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AFTAH Honors Bob Reilly: AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera presents 2015 “American Truth Teller Award” to Bob Reilly at the Americans For Truth Chicago banquet Oct. 17. Reilly is author of “Making Gay Okay: How Rationalizing Homosexual Behavior Is Changing Everything”–which advances a principled argument against homosexualism. Reilly is speaking at a second AFTAH banquet in the Washington, DC area on Sat. Nov. 21. [Click HERE for more info and HERE to sign up.] Click on photo to enlarge.
Folks, here is a report on Americans For Truth’s dinner banquet Oct. 17–by Nancy Thorner of Illinois Review. Thanks to all who came to the banquet at Christian Liberty Academy. It was a wonderful evening, with author Bob Reilly (“Making Gay Okay: How Rationalizing Homosexual Behavior Is Changing Everything“) brilliantly expounding on Natural Law.
How shameful it is to the pro-family “conservative” movement that Bob’s principled work–cutting to the core of this vexing issue–has not been promoted enthusiastically at all levels (National Review refused to review it). If you make a gift to AFTAH of $100, we will send you both the book and a DVD video of the Oct. 17 banquet.
Thank you, AFTAH supporters–old and new–it is your generosity that enables our ongoing work of answering Big Sodomy’s cultural lies with facts and Truth. If you could not make it Oct. 17, please send a gift to AFTAH, PO Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522. Or go to our new AFTAH Donate Page HERE. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH
Thorner: Robert Reilly Keynotes Annual AFTAH Dinner-Banquet
By Nancy Thorner –
The Americans for Truth annual dinner-banquet was held on Saturday, October 17 at Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights, IL. The Church of Christian Liberty, Calvin Lindstrom, pastor, provides oversight for the Academy as one of its ministries, though students and parents are not required to be members or attend the church. Pastor Lindstrom succeeded his dad, Dr. Paul Lindstrom, in 2002, who was the founder of Christian Liberty Academy and the Church of Christian Liberty.
Peter LaBarbera is founder & president of “Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH),” a non-profit group, founded as a part-time venture in 1996, but later reorganized in August of 2006. AFTAH remains a rare single issue group that seeks to apply the same single-minded determination to opposing the radical homosexual agenda and standing for God-ordained sexuality and the natural family, as countless homosexual groups do in promoting their agenda.
John Kirkwood, Pastor at Grace Gospel Fellowship in Bensenville, Illinois, and a weekly contributor for Clash Daily, was on hand to assist LaBarbera in the night’s activities.
In his opening remarks, Peter LaBarbera informed attendees that his organization, “Americans for Truth” will be moving from its Illinois headquarters to Washington D.C. where there is a greater media platform to get his message out. Despite the change of name, the group’s purpose will not change. LaBarbera used to work in Washington, D.C., so he has a network of friends to draw upon. LaBarbera, however, did promise to come back to Illinois every year hold the annual AFT banquet at Christian Liberty Academy.
Following the “Pledge of Allegiance” led by LaBarbara and the prayer by Pastor Lindstrom, two short clips were shown prior to dinner being served. By far the most disturbing one was a clip about Emily who is now Emmett. View here the imbalanced 6-minute segment on the sad story of a 17-year-old teen from Gurnee, Illinois. “Emmett” Paschal (née Emily), who attends Warren Township High School, is a girl who wishes she were a boy. “Emmett” recently underwent a double mastectomy and began taking the cross-sex steroid testosterone in her quest to conceal her objective biological sex.
Peter LaBarbera reasoned that medical decisions requiring body disfiguring operations should be delayed until adulthood. Further comments by LaBarbara mentioned 1) the existence of a Chicago Leather Archives which is referred to in tourist guides as a museum, even though this facility contains pedophile information, and 2) the sponsorship of this year’s gay parade in New York City by Walmart to which many children viewed when brought by their parents.
Linda Harvey of “Mission America” condemns “Inequality and Injustice Act”
Linda Harvey, founder of “Mission America”, was introduced by Peter LaBarbera as the night’s first speaker. LaBarbera used the occasion to announce that Harvey would be the keynote speaker at next year’s “Americans For Truth” banquet.
“Mission America” is an American Christian organization based in Columbus, Ohio founded in 1995 that seeks to “cover the latest cultural and social trends in our country and what they might mean for Christians. This media ministry of Linda Harvey is an outgrowth of her Christian faith and a successful career in journalism, marketing and public relations. Her articles have appeared in national publications, including the Internet news site World Net Daily.
Harvey spoke about the “Inequality and Injustice Act” [pro-LGBTQ “Equality Act”] which cannot be permitted to pass. Its purpose is to change the 1964 Civil Rights codes. The bill in the House is designated as HR 3185, while in the Senate it is listed under S 1858. So far there are 170 sponsors in the House, no Republicans, but they are vulnerable to caving in. If enacted, the deceptively titled Equality Act would punish dissenters who disagree with same-sex marriage by using the enforcement tools of the amended Civil Rights Act of 1964, but with even greater force and scope. The Equality Act seeks to weaponize Obergefell, moving with lightning speed from a contentious five-to-four victory on same-sex marriage to a nationwide rule that “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” are privileged classes that give no quarter to Americans who continue to believe and seek to exercise their millennia-old religious belief that marriage and sexual relations are reserved to the union of one man and one woman, Harvey said.
On Thursday (Oct. 22, 2015), I appeared as a guest on Stacy Harp’s “Bible Radio News” show. Stacy is the hard-working founder of Active Christian Media and a longtime Christian pro-family advocate–a sort of one-woman dynamo for Biblical Truth. As you can hear from listening to the podcast below, Stacy overcame homosexual thoughts and temptations in her own life as a child and teenager (but never embraced them). As a clinical trained marriage and family therapist with a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology, she is well-equipped to analyze the factors underlying homosexual confusion. We discuss: how homosexualist propaganda works; the proper Christian attitude toward people struggling with homosexual desires; false (anti-) Christian theology that is embracing the idea of positive “gay” “sexual orientation” (in the name of Gospel outreach); the power and tactics of the homosexual activist movement; the homosexual “10 Percent” population myth; and the largely untold story–in the increasingly pro-LGBTQ media–of “ex-gays,” men and women who have overcome the pull of homosexuality in their lives. See Stacy’s Facebook page HERE. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH
P.S. Here is the Amazon link for the book I mention–Gay…Or Not? One Christian Man’s Journey–by former homosexual Jerry Heacock. Please support him by buying and promoting this important book. It will also bless you and help you grow as a Christian believer.
Check Out Christianity Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Bible News Radio on BlogTalkRadio
For the record, I wish Pope Francis had more open and direct in his support of Kim Davis as he was in pushing the “progressive” “Climate Change” agenda. Nevertheless, the pro-LGBTQ Left is busy at work trying to nullify the significance of his meeting with Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, and it appears the Vatican through its spokesmen is adding to the obfuscation. Here is Liberty Counsel’s full news release on Davis’ meeting with the pope. — Peter LaBarbera, Americans For Truth
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Facts About Kim Davis’s Meeting with the Pope
Oct 2, 2015
Washington, DC – The facts about the meeting with Kim Davis have been told, but we will again set forth the details of the meeting with an additional fact
The meeting with Kim Davis was initiated on September 14. While we do not know everyone who was part of the invitation, we do know that The Apostolic Nuncio of the Holy See to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, personally spoke with Kim Davis about the invitation. The invitation was for a private meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican Embassy in Washington, D.C., on Thursday afternoon, September 24. This meeting was a private meeting. No other members of the public were present.
Kim Davis and her attorney, Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel, originally planned to be in Washington, D.C., on Thursday afternoon. But when the unsolicited invitation was extended to Kim and her attorneys, they changed their arrival time to Wednesday evening. On the evening of September 23, Kim Davis received another call about the meeting the next day. She was instructed to wear her hair up because she was so recognizable. Around 8:00 a.m. on September 24, Kim received another call confirming the time of the pickup at 1:15 p.m.
At 1:15 p.m. Staver accompanied Kim and Joe Davis to meet two male security personnel dressed in suits and wearing earphones. Staver confirmed they were seeking Kim Davis. They spoke in heavy Italian accents. Staver accompanied Kim and Joe Davis to a waiting van and remained at the hotel and in regular contact with Kim.
Kim and Joe Davis were placed in a room with no one else present. Later Pope Francis arrived with only Vatican or Embassy personnel and security. He stretched out his hands. Kim clasped his hands, and he asked her to pray for him. She said she would, and she asked the Pontiff to pray for her, to which he said he would. Pope Francis then thanked Kim for her “courage.” They embraced. The Pope said, “Stay strong.” He then presented Kim and Joe with two Rosaries.
There was no line of people or other members of the public seen anywhere. With Kim being so recognizable, it would have been impossible to keep the visit secret if other members of the public were anywhere near the Pontiff and or Kim Davis.
Must Read: Author Robert Reilly is leading the intellectual campaign for the pro-family to return to principle in confronting the homosexual activist juggernaut. Reilly is keynoter at two upcoming AFTAH banquets, Oct. 17 in Chicago and Nov. 21 in Washington, D.C. More information HERE. Special Gift Opportunity: Make a $100 gift to AFTAH and receive Reilly’s book “Making Gay Okay” or your choice of several other outstanding resources; more info HERE.
Truth…
“For homosexual couples, the marital act is physically impossible – the pieces don’t fit – and the attempt to imitate it through sodomy is incapable in any circumstances of generating new life. One thing that same-sex couples all share is a unique disability to express either the unitive or procreative essence of conjugal relations. For these reasons, among many others, common law has held through the centuries that marriage can be only between a man and a woman….
“If sodomy is wrong, then it cannot be the basis of marriage.”— Robert Reilly, author, “Making Gay Okay”
…vs. Error:
“Our position on the constitutional issue [of homosexual ‘marriage’] was thus entirely distinct from,and did not take sides on, the social policy issue. Indeed, in my initial appearance in the District Court, I stated that if the tables were turned – if California’s voters had adopted gay marriage, as the voters of several states now have – I would be no less willing to defend their right to make that decision too.” — Charles Cooper, lead “pro-family” attorney defending Proposition 8, California’s statewide amendment preserving marriage as solely between a man and a woman — passed by voters in 2008 but struck down by (homosexual) District Judge Vaughn Walker in 2010, whose ruling was allowed to stand by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013.
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AFTAH Dinner -Banquet Sat., Oct. 17, 2015 featuring Robert Reilly: More info and sign up HERE
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Folks, below is an excellent column by Robert Reilly–who is the keynote speaker at both AFTAH banquets, Sat., Oct. 17 in Chicago (Arlington Heights, IL) and Sat., Nov. 21 in Washington, DC (Vienna, VA). Reilly ably lays out the compromises and weakness in the pro-family legal strategy that helped pave the way for the imposition of homosexual “marriage” by the courts, culminating in the Supreme Court’s unconstitutional Obergefell ruling.
Note: Special Gift Opportunity: Make a $100 gift to AFTAH and receive Reilly’s book “Making Gay Okay” or your choice of several other outstanding resources [more info HERE]. I am reading this superb book — and learning a lot. I highly recommend that you do, also. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH
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Same-Sex ‘Marriage’ Goes Against the ‘Laws of Nature and Nature’s God’
By Robert R. Reilly | June 9, 2015 |
Why have the pro-natural family forces been losing in court? Intentionally or not, Judge Richard Posner explained the reason in a 7th Circuit Court ruling (Sept. 4, 2014), in which he decided against the Indiana and Wisconsin laws restricting marriage to a man and a woman:
“The state [Wisconsin] does not mention Justice Alito’s invocation [in the Windsor case] of a moral case against same-sex marriage, when he states in his dissent that ‘others explain the basis for the institution in more philosophical terms. They argue that marriage is essentially the solemnizing of a comprehensive, exclusive, permanent union that is intrinsically ordered to producing new life, even if it does not always do so.’ [U.S. v. Windsor, 133 S.Ct. 2675, 2718 (2013).] That is a moral argument for limiting marriage to heterosexuals. The state does not mention the argument because as we said, it mounts no moral arguments against same-sex marriage.” Baskin v. Bogan, 766 F.3d 648, 669 (7thCir. 2014) (emphasis added).
While Justice Alito recognizes that there is a moral argument for limiting marriage to heterosexuals, it was not only the State of Wisconsin that failed to make such a case. Neither have the States of Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, or Tennessee in Obergefell, the decisive case now before the U.S. Supreme Court. [Editor: On June 26, 2015, the Court ruled 5-4 that homosexual “marriage” is a constitutional right.] I believe that this is one of the key reasons that the pro-natural family position has been losing in most of the cases thus far.
With the moral foundation missing, an air of unreality pervades the federal court system. Let us see how unreal by looking at a couple of examples. When invalidating Oregon’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage (May 19, 2014), U.S. District Judge Michael McShanewrote in his opinion,
“I believe that if we can look for a moment past gender and sexuality, we can see in these [same-sex] plaintiffs nothing more or less than our own families. Families who we would expect our constitution to protect, if not exalt, in equal measure.” Geiger v. Kitzhaber, 994 F. Supp. 2d 1128, 1147 (D. Or. 2014).
This is an extraordinary remark. What Judge McShane calls “gender and sexuality” is the only means by which families are generated. Since families come from parents, you cannot look past parents and still have a family – because there would be no family there. Homosexual acts cannot generate families; therefore, their “families” cannot be the same. If there are children present, we may be sure that both parents of the children are not present in that family. That is a lot to look past.
The case against sodomy: How to use reason and natural law to argue against homosexual acts and ‘gay marriage’
Explaining Why Homosexual Behavior Is Wrong: Robert Reilly, author of ‘Making Gay Okay: How Rationalizing Homosexual Behavior Is Changing Everything,’ will speak at AFTAH’s annual dinner-banquet Saturday, October 17th at Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights, IL. Sign up online HERE. Tickets are $20/person or $200 for a Table of 10. Send a check with “AFTAH Banquet” on the memo line to: AFTAH, PO Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522. For a printable PDF color flier of the event, click HERE.
What: Americans For Truth About Homosexuality’s (AFTAH) annual dinner-banquet fund-raiser
Who: Keynote speaker: Robert Reilly, author, ‘Making Gay Okay: How Rationalizing Homosexual Behavior Is Changing Everything’ [order it HERE or on Amazon]. Reilly served as a Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan and was the Director of the Voice of America.
When: Saturday, October 17, 2015, 6:00 PM Central; doors open at 5:30.
Where: Christian Liberty Academy, 502 W. Euclid Ave., Arlington Heights, IL 60004. Map HERE.
Cost: Only $20 per person. Sponsor a Table of 10 for just $200. Or sponsor 5 attendees for $100. Send check made out to “AFTAH” to: AFTAH, PO Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522. Or sign up online using our safe credit card form (check the box for Banquet Registration or to sign up to sponsor a Table of 10).
PDF Flier: For a printable PDF color flier on the Oct. 17 event, click HERE.
UPDATE: Stellar pro-family advocate Linda Harvey of Mission America (and a WND.com columnist) will also be speaking at the AFTAH banquet Saturday, Oct. 17!)
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Second AFTAH Banquet in Wash., DC on Nov. 21: Americans For Truth will be hosting Robert Reilly for a second dinner-banquet in the Washington, D.C. area on Saturday, Nov. 21. Stay tuned for more details.
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Crafting a Principled Strategy: At a recent speaking appearance in Chicago, Reilly explained how the dominant pro-family movement strategy of the last decade of focusing on a positive defense of natural marriage and consciously avoiding discussing homosexuality is “the losing strategy. That is how we lost.” Reilly continued:
“The entire issue is based on the morality or immorality of sodomy. And once you’re no longer willing to address that issue or if you concede that issue, you have lost, and you’ll get rolled on the religious freedom issue as well.”
Amen. It is such clear and principled thinking that sets Reilly apart from many pro-family leaders. We live in bizarre times in which even some who profess to be “conservatives” are making the radical case for “marriage” based on the sexual perversion (and sin) of homosexuality. Shame on them for debasing conservatism and Christianity all at once. But I am greatly encouraged that Reilly’s well-reasoned approach is beginning to gain ground as we endeavor to rebuild the foundation for an aggressive defense of Truth on this vexing issue. We greatly look forward to Bob’s presentation October 17: please mark your calendars and tell your friends! This article below appeared in many online publications, including CNS News. – Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH; Email: americansfortruth@gmail.com; Phone: 312-324-3787
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Below is an excellent column by Robert Reilly that lays out the compromise in the pro-family legal strategy that helped pave the way for the imposition of homosexual “marriage” by the courts, culminating in the Supreme Court’s Obergefell ruling:
Same-Sex ‘Marriage’ Goes Against the ‘Laws of Nature and Nature’s God’
By Robert R. Reilly | June 9, 2015 |
Why have the pro-natural family forces been losing in court? Intentionally or not, Judge Richard Posner explained the reason in a 7th Circuit Court ruling (Sept. 4, 2014), in which he decided against the Indiana and Wisconsin laws restricting marriage to a man and a woman:
“The state [Wisconsin] does not mention Justice Alito’s invocation [in the Windsor case] of a moral case against same-sex marriage, when he states in his dissent that ‘others explain the basis for the institution in more philosophical terms. They argue that marriage is essentially the solemnizing of a comprehensive, exclusive, permanent union that is intrinsically ordered to producing new life, even if it does not always do so.’ [U.S. v. Windsor, 133 S.Ct. 2675, 2718 (2013).] That is a moral argument for limiting marriage to heterosexuals. The state does not mention the argument because as we said, it mounts no moral arguments against same-sex marriage.” Baskin v. Bogan, 766 F.3d 648, 669 (7thCir. 2014) (emphasis added).
While Justice Alito recognizes that there is a moral argument for limiting marriage to heterosexuals, it was not only the State of Wisconsin that failed to make such a case. Neither have the States of Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, or Tennessee in Obergefell, the decisive case now before the U.S. Supreme Court. I believe that this is one of the key reasons that the pro-natural family position has been losing in most of the cases thus far.
Fox News host dumps on Kentucky clerk; Kincaid questions “Rule of Law” assertions–including by Donald Trump
Fox News’ Shep Smith Joins Kim Davis-haters on the Left: see his comments in the video below at the 8:00-min. mark, and at 12:45. To see Peter LaBarbera’s in-depth 2013 report on Fox News’ growing pro-homosexual bias. go HERE.
Folks, I appeared last week (Sept. 4, 2015) as a guest on America’s Survival’s Roku show with my friend Cliff Kincaid–who does yeoman’s work in exposing the freedom-threatening homosexualist agenda [see America’s Survival’s website HERE and the AS report I wrote in 2013 about Fox News’ pro-homosexual bias HERE]. Please note the rally in support of Kim Davis today (Sept. 8) at 3:00 PM Eastern Time at the Carter County Detention Center in Grayson, KY. Please share this video. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH; @Peter LaBarbera; americansfortruth@gmail.com.
Subject breakdown: In the 41-minute program we discussed:
4:00 – Kincaid and Peter LaBarbera (PL) on how the Supreme Court itself violates the “Rule of Law,” most recently with its anti-Constitutional Obergefell ruling;
7:00 – Background on Kim Davis case and rally on her behalf today (Sept. 8) at 3;00 ET at the Carter Co. Detention Center in Grayson, KY
8:00 – Shep Smith’s comments on Fox News disparaging Kim Davis and her past life (without mentioning her Christian conversion four years ago (shows Fox clip);
9:45 – PL on the Left as the “New Pharisees” — with their harsh judgment of Davis and her past sins;
12;45 – Christians like racists? More on Shep Smith: his comments on Fox News comparing Christians seeking exemptions to pro-homosexual laws to southern, pro-segregationists seeking Civil Rights exemptions: (shows second Fox clip) … [more time breakouts follow after jump and beneath video]:
Sen. Cruz: “The religious liberty threat is real. They are coming for each of us, and Kim Davis is only the first.”
Folks, this is a wonderful and enlightening exchange between talk show host and author Mark Levin and GOP presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz on the situation of Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who refused post-Obergefell to issue official homosexual “marriage” licenses under her name due to her Christian beliefs. Davis was jailed yesterday and faces likely stiff penalties, if not extended jail time. This interview was recorded yesterday, September 3, 2015. Levin eviscerates the “rule of law” argument frame advanced by the Left and even many “conservatives” who do not seem to be willing to admit that the Supreme Court of the United States itself declared it above the “rule of law” by taking the issue of marriage away from the people. (Kentucky citizens voted by a whopping 75 percent in favor of a “one man/one woman” constitutional amendment in 2004.) — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH
Late yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court declined to extend the temporary stay of a federal court order involving Rowan County Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis. The federal court previously ordered Kim Davis to issue marriage licenses to the plaintiffs who filed suit against her. Liberty Counsel represents Kim Davis and appealed that order to the Court of Appeals. The lower court order was temporarily stayed until August 31, and, while the appeal is still pending, the stay of the order is no longer in effect. In light of these developments, Kim Davis released the following statement:
I have worked in the Rowan County Clerk’s office for 27 years as a Deputy Clerk and was honored to be elected as the Clerk in November 2014, and took office in January 2015. I love my job and the people of Rowan County. I have never lived any place other than Rowan County. Some people have said I should resign, but I have done my job well. This year we are on track to generate a surplus for the county of 1.5 million dollars.
In addition to my desire to serve the people of Rowan County, I owe my life to Jesus Christ who loves me and gave His life for me. Following the death of my godly mother-in-law over four years ago, I went to church to fulfill her dying wish. There I heard a message of grace and forgiveness and surrendered my life to Jesus Christ. I am not perfect. No one is. But I am forgiven and I love my Lord and must be obedient to Him and to the Word of God.
I never imagined a day like this would come, where I would be asked to violate a central teaching of Scripture and of Jesus Himself regarding marriage. To issue a marriage license which conflicts with God’s definition of marriage, with my name affixed to the certificate, would violate my conscience. It is not a light issue for me. It is a Heaven or Hell decision. For me it is a decision of obedience. I have no animosity toward anyone and harbor no ill will. To me this has never been a gay or lesbian issue. It is about marriage and God’s Word. It is a matter of religious liberty, which is protected under the First Amendment, the Kentucky Constitution, and in the Kentucky Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Our history is filled with accommodations for people’s religious freedom and conscience. I want to continue to perform my duties, but I also am requesting what our Founders envisioned – that conscience and religious freedom would be protected. That is all I am asking. I never sought to be in this position, and I would much rather not have been placed in this position. I have received death threats from people who do not know me. I harbor nothing against them. I was elected by the people to serve as the County Clerk. I intend to continue to serve the people of Rowan County, but I cannot violate my conscience.
