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Peace in Our Time? Apparently some evangelical “leaders” are taking their cues from 20th-Century British appeaser Neville Chamberlain in seeking to work out an unbiblical compromise with the powerful homosexual-bisexual-transgender lobby–supposedly to preserve their religious freedoms. No Christian should support the creation of “rights” based on sinful sexual behaviors that are changeable and do not define a person.
“Jesus didn’t formulate the Golden Rule to provide special legal protections for, and promotion of, immoral behavior.”
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“These Evangelical appeasers have the ‘innocent as doves’ demeanor down but not the ‘wise as serpents’ part.”— Prof. Robert Gagnon
Take Action: Contact the National Association of Evangelicals at their DC office at 202-479-0815 (or online HERE), and the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities HERE (Phone — choose option #8: 202-546-8713). Voice your opposition to their unbiblical compromise that would create and recognize federal “rights” based on immoral homosexual and transgender lifestyles.
Related info:
NAE compromise proposal (obtained by WORLD mag): [HERE]
Ryan Anderson’s article in Daily Signal: “Misguided Proposal From Christian Leaders and LGBT Activists Is Anything but ‘Fairness for All’”
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Folks, the largely Christian social conservative movement never seems to learn that by constantly “playing defense” and backing up in the face of a hyper-aggressive LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) movement, we will always lose. Now a group of “leaders” from two evangelical associations are getting in the game, floating a disastrous and cowardly compromise with “gay” and “transgender” activists that if enacted, will only help advance the normalization of sex-and-gender perversion in the United States. Prof. Robert Gagnon, probably the world’s leading authority on the Bible and homosexuality, ably responds to their misguided proposal below. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH; Twitter: @PeterLaBarbera
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Dr. Robert Gagnon’s Response to Evangelical Leaders’ Compromise with LGBT Activists
In a blog post titled “‘Fairness For All’: Smart Politics, Or A Sellout?” (Dec. 13), Rod Dreher, senior editor at The American Conservative, reports a defense of the recent decision by the boards of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) and the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) to support “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” “federal anti-discrimination law in exchange for religious liberty guarantees written into the same law.” The defense was made by “a prominent conservative Evangelical political strategist who works at both the national and state levels” and whom Dreher calls “Smith.” Rod himself professes to be unsure about the whole subject; an uncertainty that appears to be fueled by his usual belief that voting Republican changes nothing.
The substance of the defense is essentially born of naïve utilitarianism, overlaid with a veneer of high rhetoric about standing up for the “rights” of LGBTQ persons. In effect: We are losing the battle over human sexuality in the culture so, while we still can, let’s cut a deal with proponents of all things “gay” and “transgender” that gives us something in return. They will (allegedly) recognize our good will and then become favorably disposed to protect our “religious liberties” in both the short- and long-term.
The problem with the argument is that it amounts to a policy of appeasement with sexual extremists who advocate (from our perspective) a grossly immoral sexual policy and have never exhibited a “we’ll stop here approach” before. It is an appeasement that requires us to sacrifice our basic principles to get some statutory assurance that can easily be retracted by legislative vote after a full-court indoctrination surge, predicated on the new law, overwhelms remaining resistance. In addition, it is an appeasement that provides only the narrowest of exemptions for religious institutions while throwing under the bus the vast majority of Christians who work and live outside those institutions.
Social media giant cites “safety” concerns and being “respectful,” but by not respecting and tolerating Christian conservatives’ views, is Facebook guilty of ‘hate’ and bigotry?
Facebook ‘hates’ conservatives (or at least their ideas): This is the notice AFTAH received Sunday from Facebook. Jason Salamone is an administrator of the AFTAH FB page. We are appealing the decision. Facebook has “unpublished” AFTAH’s or Americans For Truth President Peter LaBarbera’s pages on previous occasions.
Fight Leftist Censorship; donate securely to AFTAH online: [Click HERE], or mail a gift to: AFTAH, PO Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522
Folks, leftist social media censorship is accelerating, because “power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” (Lord Acton). On Sunday, [Nov. 18, 2018,] Facebook took down–“unpublished”–AFTAH’s (Americans for Truth About Homosexuality) Facebook page, saying we violated their “hate” standard. We are appealing the decision but unlike Twitter, Facebook does not even let the groups they banish make a case for why the ban is wrong and should be reversed. This ban is beyond Orwellian: Facebook provides no specific examples of *how* our AFTAH posts violated their alleged “hate” standard, but you can see what sort of posts “triggered” these progressive-techie snowflakes HERE, or below.
I tweeted this:
From Twitter: [Sunday] the cowardly yet proficient anti-conservatives at Facebook took down (“unpublished”) our AFTAH (Americans For Truth) FB page, citing violations of their spurious “hate” standards. We are appealing. Look for a piece on this in WND…
Of course, the “hate” charge is spurious and ultimately effectively precludes all MORAL opponents of homosexuality from using Facebook. AFTAH, a Christian educational organization, has from its inception condemned real hatred and violence against homosexuals (or anyone). We have long denounced groups like Westboro Baptist Church with its preposterous “God Hates Fags” message. Please help us spread the word on this cowardly social media censorship of ideas that run counter to “progressive” sacred cows. Thanks. — Peter LaBarbera, Americans For Truth; Twitter: @PeterLaBarbera
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Here is an example of an Americans For Truth post that Facebook deemed “hateful”; see full story HERE:
Christ Helps ‘Homosexuals’ Change: Stephen Black, who once lived as a “gay” man before accepting Christ and leaving the homosexual lifestyle, is among the speakers at the God’s Voice conference Feb. 22-23 in Oklahoma City. Black leads First Stone Ministries, which helps others overcome sexual brokenness. God’s Voice will be responding to “Revoice,” a July conference and movement that seeks to recognize (chaste) homosexuals as a “sexual minority” in the Christian Church. AFTAH president Peter LaBarbera, a speaker at God’s Voice, was disinvited and banned from attending Revoice by its organizer, Nate Collins. Black was also banned by Revoice.
I will be speaking on how trendy “LGBTQ-inclusive Christianity”–even if well-intended–merely puts a Christian facade on the revolutionary “gay” idea of an aggrieved homosexual “minority” deserving affirmation in their aberrant self-identity. That notion, first championed in the U.S. by one-time Communist Harry Hay, is built on the idea that there is a separate group of humanity (the “gay” minority) who live by different sexual rules than the rest of us, as opposed to all people living under the same God-given, universal moral code.
We now see clearly the expanding chaos that this subversive “gay” ideology has engendered: if “identity” and “minority” status are derived essentially from one’s subjective feelings, and then awarded full “civil rights” status under the law, how can we as a society say no to new identities and minorities, such as “pansexuals,” “asexuals,” “non-binaries” and “genderqueers”? And mustn’t we affirm “gay” and LGBTQueer youth in their “identities”? If “truth” is subjective and judging is wrong (except judging “bigoted” Christians, of course), then how can we affirm one sexual/gender “minority” and not the other(s)?
Now this chaos threatens the Church itself. I wonder: why is there no discussion of recognizing and affirming other sin-based “minorities” in the evangelical Church–say, lustful men (which I suspect is a rather common “orientation”)?
Christians are called to deny themselves, and especially their flesh (sins), for Jesus’ sake and to please God. Our identity is in Christ. But the “LGBTQ+ Christian” movement demands that the Church sympathetically recognize their non-biblical “identities,” even though they are rooted in sinful desires and self-deception (Romans 1/Jeremiah 17:9)). Invariably, the next step will be to demand, with ever greater zeal and vociferousness, that all “compassionate” Christians do the same, while shaming those who refuse to indulge homo-trans ideology.
It goes without saying that we should preach the Gospel and reach out with truth in the love of Jesus to all sexual strugglers. But LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) ideology–though seductive in our victim-mongering culture like the Sirens of Greek mythology–is an ungodly, incrementalist agenda that Christians must reject in toto.
Please consider making plans to come to the “God’s Voice” conference in Oklahoma City February 22-23, to gird yourself in biblical truth so that you can better withstand the serious and growing threat of “LGBTQ Christianity.” More coming on this. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH; Twitter: @PeterLaBarbera
P.S. Unlike the “LGBTQ Christian” Revoice conference, God’s Voice will not be preemptively banishing potential critics from attending. (I was disinvited by Revoice’s organizer, Nate Collins, after paying and signing up to attend; see AFTAH story HERE.)
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God’s Voice Media Release
God’s Voice Conference to Equip Christians to Stand Against ‘LGBTQ+ Christianity’ Inside the Church
Contact: Don Otis, 719-275-7775
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla., Nov. 6, 2018 /Christian Newswire/ — In response to recent attempts to “revoice” God’s Word on the critical issues of human sexuality and identity, First Stone Ministries is pleased to announce the GOD’S VOICE Conference, taking place Feb. 22 and 23, 2019, at First Moore Baptist Church in Moore, OK.
Subtitled: “A Biblical Response to the Queering of the Church,” the GOD’S VOICE Conference will be the Scriptural counter to a new “LGBTQ+ Christian” effort called Revoice, which has affirmed “gay, lesbian, same-sex-attracted, and other gender and sexual minority Christians,” “mixed-orientation marriages” and the concept of “redeeming queer culture.”
Organizer and conference speaker Stephen Black, executive director of First Stone Ministries, says, “it’s imperative that biblically faithful Christians, churches and denominations awaken to the threat of this new ‘LGBTQ+’ narrative, which radical activists and psychologists are pushing on our congregations.” In a continued response, Black says, “the church must once again listen only to the eternal, unchanging voice of God, whose Word alone conveys the truth about biblical sexuality and human identity.”
“We are living in a day when Bible-believing churches are being hit with a tsunami of an ‘LGBTQ+ Christian’ narrative,” Black said. “Many are being lied to by this messaging that LGBTQ+ people have a fixed orientation and that grace covers their same-sex attractions, leaving people stuck in sin and broken identities. This movement has a form of religion, but denies the power of the Holy Spirit, who transforms souls through the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ!”
Co-organizer and conference speaker Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth about Homosexuality, says “it is time for the church to take a firm and unwavering stand against the encroaching, unbiblical message of ‘sexual minorities’ and ‘sexual orientation.'”
LaBarbera continues by saying, “Standing on God’s infallible Word, our team of experts will dissect the web of lies that hold subversive ‘queer Christianity’ together. We will show how Revoice and the expanding, cunning ‘LGBTQ+ Christian’ network are rooted not in the Bible, but in the same homosexualist ideology that has turned truth and God’s created order on their heads in our culture. We cannot stand by and allow this same LGBTQ+ ideology to be advanced in the name of Jesus Christ!”
Other GOD’S VOICE Conference speakers include Dr. Robert Oscar Lopez, professor of humanities at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; the Rev. Thomas Littleton, Southern Baptist pastor and evangelist; the Rev. Al Baker, an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America; Andrea Minichiello Williams, founder and CEO of Christian Concern & Christian Legal Centre in the UK; and Janet Mefferd, host of the nationally syndicated, daily Christian radio talk shows “Janet Mefferd Today” and “Janet Mefferd Live.”
Black added that above all, the GOD’S VOICE Conference is designed to share the love of God and the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone who attends. “This conference will be filled with the Word of God and His testimonies of transformation to bless the believer and unbeliever alike,” Black said.
The GOD’S VOICE Conference is set for Friday evening, Feb. 22, and Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019, at First Moore Baptist Church, 301 Northeast 27th Street, Moore, OK.
First Stone Ministries is a 501(c)3, non-profit and non-denominational organization that ministers, educates and helps lead people to freedom from homosexuality and sexual brokenness through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord.
For more information, interviews or media please contact Don Otis at: 719.275.7775 or you can use the contact form at First Stone Ministries www.firststone.org/contact-us.
Don’t be misled into thinking that this bill bans only professional counselors from trying to alter same-sex attractions. It goes well beyond that.
Robert Gagnon. For more pro-family (and pro-freedom) resources on AB 2943, go HERE. Also see SaveCalifornia.com. See Gagnon’s excellent website at RobGagnon.net.
The biggest effort at book-banning, the banning of counseling services and church conferences, the banning of academic courses, and a general banning of free speech in the history of the United States is well underway in California. This is reminiscent of when Southern states in the pre-Civil War era banned any literature suggesting that slavery might not be a good thing; what we are fighting now is slavery to same-sex attractions and gender dysphoria.
The bill in question is California Assembly Bill 2943. It would treat as a criminal violation of the state’s consumer fraud act “the sale or lease of goods or services to any consumer” that consists of “advertising, offering to engage in, or engaging in sexual orientation change efforts with an individual.” Don’t be misled into thinking that this bill bans only professional counselors from trying to alter same-sex attractions. It goes well beyond that.
“Orientation change” can be as innocuous as stating at a paid conference that homosexual and transgender desire can be overcome (not necessarily eliminated) by the Spirit of Jesus. Or even complying with an attendee’s request for prayer that the Spirit of God empower the attendee not to succumb to the power of same-sex attractions.
That’s not all. More than “orientation change” is at issue, for the bill expressly states:
‘Sexual orientation change efforts’ means any practices that seek to change an individual’s sexual orientation. This includes efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions, or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same sex.
Did you catch the part that says: “This includes efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions,” not just orientation change? You cannot treat homosexual expression or transgenderism as the product of disordered desires.
No Tolerance for Christians: Self-styled “Moma Bear” Sara Cunningham of the pro-homosexual/pro-transgender group Free Mom Hugs crusades against ex-“gay” ministries, saying, “To agree to disagree on this issue and this type of ministry is no longer acceptable.” Cunningham said on Facebook that a Christian documentary film “Tranzformed: Finding Peace with Your God-Given Gender,” featuring interviews with men and women who have overcome transsexualism in their lives, is “dangerous” and amounts to “hate speech.” Above is Cunningham’s Twitter page graphic. Click to enlarge.
The following press release was issued by my friend and Christian pro-family leader Stephen Black, Board Chairman of Restored Hope Ministries and executive director of First Stone Ministries in Oklahoma City. Black was the keynote speaker at AFTAH’s 2017 banquet, and gave several wonderful talks. It’s clear that the LGBTQ movement is in the vanguard of attacking Christian speech in the Public Square–to the point of directly attacking transformative ministries at Christian churches. This is why I’m proud and excited to be traveling to Oklahoma City this Friday to stand in support of Stephen and the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH; Twitter: @PeterLaBarbera
Tranzformed Documentary info: For more information on David Kyle Foster’s documentary “Tranzformed: Finding Peace with your God-given Gender” (produced by Pure Passion Ministries) go HERE. For info on Stephen Black’s public showing of the film in Oklahoma City this Friday, April 6, go HERE.
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LGBT Activists Vow to Shut Down Christian Ministry, ‘Your Faith be Damned’
No longer content with widespread acceptance, activists are fighting to eliminate any program aimed at helping those struggling with same-sex attraction or gender identity
Contact: Don Otis, 719-275-7775
OKLAHOMA CITY, April 3, 2018 /Christian Newswire/ — “The level of hatred and bullying is not like anything we’ve seen,” says Stephen Black, who lived as a gay man for 8 years, over 35 years ago, and now Executive Director of First Stone Ministries is in the crosshairs of gay activists.
Black is the author of a ground-breaking book that reveals that 70-percent of people who want freedom from a destructive same-sex lifestyle find it. In Freedom Realized, Black and his colleagues examined 25 years of case files and found incontrovertible evidence that people can and do change.
On April 6, First Stone Ministries (firststone.org) is hosting a public screening of the documentary film, Tranzformed: Finding Peace with Your God-Given Gender (tranzformed.org/). “This documentary is about 15 people who were unhappy as homosexuals and transgendered and wanted more in their relationship with Jesus Christ,” says Black. Gay activists have already sent death threats to a Michigan pastor and his family and are now setting their sights on Black.
Gay advocate and protestor, Sara Cunningham, vowed to close First Stone Ministries (she appealed for a $25,000 grant from Starbucks for her mission). Her goal is to mobilize and eliminate any mention of the possibility of change, even if people want it and even if it means a transformed life. “To agree to disagree on this issue and this type of ministry is no longer acceptable,” says Cunningham. But Black sees it differently, “In the last ten years, there has been an increasing attack on the gospel-centered message of freedom from homosexuality.” Activists are intent on shutting down any counseling that leads to new life in Christ and freedom from homosexuality.
AFTAH in the News: intolerant “progressive” LGBTQ cheerleaders have become more “fundamentalist” than Christian “fundamentalists”
HBO late-night host John Oliver’s “children’s book mocking one by the vice-president’s daughter, Charlotte Pence, promotes homosexuality and same-sex “marriage” to children.
The following piece about HBO late-night host John Oliver’s nasty stunt, featuring comments by AFTAH, is from One News Now, the daily news site produced by our friends at American Family Association (AFA founder Don Wildmon received the first Americans For Truth “Truth Teller” award in 2009).
I am struck by the sheer meanness of self-righteous “progressives” and their obsession with homosexualism (and gender rebellion), which seems to have surpassed unlimited abortion as their Holy Grail. — Peter LaBarbera, Americans For Truth; Twitter: @PeterLaBarbera; americansfortruth@gmail.com
P.S. The main problem with Charlotte Pence’s response to Oliver’s mock-book is that we should never applaud a book that corrupts children, as his does (by celebrating homosexual “marriage” and demonizing those who oppose it). Also, the LGBTQ group that benefits from Oliver’s book, Trevor Project, is hardly a “charity” as it pushes for laws to shut down pro-heterosexual change therapy for minors. But who can blame Charlotte Pence for trying to pivot away from the hateful attacks of “progressives” against her father and her family?
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Pence’s Daughter One-betters Late-night Host
By Steve Jordahl, One News Now, March 19, 2018
A mean-spirited late-night host is mocking a children’s book simply because the authors are related to Vice-president Mike Pence.
Second-Daughter Charlotte Pence and her mom, Karen, wrote a kids book about Charlotte’s pet rabbit, Marlon Bundo, who has become popular on social media. It’s called, A day in the Life of the Vice President.
But late night television host John Oliver appears to believe that no one with the name Pence should be allowed out in public.
I would love to say, ‘Fine, it’s a fun, sweet book about a rabbit … Who gives a [expletive]?’” Oliver expressed on his show. “But unfortunately, one of the stops on that book tour is at Focus on the [expletive]-ing Family. So, congratulations, Pence, you’ve even managed to ruin Marlon Bundo.”
Not being content to just harangue the Pences with foul language, Oliver then decided to hit where he thought it would hurt the Pences most.
“We also wrote a book about Mike Pence’s rabbit that has also been published,” the vitriolic host continued. “You’ll notice right away that our rabbit has a bow tie, so there’s that. Also, our story is about Marlon Bundo falling in love with another boy rabbit because our Marlon Bundo is gay.”
Focus on the Family Vice President Paul Batura says the ministry is honored to have the Pences stop by.
“I’m not shocked that late-night TV would spoof or would mock, but I think it sort of goes to a new low to do it with a children’s book – to try and politicize something that’s clearly positive and fun and innocent, really,” Batura shared.
Meanwhile, Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth insists that celebrating homosexuality has become the Holy Grail to the left.
“Ironically, they despise biblically faithful Christians, but they’re more fundamentalist in their anti-faith than most Christians are with their faith,” LaBarbera insisted.
Shining above Oliver, Charlotte Pence is taking the high road. On her twitter feed, she has a picture of Marlon with a bow tie. On it, she wrote, “Not gonna lie, I do look pretty fly in a bow tie. The only thing better than one bunny book for charity is TWO bunny books for charity.”
Leftist haters … hate AFTAH: Hard-left groups like “People for the American Way” despise AFTAH and castigate its president, Peter LaBarbera, whenever he publicly criticizes the homosexual activist agenda. Here PFAW’s “Right Wing Watch” expresses dismay that LaBarbera is speaking out against “Star Wars” for featuring a character who models a deviant homosexual identity. See above PFAW link HERE and PFAW’s “RWW” link containing hundreds of its “Peter LaBarbera” entries HERE. Help support AFTAH by giving safely online HERE. Click on image to enlarge.
Special Note from AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera:
I hope you had a Merry Christmas and are enjoying a Happy New Year as we enter 2018 with all its challenges and opportunities!
AFTAH (Americans For Truth About Homosexuality) defends the simple truth that homosexual behaviors are wrong, unnatural,and are not the basis for one’s identity, nor positive “rights” in the law.
Throughout 2017, I represented AFTAH as a guest on dozens of conservative Christian radio talk shows to expose and confront the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) agenda. Here is a sample of programs (with links) on which I appeared this year:
* VCY America: Based in Milwaukee, it reaches several States in the Midwest, Middle America and the South. AFTAH appears regularly on VCY America “Crosstalk” to discuss the overarching LGBTQ agenda. The LGBTQ media and leftist activists did not appreciate my criticism on a September 26 WVCY interview of “Star Wars'” inclusion of a character modelling homosexual sin as normal.
* Janet Mefferd Show: Janet—one of the smartest talkers and thinkers in Christian media—regularly relies on AFTAH as a “go to” source in explaining the “gay” and “transgender” onslaught on America. I appeared frequently on both her individual show as well her AFR (American Family Radio) show. Here is a Nov. 4 “Janet Mefferd Live” radio broadcast interview in which I discuss the Human Rights Campaign’s rigged “Corporate Equality Index.”
* AFA “One News Now”: AFTAH is also regularly featured on this excellent American Family Association news source. In this July 20 ONN story, I responded to homosexual mega-funder Tim Gill, who said he wants to “punish the wicked,” referring to pro-family conservatives. LaBarbera told ONN: “Tim Gill is a bigot and he’s an intolerant bigot at that … He wants to squelch dissent; he wants to squelch the very Judeo/Christian values that help make our country great. But all Tim Gill’s millions or billions or whatever he has cannot eradicate God’s truth. The Bible stands true yesterday, today, and forever.”
* Linda Harvey Show: On Dec. 16, I was interviewed by my friend and pro-family advocate Linda Harvey on the connection between homosexuality and pedophilia, in the wake of the Hollywood ongoing sex-abuse scandal. Go to this link and scroll down to 12/16/17, “Homosexuality and the Predator Issue.”
* Chaps Klingenschmitt Show:Chaps (Gordon) Klingenschmitt of the Pray in Jesus Name Project interviewed me about the intriguing case of “gay conservative” Milo Yiannoupoulos. Watch the Skype interview HERE.
In 2017, I also spoke out in public against homosexualism, which usually inspires some form of pro-LGBTQ censorship these days. In October, the Wisconsin Christian News sponsors of my recent speech “Exposing the LGBTQ Agenda” were directly censored by both Office Max (Office Depot) and Facebook. [See main AFTAH story HERE.]
Through our ongoing media outreach and our website, AFTAH over the last three decades has educated many millions of people all over the world about the campaign to “mainstream” homosexuality—which is now getting a tremendous push from Corporate America.
[Please Help Us: To help AFTAH continue in its mission to tell the politically incorrect Truth About Homosexuality, give safely online HERE or send your gift to: AFTAH, PO Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522.]
In addition, AFTAH is highly engaged on Twitter, where we are one of the most visible opponents of “gay” ideology, and on Facebook, which recently “de-published” our page, amidst other acts of censorship over the year. Speaking “truth to power,” in a moral sense, is what we do, and we do it joyfully even as we are hated and despised by lost souls in the grip of sin, leftist propaganda and sexual confusion.
Amazing Stephen Black testimony: AFTAH banquet
Stephen Black addresses Americans For Truth “Teach-in.” Black received the AFTAH “American Truth Teller Award” for 2017. Click HERE to watch the entire banquet on video. Help support AFTAH by giving safely online HERE.
In October we had a successful banquet featuring ex-“gay” Stephen Black. Stephen offered compelling testimony in defense of the Christian view of homosexuality and shared the harrowing story of how as a young boy, he’d been molested twice by men with a homosexual problem. Two other ex-“gay” men also shared their riveting personal stories of coming out of homosexuality.
I was thrilled to present Stephen with a $1,000 check and the “American Truth-Teller Award” for 2017. Honoring defenders of Truth and changed lives through Jesus Christ is what we’re all about. (Support Stephen’s First Stone MinistriesHERE.)
Stephen’s entire banquet and “teach-in” presentation, joined by several other leading pro-family activists, can be viewed HERE (or click the “Stephen Black” box on the right side of the AFTAH website).
Dirtiest word in America: Morality
The M-Word—Morality—is now one of the “dirtiest” words in modern America. Biblical sexual morality has been under withering assault in the United States for decades—think of the abject filth, vulgarity and soft-core porn that have become staples of modern movies. The abomination of homosexuality (that’s how God sees it: as detestable) is now widely treated as merely another form of “love.”
“Love is love,” went the simplistic, pro-LGBTQ slogan, echoed by Obama and countless others after our corrupt Supreme Court ushered in legal homosexual “marriage” in 2015. This is how dumbed-down American culture has become!
Indeed, post-Christian America today is just a shadow of her moral and spiritual past self, but the Truth, like Christ Jesus, does not change (Hebrews 13:8). That is why AFTAH exists. We are unswervingly dedicated to holding up God’s Truth in a (Western) world stubbornly bent on the redefining sex and gender roles to justify people’s sins.
A lot of conservatives are sort of “embarrassed” over the whole question of sexual morality, and especially homosexuality, as they rationalize in their own minds why the fight against “Big Gay Inc” is passé or no longer worthwhile. We’ve all seen it: tiny sellouts in which a “conservative” pundit pay lip service to some aspect of the LGBTQ agenda, usually “same-sex marriage.”
Not us. We at AFTAH count it as a joy and a privilege to stand with God against secular lies and wickedness in the culture, although it does get lonely and frustrating. Let’s face it: nobody likes being smeared as a “hater” and a “bigot” day after day—which is why so many Christians and conservatives, intimidated and beaten down by the vocal Left, give up on defending truth regarding LGBTQ issues.
AFTAH never “moves on” – while GOP praises “gay Republicans”
But I say, “Man up!” (You, too, ladies!) For goodness’ sake, name-calling and vicious insults are a small price to pay for serving God in a dying culture, and we do so proudly at Americans for Truth. AFTAH is the principled, Christian conscience of the pro-family movement against the “homosexual agenda” (notice how rarely that phrase is used anymore). We never bow down to political correctness or political partisanship, even if that means getting criticized or ignored by fellow conservatives who have made their own accommodation with “gay Republicans” or “gay rights” in general. (Many conservatives just “go silent” and no longer engage the issue of homosexuality.)
Fox News contributor and Townhall editor Guy Benson considers himself a “gay Christian.” Will “conservatism” embrace a GOP version of the LGBTQ sexual sin movement?
Perhaps the Republican National Committee, which recently celebrated the 40-year anniversary of the homosexual group Log Cabin Republicans, would consider that Romans 1 in the Bible contains no “GOP exception” as it describes society’s godless descent into sexual sin and idolatry.
At AFTAH, we never stop calling for the overturning of the Supreme Court’s outrageous 2015 Obergefell ruling imposing homosexuality-based “marriage” on the nation, even though it seems most Republicans and conservatives have given up on that goal, too. “Kvetch and Retreat,” as Rabbi Mayer Schiller wisely put it, is the modus operandi of conservatives, especially when it comes to sexual morality. This grieves my heart.
In contrast, the pro-homosexual Left—purveyors of lies and at war with God’s wholesome values—is perpetually on offense. Meanwhile, we who claim to possess absolute Truth stumble on defense. Shame.
Freedom in the Balance: Will the Government of the United States of America force people of faith like Jack Phillips to use their talents and privately-owned business to honor and serve “marriages” based on immoral homosexual behavior? Click to enlarge. Photo: Alliance Defending Freedom.
Folks, here is a neat video on the Jack Phillips Supreme Court case by Elizabeth Johnston, the “Activist Mommy” despised by the Left because she is an effective and fearless Christian, conservative truth-teller. It strikes me as un-American that our simple freedom as citizens of this nation, founded on religious liberty, to associate with whomever we want and publicly live by our moral and spiritual beliefs now hangs by the thread of the whims of a few Supreme Court Justices.
All eyes are on Justice Anthony Kennedy, who, though appointed by Ronald Reagan, has earned hero status on the pro-LGBTQ Left for his consistent, pro-homosexual record on the Court. Where will Kennedy, who authored the God- and Constitution-defying 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision imposing counterfeit “same-sex marriage” on all 50 states, come down on Phillips’ conscience-based refusal to participate through his cake shop in the celebration of disordered homosexual “weddings”? [Read the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s superb dissent on ObergefellHERE.]
Social conservatives warned that legalizing so-called “same-sex marriage” would result in escalating State and cultural oppression against religious people and institutions–ironically, in the name of “civil rights,” “diversity,” and “equality.” Now that is happening with horrific consequences for principled Christians like Phillips and Barronelle Stutzman. The media- and Democratic Party-enabled “Gay” Revolution has advanced to the point where it is now working to effectively criminalize faithful Christians and other moral dissenters by preposterously comparing them to racist bigots and treating them accordingly.
The leading legal crusader for homosexual “marriage,” Evan Wolfson, said, “I’m not in this just to change the law. It’s about changing society.” Indeed. Now the question is: are we going to let the pro-LGBTQ Lobby and the Government destroy our First Amendment liberties in the service of a godless, radical egalitarian agenda that regards the public expression of biblical faithfulness as just one more component of “anti-gay discrimination”? We’ll see, but to say that a lot rides on this case would be an understatement. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH; Twitter: @PeterLaBarbera
