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 McShane wrote 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.

Get Books & Video with your contribution: Bless AFTAH & Bless Yourself when you give to Americans For Truth! 

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Bless AFTAH, Bless Yourself! — Make your donation online HERE using our safe Credit Card Form. Also, our debut banquet in the Washington, DC area is Saturday, Nov. 21.  Tickets are just $40/person (Table of 10 for $400). Our speaker is Robert Reilly, author of “Making Gay Okay: How Rationalizing Homosexual Behavior Is Changing Everything.” More banquet details HERE–and sign up for the banquet online HERE. All mailed AFTAH gifts can be sent to: AFTAH, PO Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522.

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We have an opportunity for you to support AFTAH and become a stronger, better-informed advocate for Truth at the same time. Through the end of the year, we are offering the following gift awards:

For your gift of $100 to AFTAH — you will receive one free book or video of your choice from the following list. The more you give, the more educational and teaching resources you get! Here are your choices:

• Robert Reilly’s book, “Making Gay Okay: How Rationalizing Homosexual Behavior Is Changing Everything” [hard cover]; this book is required reading for anyone serious about understanding and opposing the “gay” activist juggernaut using reason, facts and Natural Law. Bob will sign your book if you attend the Americans For Truth banquet Oct. 17, 2015! [Code: REILLY]  OR
• VIDEO — Janet Porter’s wonderful film, “Light Wins”–loaded with interviews with leading pro-family experts who explain why “same-sex marriage” and the LGBTQ agenda will crush our cherished freedoms. I am one of the many people interviewed in this DVD–which you could show at your church or at your home Bible study! [Code: VIDEO] OR

• * Dr. Michael Brown’s book, “Can You Be Gay and Christian?” [paperback]. This is a wonderful resource to help you respond to all the “gay Christian” nonsense and propaganda in our confused culture. Terrific for a church or home study group! [Code: BROWN-GAY CHRISTIAN?]  OR
• * Dr. Brown’s magnificent book, “Something Queer Happened to America”: [hard cover] this is like a textbook for studying the multi-faceted “LGBTQ” agenda. The section on Pedophilia (sex with children) alone is worth getting this book. [Code: BROWN-SOMETHING QUEER]   OR
• * The late Dr. Charles Socarides classic Q&A book, “Homosexuality: A Freedom Too Far,” [hard cover] offers practical insights about the cause and treatment of homosexuality from the leading psychologist who fought the homosexual militants’ pressure campaign–or dare I say BULLY CAMPAIGN– to “normalize” homosexuality in the American Psychiatric Association in 1973. [Code: SOCARIDES] OR
• Dawn Stephanowicz’ harrowing book, “Out From Under” — [paperback] telling her story of being raised as the daughter of a promiscuous homosexual man. Very relevant to today’s homosexual parenting debates. [CODE: OUT FROM UNDER]  OR
• Bill Whatcott’s autobiographical book, “Born in a Graveyard”:  [paperback] beautifully tells the story of the redemption of Canada’s Bill Whatcott, who went from being a criminal to Canada’s boldest Christian pro-family activist. [Code: GRAVEYARD]  OR
• Christian advocate Amber Dee Parker’s colorful children’s picture book, “God Made Dad and Mom” [paperback] – parents lovingly explain to their child why God intended marriage to be between a man and a woman, not two people of the same sex. [Code: CHILDREN’S BOOK]

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So, here’s how it works:

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

Kim Davis

Release by Liberty Counsel, Sept. 1, 2015:

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.

Lively calls SPLC’s labeling of pro-family organizations as “Hate Groups” a “tactic of psychological manipulation”

Folks, I had a wonderful discussion with Scott Lively and Pastor John Kirkwood last evening–even though it was cut short by a tornado warning. Here is the Livestream video, which runs about an hour and seven minutes. In the video, Scott Lively of DefendTheFamily.com is at left, John Kirkwood, pastor of Grace Gospel Fellowship Church is center, and yours truly is at right. Go to the 23-minute mark in the video where Lively describes the five stages of the incremental homosexual activist advance in societies: 1) Tolerance; 2) Acceptance; 3) Celebration; 4) “Forced participation in gay culture”; and 5) Punishment of dissenters. Go to around the 34-minute mark for a discussion on the spurious leftist charge of “hate” against pro-family Christians who oppose the LGBT agenda. Thanks to Grace Gospel for hosting our event and to all who came out on a rainy Tuesday night to educate themselves on the rise of “gay” power and what it means for liberty in America.–Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH; @PeterLaBarbera