How ‘non-discrimination’ laws are used to discriminate against people of faith

First published by WorldNetDaily, June 15, 2012; this is the first half of Linda’s column; read the whole column on WND HERE:

Relatively few self-identified homosexuals get “married,” even when same-sex unions become legal. But perhaps that was never the main point anyway.   Respectability is what they are seeking. But to achieve this goal for behaviors that never can be intrinsically respectable, the power to massage the truth and to silence opponents is critical. How do you gain power? Restrict the rights of your enemies to express an opinion opposing homosexuality and same-sex “marriage.”

The most destructive weapons deployed to this end are sexual-orientation and gender-identity “non-discrimination” laws. The Senate just held its first hearings on ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and many states and municipalities continue to be confronted with this unneeded legislation. As they hear the pleas about someone being fired “just for being ‘gay’ or ‘transgender,’” politicians would be wise to review the history.

Such policies routinely clobber people of faith who don’t agree with same-sex “marriage” or with the open expression of this behavior in the workplace, in schools and in public accommodations, by people who often lack good sense and good judgment. The cost of disagreement? Just your job, your reputation, your bank account and/or your religious liberty.

And we know where the “Gay”-Activist-in-Chief stands on religious freedom, right? Obama is leading the charge on restroom rights for radicals as well. June is once again “Pride” month, and the White House issued a glowing proclamation of support for this noble cause, which Obama thinks is “stronger than hate.” So there you have it.

AG Lisa Madigan supports ACLU/homosexual lawsuits against the law she is supposed to defend

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan with homosexual activist Art Johnston at a 2007 homosexual activist fundraising banquet in Chicago. This photo appears on the Illinois Attorney General's website. Click on graphic to enlarge.

This is an important essay by my friend Laurie Higgins of Illinois Family Institute (IFI) — and not just for those of us living in Illinois. Following the lead of President Obama, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has abandoned the rule of law to kowtow to the desires of the ACLU and homosexual activists — a departure from her sworn law enforcement duties so extreme that it even shocked homosexual activists (see below). Lisa Madigan — daughter of House Speaker Mike Madigan (D), the most powerful politician in the state– is a longtime political ally of the homosexual lobby in Chicago (see graphic).

IFI and the Thomas More Society will be working with Alliance Defense Fund to defend the existing Illinois Marriage Law that Madigan and other top officeholders (all Democrats) refuse to defend. The following is an excellent primer on the public policy rationale for defending natural marriage, the misapplication of “civil rights” arguments to the homosexual “marriage” issue, and the difference between past discrimination based on race and that necessary legal distinctions based on volitional homosexual conduct. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH

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Marriage Law Under Assault in Illinois

By Laurie Higgins, Illinois Family Institute | June 18, 2012

Lambda Legal in cahoots with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Illinois are suing the Cook County Clerk for purportedly violating the Constitution of Illinois when Cook County refused to issue marriage licenses to men who sought to marry men and women who sought to marry women. To make matters worse, these ethically challenged Illinois leaders have all expressed support for the lawsuit: Governor Patrick Quinn, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, and Cook County Clerk David Orr.

Lambda Legal is a homosexual legal organization hell-bent on using the judicial system to bypass the will of the people in order to impose its subversive sexuality theories on the entire country. This is the organization that shoved same-sex marriage down the throats of Iowans, which, not incidentally, brought the electoral defeat of those judges who threw their lots in with Lambda Legal.

TAKE ACTION: Contact General Millis through their online form HERE or:

By Phone: call 1-800-248-7310 between (7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. CT, weekdays)
By Fax: 1-763-764-8330.
By Letter: their mailing address:

General Mills, Inc.
P.O. Box 9452
Minneapolis, MN 55440

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Remember when Big Business was conservative and was protested by hippies and leftists? Well now, socially speaking, corporate titans are siding with the Left against historic Judeo-Christian values — and God-fearing Christians and Jews are chiding the soulless, capitalist sellouts. The latest Behemoth to kick the Creator to the curb is General Mills — seemingly right up there with apple pie and motherhood as a symbol of American wholesomeness, but no more.

General Mills is maker of these iconic breakfast cereals:

Cheerios
Chex
Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Fiber One
Kix
Lucky Charms
Monsters
Total
Trix
Wheaties

In bowing to the revolutionary, homosexualist redefinition of marriage, the cereal giant has had to re-invent morality itself. Thus it employs the same sanctimonious Diversity Doublespeak as all social leftists who — no matter what destructive policies they pursue — pat themselves on the back for being on the side of “progress.” How telling that a company like General Mills is now serving up the pablum of “inclusion” to justify its immoral turn.

The following are the remarks of Michael Heath, Co-Chairman of the Maine No Special Rights Campaign, on June 9, 2012, at the Lewiston City Hall Steps in Lewiston, Maine. Heath, Co-Chairman Paul Madore and No Special Rights are opposing a ballot initiative in November to legalize homosexual “marriage” in Maine:

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As our society continues her descent into the gloomy depths love compels us to come together here today.  The inky blackness of evil only appears solid.  The flicker of a solitary candle reveals the deception.  Light always forces darkness to flee.  Darkness has no power over light … and love.

Sodomy, and those who practice it, choose to live in the darkness.  First they convince themselves that evil is good, and then they must convince everyone else.

The siren song of sexual pleasure entices them from the righteous course God prepared for them in eternity.  The clanging song excites them for a minute, but the pleasure always flees before the moment passes.  And so it will be with Maine.

The most unloving and intolerant act we could choose to perform would be to not engage the people of Maine in a conversation about morality, sodomy and sin.  My heart is heavy, for the institution most capable of leading this conversation is itself now turning her head in the direction of the siren’s song.

The church must repent.  It must choose clarity and courage over political correctness and sin.

The following is a graphic created by the Washington Times for its article (June 11, 2012) reporting on the new Social Science Research journal study by University of Texas researcher Mark Regnerus on the dramatic differences in children raised by intact, biological parents compared to two lesbians:

This is Part One of a three-part interview with Peter Sprigg [click HERE to listen], Senior Fellow for Policy Studies at the Family Research Council. This podcast was recorded June 14, 2012. Sprigg is the author of “Outrage: How Gay Activists and Liberal Judges Are Trashing Democracy to Redefine Marriage” (Regnery, 2004), and is co-editor of the FRC book “Getting It Straight: What the Research Shows about Homosexuality.” The bulk of this interview deals with the new study on homosexual parenting” by University of Texas scholar Mark Regnerus, appearing in the journal Social Science Research (June 10, 2012). The study found dramatic differences between children raised in normal, mom-and-dad families and those raised in lesbian-led households. Sprigg is also on the Board of PFOX (Parents & Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays). Joining program host Peter LaBarbera of Americans For Truth is Pastor John Kirkwood of Grace Gospel Fellowship Church in Bensenville, IL.

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.

6-14-12, Peter Sprigg, Part One

Ignacio Arsuaga of the Spanish pro-family group Hazte-Oir ("Speak Out"), which hosted the highly successful World Congress of Families VI conference in Madrid.

AFTAH’s Peter LaBarbera and Pastor John Kirkwood interview Ignacia Arsuaga [click HERE to listen], founder and president of the Spanish pro-family/pro-life group Hazte-Oir (roughly translated, “Speak Out”). Hazte-Oir did an outstanding job as the main local host joining with the Rockford, Illinois-based Howard Center to put on the World Congress of Families VI conference late May in Madrid. It drew more than 3,000 attendees, including representatives from Americans For Truth and 130 other pro-family groups from across the globe. This interview occurred May 31, 2012. Arsuaga discusses the failed pressure campaign by homosexual and leftist activists against the conference, and also how Madrid’s homosexual lobby targed Catholic Bishop Juan Antonio Reig Plà (of the diocese of Alcalá de Henares), after Reig Plà included homosexual behavior among other sins that war against the soul in a homily. Hazte-Oir and its followers rallied to support of Reig Pia, who received a standing ovation at the WCF conference. Arsuago, speaking here in his second language, English, discusses the state of the pro-family movement in Spain, and how his organizations mobilizes young people to stand for truth in the Culture War.

TAKE ACTON: Hazte-Oir needs help to cover a financial deficit from the huge undertaking of hosting an international conference. Please help them by making a donation at: http://congresomundial.es/help-us/.

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.

6-3-12, Ignacio Arsuaga

Wooden responds to CNN host Don Lemon calling opponents of homosexual “marriage” “sexual rednecks”…

North Carolina pastor Patrick Wooden, here being interviewed following AFTAH's press conference exposing the Southern Poverty Law Center's politicized "hate" agenda.

The following is Part Two of AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera’s interview with Patrick Wooden [click HERE to listen], a key leader in the successful effort in North Carolina to pass a constitutional amendment affirming natural marriage (one-man, one-woman). This interview was conducted May 17, 2012; we apologize for the delays in posting it. Wooden, senior pastor at Upper Room Church of God in Christ, in Raleigh, N.C., discusses the “lies” used by pro-homosexual acitivists in his state to distort the effect of the Marriage Amendment, part of an “emotional strategy” aimed at discrediting it. Joining LaBarbera is John Kirkwood, pastor of Grace Gospel Fellowship Church in Bensenville, Illinois. Wooden responds to a tendentious segment by CNN host (and pederasty victim) Don Lemon comparing opponents of homosexual “marriage” to the late Alabama governor and segregationist George Wallace (and saying that Blacks and people defending traditional marriage risk being seen as “sexual rednecks”).

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.

5-19-12, Patrick Wooden, Part Two