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This is a terrific discussion with my friends and Christian activists Coach Dave Daubenmire and Mike Heath–which we recorded Monday (January 25, 2015). We discuss the defeat in committee of the Tennessee Natural Marriage Defense Act. This bill, offered by State Rep. Mark Pody, would nullify the Supreme Court’s evil Obergefell decision “nationalizing” homosexuality-based “marriage.” As Coach writes about HERE and Matt Trewela writes about below, the TNMDA bill received only one vote in the Civil Justice subcommittee–thanks in part to the “cover” provided by Tennessee affiliate of Focus on the Family, FACT (Family Action of Tennessee), which came out against the bill.
I had not studied up on the politics surrounding the Natural Marriage Defense Act prior to this interview, but what I know from experience is that our pro-family movement has been plagued by a defeatist mindset for decades. In 2006, 81 percent of voters in the Volunteer State made their will clearly known–protecting marriage as it naturally is: between a man and a woman. Or so they thought–because nine years later, five unelected Supreme Court Justices–led by pro-homosexual advocate Anthony Kennedy–arrogantly disenfranchised them, creating another fictional, newfangled “constitutional right” (homosexuality-based “marriage”) fundamentally at odds with “Nature and Nature’s God.”
Desperate times call for bold measures–led by lawmakers like State Rep. Pody who are willing to buck political correctness and take back legislative authority for We the People. FACT prefers another lawsuit–despite the legal profession’s steadily increasing subservience to LGBT activist ideology. We will continue to follow closely the efforts of people in Tennessee and many other states to fight back against judicial supremacists, including those five SCOTUS justices who think they know better than God what marriage is. –Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH; @PeterLaBarbera [Watch this video on YouTube HERE.]
Matt Trewela writes:
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What happened in Tennessee? A bill to defend marriage killed by Christians and GOP
By Matt Trewela, reprinted from his blog, January 23, 2016
Watching a nation burn itself to the ground is a hard thing. Watching the cowardice of men while it is happening is even harder.
I always tell people that – “If you give politicians something less to do than what is needed and necessary – they’ll take it every time.” Such was the case in Tennessee.
The largest pro-family group in the state, Family Action Council of Tennessee (FACT), put all their time, energy, and money into defeating the bill of interposition introduced by Representative Mark Pody – a bill that would have interposed against the lawless Obergefell opinion by SCOTUS. The bill had 22 co-sponsors. [See the FACT response to Pody’s bill HERE and a flowchart explaining their lawsuit strategy HERE.]
FACT stated they planned to bring a lawsuit in court to oppose the Obergefell decision. They stated that if this bill of interposition passed it would ruin what they were planning to accomplish through the lawsuit. The Republican legislators, or more properly stated, the GOP leadership loved what FACT was saying in opposition to the bill and had the bill killed on Wednesday, January 20th, in the Republican-controlled committee before it could ever come before the full legislature.
Archive of Evil: (left to right) AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera, Mike Heath and Albert Urias stand across the street from the bizarre Chicago sadomasochism “museum” (Leather Archives) in 2015–after calling attention to its vile contents, which included a book eroticizing violent, incestuous adult-child S&M. The perversion “museum” at 6418 N. Greenview Ave., in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood–is located within blocks of three schools. See AFTAH story HERE and our flier alerting local residents HERE.
Folks, I bring you this piece by my friend Mike Heath–which testifies to the utter collapse of the pro-family movement dedicated to resisting homosexualism. Mike is the only man in America to have led not one but two successful statewide repeals of homosexualist legislation (“sexual orientation” laws), in Maine in 1998 and 2001. Mike (and other pro-family heroes like Paul Madore and Paul Volle) understood that that those very types of laws were being used across the United States–indeed, the world–to suppress the freedom to act upon one’s religious and moral beliefs. By the way, that was happening well before “same-sex marriage” became a major issue.
Despite their two David-vs.-Goliath victories, a few years ago Mike and his gutsy truth-telling team were cast aside by the powers that be of the Christian Civic League of Maine–which today adopts a more “nuanced” tone. (Translation: the League is a shell of its former self in terms of aggressively defending biblical sexual values.) Yes, CCL, like so many others in the pro-family and conservative movements, has “moved on” by largely giving up the hard fight of directly taking on the Sin Movement that calls itself “Gay.”
At the same time, and not coincidentally, the League is more subservient to the Maine Republican Party. Perhaps a name-change is in order: the Republican Civic League of Maine?
I know, it’s depressing: sellouts and unilateral surrenders are always rationalized, even by Bible-professing Christians. But I will never accept that the side defending God’s Truth should be less bold, less determined and–most importantly–less principled than the side fighting a fanatical cultural “war” against God and godly morality; against Nature; and against the innocence and moral rectitude of children.
Regardless, Mike is now getting back into the game in Maine, and I for one believe the state will be better off for it. Whether or not his proposed referendum takes off, those who are decidedly on the side of Truth in this values “war” ought to support Mike Heath and help him in any way they can (including volunteering). Send gifts to: Equal Rights Not Special Rights, 5 Sylvan Way, Chelsea, ME 04330, you can reach Mike at 207-956-0819; email: mike@mikeheath.net; website: HERE.–Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH
Mike writes:
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Popular Uprising or Legislative Action?
In a few posts last year I chronicled my extremely slow progress on a referendum idea. You can read those posts by clicking on the Referendum category in this blog.
With the Legislature back in session for the next few months I’ve decided to consult with leaders regarding the referendum idea. I started that process in earnest this week. Here’s the situation in Maine:
Transgendering and all forms of sexual activity outside of marriage (sexual orientation) are grounds for legal action against Maine citizens who choose to associate with groups and individuals who don’t make their sexual sin a public issue.
Civil marriage hasn’t existed in Maine since 2012. It was replaced by a highly individualistic “institution” designed to destroy multi-generation families (homosexuality-based “marriage”). Marriage is simple: one man, one woman, one lifetime.
Maine’s Attorney General propagandizes youth with taxpayer money through “Civil Rights Teams” that are forced by law to equate morality with immorality in the minds of our young people.
No strategy for either resistance or victory exists in Maine. The only potential action I’ve heard about is the possibility of some limited political developments sometime this year.
The political and cultural Left has effectively stopped strategizing/resistance at the state level in both the Republican and Democrat parties. Even the outspoken tea party Governor was forced to bow to their insanity.
So-called LGBT “Equality Act” will surely escalate State oppression against people of faith
Will Speaker Ryan Back the Anti-Christian LGBT Agenda? As a Republican Congressman, Paul Ryan voted in 2007 for the pro-homosexual ENDA bill–the precursor to today’s HR 3185 (Homosexual Superiority Act aka LGBT “Equality Act”). Contact House Speaker Ryan at 202-225-0600 and urge him to OPPOSE the radical “Equality Act” (HR 3185)–which would only escalate State oppression against people of faith across America.
The following is an excellent summary by Matthew Kacsmaryk of dangerous new LGBTQ legislation, HR 3185 (S. 1858), which AFTAH is labeling the “Homosexual Superiority Act”–or perhaps the “Criminalizing Christianity Act”–but which congressional sponsors (all Democrats) propagandistically refer to as the “Equality Act.” Kacsmaryk’s analysis first appeared in the outstanding website, “Public Discourse,” which I highly recommend (sign up for their emails HERE).
NOTE: I do have one quibble with the writer: the phrase “sexual liberty” is unfortunate Newspeak and the latest semantic invention by “progressives” that perverts historic notions of ordered liberty. It does so by attaching immoral and unnatural sexual conduct condemned in the strongest terms by God Himself to “liberty.” That connection–which is now employed by the most extreme libertines in the LGBTQueer coalition–e.g., the pro-sadomasochism National Coalition For Sexual Freedom–should be avoided at all costs, especially by social conservatives. Postmodern “sexual liberty” is in reality sexual license. Also, we usually affix quote marks to the word homosexual “marriage” but did not add them in Kacsmark’s article below.
Words matter. A lot of leftist harassment, intolerance and oppression is now being carried out in the lofty name of “equality.” The bottom line: when people caught up in homosexuality and/or gender rebellion are given superior (special) rights based on their aberrant lifestyles, moral-minded people lose their free-conscience rights. We already see escalating government prosecution–read: persecution–of faith-motivated Americans–mostly people who do not want to participate in same-sex “marriage” ceremonies–under local and state “sexual orientation nondiscrimination” laws. Now try to imagine the expanded assault on citizens’ religious freedom and First Amendment liberties if the ACLU and the rest of the Homosexual-Transgender Lobby were to be given the added power of the federal bureaucracy and the U.S. Attorney General’s Office to enforce their pro-homosexual-transgender groupthink.
This “LGBTyranny” bill must be stopped if Americans are to remain free to be moral and follow God as they see fit. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH; @PeterLaBarbera
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TAKE ACTION: 1) Contact Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (202-225-0600) and urge him to oppose HR 3185–the “Homosexual Superiority Act,” aka the LGBT “Equality Act.” (The other phone numbers for Speaker Ryan–who is now “America’s Congressman”–can be found HERE.) In 2007, as a Republican Congressman from Wisconsin, Ryan voted FOR the pro-homosexual Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), the precursor bill to HR 3185. It is disturbing that Ryan, a self-styled “conservative,” would support growing federal homosexual-agenda power at the expense of faith-based Americans who defend natural marriage and Judeo-Christian morality. Ominously for Bible-believing Americans, the LGBT “Equality Act” is ENDA on steroids–and even more dangerous than ENDA to our cherished religious and First Amendment liberties.
2) Call Your Congressman and Senators, too: and urge them to oppose HR 3185. Find your Congressman HERE.
Target Corporation has backed the anti-Christian homosexual activist “Equality Act”–which AFTAH has dubbed the “Homosexual Superiority Act.” Contact Target at 800-440-0680 or write them at guest.relations@target.com.
3) Contact Target Corporation [(800)440-0680; guest.relations@target.com], which just endorsed HR 3185, and urge them to reverse their support of this anti-Christian “Equality Act”; suggest to Target that they would be smarter to at least stay neutral in the Culture War over redefining marriage and civil rights rather than side with homosexual and transgender activists. The latter now openly embrace anti-Christian bigotry and make shameful comparisons between anti-women “transgender” behavior (e.g., men in dresses using Female restrooms) and racist Jim Crow persecution of Black Americans. [AFTAH will have more on this story.]
4) Support FADA! Contact all the same legislators above and urge them to SUPPORT the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA), HR 2802, which would prohibit the federal government from taking any punitive action against an American who believes that marriage solely between a man and a woman.
If enacted, the deceptively titled Equality Act would punish dissenters, giving no quarter to Americans who continue to believe that marriage and sexual relations are reserved to the union of one man and one woman.
On June 26, 2015, five justices of the Supreme Court found an unwritten “fundamental right” to same-sex marriage hiding in the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment—a secret knowledge so cleverly concealed in the nineteenth-century amendment that it took almost 150 years to find. Facebook and the White House were awash in rainbow flags proclaiming the arrival of “marriage equality.”
Just three weeks after Obergefell, congressional Democrats filed House (H.R. 3185) and Senate (S. 1858) versions of the “Equality Act,” seeking to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the protected classes listed in the federal code. Americans are on an “equality” roll. What could go wrong?
As it turns out, quite a bit. 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.
The Contents of the Law
So, in concrete terms, what would the proposed law do? Here are just a few of the potential areas of impact, given how the Equality Act would amend various provisions of the Civil Rights Act:
Employment: would amend Title VII to create new protected classes for “sexual orientation” and “gender identity,” with no countervailing exemptions for faith-based organizations that maintain internal standards of sexual conduct rooted in longstanding religious tenets.
Federal Programs: would amend Title VI, historically limited to race, color, and national origin, to create new protected classes for “sex, sexual orientation, gender identity,” with no countervailing protections for faith-based providers who willingly serve every program-eligible person but maintain internal standards of sexual conduct rooted in longstanding religious tenets.
Public Accommodation: would drastically expand the Title II definition of “public accommodation” to cover “gatherings” and facilities historically owned and operated by churches or religious organizations—“shelters,” “food banks,” and “care centers”—extending far beyond the categories at issue during the Civil Rights Movement: common carriers (freight, bus, taxi, train, and air lines), public utilities, hotels, restaurants, and entertainment venues.
Public Education: would amend Title IV definitions of “desegregation” to include new protected classes for “sexual orientation” and “gender identity,” placing in the litigation crosshairs all sex-restricted facilities like dormitories, restrooms, or locker rooms.
Religious Freedom Restoration Act: would omit exemptions for religious organizations contained in prior drafts of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), and expressly state that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) may not be used as a defense or a basis for challenging the Equality Act.
Sex: would enter a congressional finding that “federal agencies and courts have correctly interpreted [] prohibitions on sex discrimination to include discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex stereotypes,” thereby adopting the EEOC’s most aggressively extra-textual recent rulings.
Bona Fide Occupational Qualifications: would amend Title VII exemptions for employers who have sex-based “bona fide occupational qualifications” (BFOQ) for specialized jobs—for example, male security guards in a maximum security prison or female undercover officers in a sex-trafficking sting operation—to require recognition of persons “in accordance with their gender identity.”
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
Folks, this is an excellent video by conservative Catholic Michael Voris, founder of ChurchMilitant.com and a leading fighter against pro-homosexual “progressives” in the Catholic Church. Voris is a Catholic, and I am an evangelical. We may disagree strongly on points of theology (and agree on others)–but let me tell you, this guy is a warrior, and I respect that.
Below the video is a transcript of Voris’ powerful remarks. As I wrote in a previous post, every American who is concerned about the homosexualist juggernaut–whether Catholic or not–should be aware of what is transpiring among Catholics, and the leftist campaign to subvert the Church’s teachings on homosexuality and marriage. That is because Catholics and the Church’s actions have such a huge influence over the overall “gay” debate, both here and abroad. We will follow the Synod of the Family–dubbed the “Sodomy Synod” by Voris below–closely through conservatives like Voris. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH
TRANSCRIPT
Right out of the gate, even before the Synod officially got underway, a shocking revelation from the Italian media that a high-ranking official in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) came out as an active homosexual with a partner.
The announcement in the Italian media brought an almost instant response from the Vatican, which said the Polish priest Kryzsztof Charamsa, a Vatican theologian, was irresponsible and placing undue pressure on the Synod right from the opening bell. But in many ways, what Charamsa has done is merely bring out into the open what many have long suspected and even been discussing quite freely: that there is a major push by gay and gay-positive clergy to get the Church to accept homosexuality.
“Widespread confusion” among Catholics regarding Church teachings amidst “onslaught of lifestyles spread by anti-Christian lobbies,” says petition
“Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.’ They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.” — Catechism of the Catholic Church, “Chastity and homosexuality,” 2357; see full text HERE.
Folks, I am not a Roman Catholic and I am averse to calling any man “Holy Father,” but I am reprinting this petition because you need to know that the the battle to overturn longstanding Catholic teaching against homosexualism is intensifying. Leftist “Catholics” who reject the Church’s teachings against homosexual practice are mobilizing for the Synod on the Family. Below is a petition signed by prominent Catholics (see list HERE), reprinted from the conservative group Tradition, Family, Property’s website. It is preceded by TFP’s introductory note.
The actions of the Catholic Church and the attitudes of American Catholics toward homosexualism greatly affect this cultural debate–and so all concerned citizens, regardless of their faith, must pay attention to this ongoing struggle. Many Western Catholics willfully choose to be ignorant of, or generally flout, historic Church teachings on this issue. And many a politician and pundit has used Pope Francis to justify supporting homosexuality-based “marriage” even though it is rejected emphatically by Catholic doctrine (see above). We will follow the Synod debate closely, relying on the analyses of some of our Catholic friends. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH
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American TFP writes:
Dissident Catholic pressure groups — aided by the liberal media — are feverishly working to dismantle vital Church teaching on marriage and family at the next Synod on the Family in Rome.
In fact, they are bombarding the Holy Father and the Synod Fathers right now with messages of revolt against traditional moral values as they clamor for “change, change, change” inside the Church.
At this critical time, we must defend the truth and ask the Holy Father to protect the future of the family.
The American TFP is joining forces with over 20 more pro-family groups around the world to collect as many signatures as possible before the next Synod starts. This prayerful petition is a worldwide effort. Everyone is invited to sign.
May God reward you.
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Filial Petition to Pope Francis:
Holy Father,
In view of the Synod on the family to be held in October 2015, we filially address Your Holiness to express our fears and hopes regarding the future of the family.
Our fears arise from witnessing a decades-long sexual revolution promoted by an alliance of powerful organizations, political forces and the mass media that consistently work against the very existence of the family as the basic unit of society. Ever since the so-called May 1968 Sorbonne Revolution, a morality opposed to both Divine and natural law has been gradually and systematically imposed on us so implacably as to make it possible, for example, to teach the abhorrent “gender theory” to young children in many countries.
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.
