemplate the words of the perpetrator. In his final message to society, Elliot Rodger declared himself to be beyond the commands and prohibitions of any law, human or divine.
Elliot Rodger’s understanding of human existence and sexual morality was gleaned at random from pop culture, lurid movies, and violent video games. Far from regarding women as a helpmate, life-long companion, and future mother of his children–which is the Christian view of marriage–Rodger saw women as a potential sexual conquest, a sort of prey.
In my 30-year battle for the family and marriage, insofar as God gave me the strength and wisdom to do so, I warned of the extreme danger which results from a wrong understanding of human sexuality. My warnings were rejected, both by society at large and by the pro-family movement, as alarmist, intolerant, and divisive.
Even since the recent recording of this video interview by Monte Larrick of the Illinois Family Institute (published June 21, 2014 and recorded the week before), yet another Republican governor has capitulated to judicial activism on same-sex “marriage.” Go HERE for a local CBS-Pittsburgh TV news report on Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett deciding not to appeal U.S. District Court Judge John Jones III’s ruling imposing homosexual “marriages” on Pennsylvania. Note that Corbett–like Illinois GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner, as well as Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder–does not want to discuss “gay marriage” publicly. Since when did defending marriage as between a man and a woman become the third rail in Republican politics?–Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH
AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera being hand-cuffed and arrested April 14 after standing up against abortion and homosexual “marriage” at the University of Regina. LaBarbera and Canadian pro-family activist Bill Whatcott have pleaded not guilty to the charge of “mischief” following their peaceful protest at the university.
Folks, my friend Bill Whatcott and I have entered a Not Guilty plea to the charge of “mischief” leveled against us at the instigation of left-leaning University of Regina officials who didn’t like our pro-life and anti-homosexual-agenda viewpoint being aired at their campus. Bill and I were arrested and jailed April 14, 2014 after merely standing up for life and traditional marriage at the university in a peaceful and civil protest. The arrest came just days after this writer was first denied entry into Canada–and then allowed in after appeal–to give a presentation as an invited speaker at a Saskatchewan pro-life event. Here is a report on our not guilty plea in the Regina Leader-Post. There are additional links to other aspects of the Canada story at the Leader-Post website. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH
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Whatcott, LaBarbera plead not guilty
BY TERRENCE MCEACHERN, REGINA LEADER-POST JUNE 17, 2014
REGINA — Two anti-gay advocates entered not guilty pleas on Monday regarding an incident on the University of Regina campus in April.
The not guilty pleas for mischief for Bill Whatcott and Peter LaBarbera were entered by Weyburn lawyer Michael Weger. The matter is scheduled to be back in Regina Provincial Court on June 23 to set a trial date.
Whatcott and LaBarbera were arrested on April 14 after refusing to leave the U of R campus when ordered to do so by security and the Regina Police Service.
Whatcott and LaBarbera set up an anti-abortion display on campus and handed out anti-LGBT literature, deemed by university officials as potentially harmful to members of the university community.
The incident came days after LaBarbera, head of the organization Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, spoke in Weyburn at the Saskatchewan Pro-Life convention.
LaBarbera was initially denied access to Canada over concerns of spreading hate speech, but won an appeal and agreed to leave Saskatchewan by April 17.
Whatcott has been in trouble before for distributing anti-homosexual literature. In 2005, the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission ruled he was guilty of inciting hatred against homosexuals in pamphlets he distributed to homes in Regina and Saskatoon in 2001 and 2002.
On Feb. 27, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the SHRC’s decision.
