If you don't want to miss anything posted on the Americans For Truth website, sign up for our "Feedblitz" service that gives you a daily email of every new article that we post. (This service DOES NOT replace the regular email list.) To sign up for the Feedblitz service, click here.
The world is overflowing with deception (good is evil, and evil is good), false religions and doctrines forged in Hell. Among the world’s false religions, there are none more sinister – in my opinion – than those that claim the name of Christ while espousing all kinds of unbiblical error and even things the Lord calls abomination. While other false religions are no less dangerous to the eternal spirits of those beguiled by them, it is supremely detestable when false gospels are presented under the name of Jesus.
Jesus is the Son of God, and He is God. He came to earth to offer Himself as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. We are all accountable to God for our sins. We are all born in sin, and we each struggle with sin all our lives (at least those of us who recognize our sinfulness struggle with it, but others may not consider it at all). Jesus lived a sinless life as God in the flesh, and his willing sacrifice on the cross was perfect and acceptable to cover the sins of anyone who would believe in Him. Jesus is the only way – the only way – for man to be reconciled to God. He died so we could be free from sin, not be “out and proud” of our sin! The devil knows this and wants to prevent as many people from being saved as he possibly can, so he has labored from the beginning of Christ’s earthly ministry to infiltrate the church, to infuse it with his evil, subtle deceptions and myriad divisions. He has been greatly successful.
Today, we see rampant apostasy in many so-called Christian churches. There are plenty of denominations and churches that have created their own set of man-made traditions and regulations apart from Scripture, and in some cases, contrary to it. When churches that purport to be Christian rely on anything other than the Bible alone for revelation of God’s plan for mankind, then error is inevitable. When the Rock is not your foundation (no, the Rock is not Peter; it’s Jesus), then you will be prone to swallow all manner of false teachings.
Thus it is with the Presbyterian USA group, which voted this week to add the acceptance of sodomite “marriage” to its constitution. This follows on the heels of a 2011 vote that saw the group amend its charter to accept the ordination of unrepentant homosexuals to leadership position in its churches.
The following open letter by Heather Barwick, a happily married mother of four, was originally posted on The Federalist website March 17, 2015:
___________________
Dear Gay Community: Your Kids Are Hurting
I loved my mom’s partner, but another mom could never have replaced the father I lost.
Gay community, I am your daughter. My mom raised me with her same-sex partner back in the ’80s and ’90s. She and my dad were married for a little while. She knew she was gay before they got married, but things were different back then. That’s how I got here. It was complicated as you can imagine. She left him when I was two or three because she wanted a chance to be happy with someone she really loved: a woman.
My dad wasn’t a great guy, and after she left him he didn’t bother coming around anymore.
Do you remember that book, “Heather Has Two Mommies”? That was my life. My mom, her partner, and I lived in a cozy little house in the ‘burbs of a very liberal and open-minded area. Her partner treated me as if I was her own daughter. Along with my mom’s partner, I also inherited her tight-knit community of gay and lesbian friends. Or maybe they inherited me?
Either way, I still feel like gay people are my people. I’ve learned so much from you. You taught me how to be brave, especially when it is hard. You taught me empathy. You taught me how to listen. And how to dance. You taught me not be afraid of things that are different. And you taught me how to stand up for myself, even if that means I stand alone.
I’m writing to you because I’m letting myself out of the closet: I don’t support gay marriage. But it might not be for the reasons that you think.
Children Need a Mother and Father
It’s not because you’re gay. I love you, so much. It’s because of the nature of the same-sex relationship itself.
Growing up, and even into my 20s, I supported and advocated for gay marriage. It’s only with some time and distance from my childhood that I’m able to reflect on my experiences and recognize the long-term consequences that same-sex parenting had on me. And it’s only now, as I watch my children loving and being loved by their father each day, that I can see the beauty and wisdom in traditional marriage and parenting.
Same-sex marriage and parenting withholds either a mother or father from a child while telling him or her that it doesn’t matter. That it’s all the same. But it’s not. A lot of us, a lot of your kids, are hurting. My father’s absence created a huge hole in me, and I ached every day for a dad. I loved my mom’s partner, but another mom could never have replaced the father I lost.
I grew up surrounded by women who said they didn’t need or want a man. Yet, as a little girl, I so desperately wanted a daddy. It is a strange and confusing thing to walk around with this deep-down unquenchable ache for a father, for a man, in a community that says that men are unnecessary. There were times I felt so angry with my dad for not being there for me, and then times I felt angry with myself for even wanting a father to begin with. There are parts of me that still grieve over that loss today.
Alabama Supreme Court Ruling on Marriage Stands Firm
Montgomery, AL – A week after the Alabama Court issued its ruling informing all Probate Judges that they must comply and cease issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, the federal judge who purported to overturn Alabama’s marriage laws in January has turned down the opportunity to challenge the statewide ruling of the Alabama Supreme Court. Federal Judge Callie Granade’snew order recognizes that her prior ruling only required Alabama Probate Judge Don Davis to issue marriage licenses to four same-sex couples who were plaintiffs in the federal case. The Alabama Supreme Court’s statewide ruling now prohibits all Alabama probate judges, including Judge Davis, from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Judge Davis had requested a stay of Judge Granade’s prior ruling because of the statewide Alabama Supreme Court order. The plaintiffs in the federal case, although they had already received the licenses they sought, urged Judge Granade to order Judge Davis to disregard the Alabama Supreme Court and issue marriage licenses to all same-sex couples who may ask. Judge Granade denied the stay requested by Judge Davis, but also declined to order him to disregard the Alabama Supreme Court.
“We are pleased that the Alabama Supreme Court’s order is being respected and followed throughout the State of Alabama,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel, which filed the suit leading to the statewide ruling. “The federal court has no authority to force the Alabama Probate Judges to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and that lack of authority has been admitted by the federal court. The law in Alabama is clear. Marriage is only between one man and one woman. Other states should follow the lead of Alabama,” Staver concluded.
Liberty Counsel represents Alabama Policy Institute (“API”) and Alabama Citizens Action Program (“ALCAP”) in the Alabama Supreme Court case.
________________________
Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics.
Not a Hater: Austin Ruse of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM). Ruse’s group has been slandered by the leftist SPLC as a “hate group.”
By Peter LaBarbera
The pro-LGBT Left’s “hate” game is a cynical exercise in demonization and manipulation: by smearing people and organizations that oppose homosexual “marriage” or “gay” activism as “haters,” they seek to establish a narrative that delegitimizes any opposition to homosexualism as the moral equivalent of racism. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has turned this spurious tactic into a money-making machine–see the current issue of WND’s Whistleblower magazine, “The Hate Racket.”
Finally people of faith are fighting back: American Family Association has created an “[Anti-Christian] Bigotry Map” in response to the heavy-handed SPLC’s farcical “Hate Map,” on which AFTAH and more than a dozen other pro-family organizations are listed.
Below is an example of how homosexual activists like Joe Jervis, creater of the Joe.My.God blog, play the SPLC hate card against pro-family advocates. Note Jervis’ headline:
“Haters Are Thrilled that Italian Designers Dolce & Gabbana Oppose LGBT Rights”:
The alleged “hater” to which Jervis refers is not hateful at all. Austin Ruse is a Breitbart writer, a dedicated Catholic family man and the president of Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, which fights for pro-life and pro-family values at the United Nations. Ruse is a smart and capable guy–but his organization, like AFTAH, has been slandered by the SPLC as a “hate group” [see the map’s New York listings; AFTAH is found in the map’s Illinois listings].
Join Pro-Life and Pro-Family activists at the Defense of the Texas Marriage Amendment Rally
WHEN & WHERE: Monday, March 23rd at 1:00 PM on the south steps of the State Capitol in Austin. Below is a video and letter by Dr. Steven Hotze, president of Conservative Republicans of Texas:
It’s time for Christians and conservatives to rise up and take a stand for God’s truth about marriage! We must draw a line in the sand.
This is a call to action. I am asking you to make whatever sacrifices necessary to attend the Defense of Texas Marriage Amendment Rally scheduled for Monday, March 23rd at 1:00 pm on the south steps of the Texas Capitol. Please encourage your family, friends and fellow church members to attend. You might consider taking busloads of people to the rally.
We have over 100 elected State Officials who are sponsoring this event. They are coming under attack by militant homosexuals. That is why Christians and conservatives must have a show of force to let these legislators know that we support them.
Marriage is a God ordained institution between a man and a woman and it is the fundamental foundation of families and of ordered societies: “For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24, Matt. 19:5).
In the November 8, 2005 General Election, the citizens of Texas passed, by an overwhelming margin of 76% to 24%, a Marriage Amendment to the Texas Constitution, Article 1, Section 32, which provides that “Marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman.”
A fierce battle for the soul of Texas has begun.The liberals and their pro-homosexual allies want to force Texans to redefine marriage and accept ‘homosexual mirage’ as morally right.
Obama was “chomping at the bit” to support homosexuality-based “marriage,” says key adviser
By Peter LaBarbera
Obama adviser and powerful Chicago Democratic political strategist David Axelrod confirms in his new book “Believer” what many Americans have long suspected: Barack Obama “bulsh*tted” America on “gay marriage” to help win his bid for the White House in 2008. [See the 2013 AFTAH piece, “Was Obama Lying When He Piously Professed His Belief in Natural Marriage?”]
“I had no doubt that this [a 1996 campaign pledge by Obama to support same-sex “marriage” legislation while running for Illinois state senator] was his heartfelt belief.”
Candidate and then-Sen. Obama “grudgingly accepted the cousel of more pragmatic folks like me, and modified his position to support civil unions rather than [homosexual ‘marriage’].”
Obama “never felt comfortable with the compromise, and told Axelrod after one “awkward” public exchange defending his calculated compromise position: “I’m just not very good at [bullsh*tting].”
In 2010, “the president was chomping at the bit to support the right of gays and lesbians to wed–and having watched him struggle with this issue for years, I was ready, too.”
I heartily agree with Boyce College Professor of Biblical Studies Denny Burk‘s take on this:
“If Axelrod’s report is accurate, this is the worst kind of hypocrisy and cynicism. It would mean this: Not only did President Obama lie in order to get elected, but he also used his Christian faith as a pretense. He pretended to believe Christian teaching in order to make the lie credible.”
Obama himself is pushing back against Axelrod’s claim–see this Politico story: “Obama: I didn’t lie about same-sex marriage.” “I think David is mixing up my personal feelings with my position on the issue,” Obama told Buzzfeed.
But like so much of what the president has said over the years, his denial is not very plausible–just watch again the video below of Obama’s infamous “God is in the mix” pledge to 2008 debate moderator Pastor Rick Warren in support of natural marriage. (One could argue that as much as Obama may have “hated BS’ing” the country on sodomy-based “marriage,” he was pretty darned good at it–maybe a career in Hollywood awaits him after he leaves the Oval Office.)
Below are photos of the pages 446-7 from Axelrod’s book containing the key revelation that candidate Obama knew all along that he was “bullsh*tting” the public on this critical moral issue, followed by the 2008 Saddleback presidential debate footage (note Obama’s feigned piety). Oh, and one more thing: NEVER should Rick Warren moderate another presidential debate–he blew a big opportunity to call out Obama on his charade, which should have been evident to everyone since then-candidate Obama gave rhetorical sustenance to the very aggressive LGBT push for same-sex “marriage”–e.g., condemning state amendments to preserve the traditional definition of marriage–even as he formally opposed legalizing it:
Here is then-candidate Obama’s profession of support for natural marriage (one-man, one-woman) at the Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church debate in 2008:
AFTAH republishes this column by our friend Bryan Fischer from the outstanding website Renew America; to learn more about R.A., click HERE. Americans are indebted to Judge Roy Moore for attempting to stop arrogant judicial supremacists from imposing homosexual so-called “marriage” on the citizens of Alabama and those in so many other states who have been disenfranchised on this critical issue. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at “Focal Point”
A federal judge’s ruling is not a “law.” It is a “ruling.” So, for example, when people refer to Roe v. Wade as “the law of the land,” they are simply mistaken.
A “law” is something enacted by the elected representatives of the people (or by the people directly through referendum) and signed by the chief executive. A judge’s “ruling” is not therefore a “law.” Judges have no authority whatsoever to make law. They can issue rulings, but the power to make law is flatly prohibited to them.
This is clear from the first words in the the first article of the Constitution. “All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.”
That is “all,” as in “every last little single bit,” of the power to make law has been vested in Congress. That means no legislative power whatsoever has been granted to the judiciary. That is “no” legislative power as in zip, zilch, nada.
The New York Times makes a typical and constitutionally illiterate gaffe in today’s edition, on a piece on Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore’s directive to probate judges in Alabama to refuse to issue wedding licenses based on what Alabama state law still refers to as “deviate sexual intercouse.”
In Alabama, United States District Court Judge Callie V. S. Granade issued a ruling – not a “law” you will note – overturning the state’s marriage amendment, which was passed with 81% of the vote in 2006. Thus this tyrannical judge in one fell swoop pulverized the voting rights of 697,591 Alabamians.
This judge, acting like a black-robed despot, has ordered Alabama to begin issuing same-sex licenses as of today (February 9). Judge Moore is rightly and constitutionally saying not so fast.
No Justice: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is hardly impartial on the issue of homosexuality-based “marriage’ (just as she isn’t on abortion). According to AFA, Ginsburg has “officiated” at five counterfeit same-sex “weddings.” Justice Elena Kagan has also performed sodomy-based “marriage” rituals. AFA says both “activist” justices should recuse themselves from SCOTUS cases on the issue.
American Family Association) Press Release
Friday, January 16, 2015
Kagan and Ginsburg: Recuse Yourselves!
American Family Association Says Supreme Court Justices Should Step Down on SCOTUS Marriage Cases
[Note: AFTAH has added quote marks around the word “marriage”–as in same-sex “marriage”–in all non-quotation references to the term in the original release–to preserve the natural, age-old understanding of the word.]
TUPELO, Miss.—The issue of same-sex “marriage” in America has divided the country this past year, with state, district and federal courts issuing ruling after ruling.
In light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s announcement that it will hear the issue, American Family Association (AFA, www.afa.net) says Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Ruth Bader Ginsburg should recuse themselves from making any same-sex “marriage” decisions because they have both conducted same-sex marriage ceremonies.
“Both of these justices’ personal and private actions that actively endorse gay marriage clearly indicate how they would vote on same-sex marriage cases before the Supreme Court,” said AFA President Tim Wildmon. “Congress has directed that federal judicial officers must disqualify themselves from hearing cases in specified circumstances. Both Kagan and Ginsburg have not only been partial to same-sex marriage but they have also proven themselves to be activists in favor of it. In order to ensure the Court’s integrity and impartiality, both should recuse themselves from same-sex marriage cases. Congress has an obligation to Americans to see that members of the Supreme Court are held to the highest standards of integrity. The law demands it, and the people deserve it.”
AFA sent an Action Alert to its one million-plus supporters, asking them to write a letter to their members of Congress, urging them to remind members of the nation’s highest court of their charge to maintain impartiality. Title 28, Part I, Chapter 21, Section 455 of the U.S. Code titled “Disqualification of justice, judge, or magistrate judge,” states that “Any justice, judge, or magistrate judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.”
Kagan performed a September 21, 2014, same-sex “marriage” ceremony for her former law clerk and his partner in Maryland. And Ginsburg performed a same-sex “marriage” ceremony at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., in August 2013.
OneNewsNow.com, AFA’s news service, also reported that Ginsburg has officiated at least five same-sex “marriage” ceremonies.
This column first appeared on the Renew America site. March 19, 2015
