A letter to Allyson Smith and Americans for Truth…

From: Nick B
Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2006 10:47 AM
To: americansfortruth@comcast.net
Subject: [AFT Web Site] What’s wrong with you?

The following message was sent from the Americans for Truth Web site:

I learned this morning that you people have gotten the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence kicked out of our local church. Why do you want to prevent organizations that serve the homeless, hungry, and sick from getting the help they so desperately need. The Sisters raise alot of money that is all given back to the community. You have stopped this. Why? Are you really filled with so much hate that you have no room for Christ’s love? You aren’t going to give one dime to help any of these people- to feed them, house them,heal them. Neither will the local Catholic Archdiocese. You all are false prophets who use Christ’s name to hurt others. You are the devil for trying to get people to deny the creation that God made them. You seek to hurt people that you deem lower than you- that is the work of the devil. If you feel better when you harm others that is on you. But don’t hurt others in the name of Christ. A Real Christian

Allyson Smith’s eloquent response…

Dear Nick B.,

Thank you for writing to Americans for Truth. It’s good to hear from you.

However, I’m afraid you have gotten your facts wrong. Neither I nor Americans for Truth got the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence “kicked out” of Most Holy Redeemer parish in San Francisco’s homosexual Castro district. We did not stop the bingo games; the San Francisco Archdiocese did. Your quarrel is with them.

After learning of the games from another source, I as a faithful Catholic simply wrote an open letter to pastor Stephen Meriwether, with a copy to the Archdiocese, demanding the games be stopped because they make a mockery of our crucified Lord Jesus Christ Who died to save sinners, including me and all homosexuals, and because they flout authentic Catholic doctrine which declares that homosexual acts are acts of deep depravity. I am not the only person who did so. Orthodox Catholics from throughout the United States
contacted the Archdiocese after learning of this situation.

You are also off-base in assuming that Americans for Truth wants to prevent organizations from serving the homeless, hungry, and sick — yes, including those who are sick with HIV/AIDS due to their own personal, preventable behaviors. But there are other ways to help such people than by holding sexualized bingo games in a Catholic parish hall with men who dress up in drag nun costumes and give away pornographic DVD and sex toy prizes.

In April 2005, I prayed at the hospice bedside and witnessed the holy death of a former homosexual friend who died of the AIDS scourge. The difference in his case is that he amended his life and sought forgiveness from Jesus Christ for his former sinful life before he passed away. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence not only refuse to repent; they parade their sin openly in “gay pride” events and other venues, including Most Holy Redeemer parish.

Jesus Christ forgave the woman caught in adultery, but he also told her to go and sin no more. (John 8:3-11). He offers the same forgiveness to all, if we will take Him up on His invitation to turn away from iniquity. All of us are sinners. No one is higher or lower than anyone else in that respect, because “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

“Real Christians” recognize sodomy as an egregious sin that destroys individual lives and entire societies. Real Christians turn away from homosexuality and refuse to condone, rationalize, or abet it. I pray you will do the same.

Allyson Smith

Excerpted from the website of The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence:

“The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Inc.

is a leading-edge Order of queer nuns.”

ANUNCEMENTS (sic)

REVIVAL Bingo Loses Its Lease
On Tuesday 31 October, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were informed that we could no longer rent Ellard Hall by the Parish Council President, Nick Andrade. This was both a shock and a surprise as we have worked very closely with Most Holy Redeemer Church to provide fundraising services for both the Church and other beneficiaries.

REVIVAL Bingo has been cancelled for both November and December. If you have already purchased tickets, your money will be refunded to you. read more »

WHY DID BINGO LOSE ITS LEASE?
At this time, we do not have any information on why we lost our lease. We ask that you be fair and kind to members of the Church and hold no hard feelings to them or their congregation. We want to thank you for your support and look forward to bringing back Bingo as soon as possible for both the players and the revenue it generates for our beneficiaries.

Our official statement regarding this unexpected cancellation of our lease as follows:

SAN FRANCISCO, 31 October 2006 — The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are stunned and deeply saddened by the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s abrupt cancellation of their lease for Ellard Hall, the location of their charitable monthly bingo fundraising event.

The Sisters want to apologize to the organizations that depend on our support, including the AIDS Emergency Fund and the Positive Resource Center. Both of these worthy organizations were to be the recipients of this week’s proceeds, however due to today’s decision by the Archdiocese, we will no longer be able to hold bingo. The Sisters would also like to apologize to the SFPD Pride Foundation, UCSF AIDS Health Project, Saint James Infirmary and Tenderloin Tessies Holiday Feed, all of whom were scheduled to be beneficiaries for future bingos. And, of course, the Sisters extend our apologies and regrets to the many players who purchased tickets and were anticipating many more joyous evenings of fundraising.

The primary mission of The Sisters is involvement in and support of the local community. This includes working with and supporting many local community organizations whose ability to serve their constituency is dependent on contributions from charitable groups like the Sisters. Without the thousands of dollars raised by the consistently sold-out monthly bingo event, their services may be cut at a time when charitable giving is more critical than ever.

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence believe that our commitment to giving is in alignment with the philosophy of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, which represents a cross-section of the San Francisco population. It is unfortunate and extremely disappointing that this appears not to be the case, and that our shared values cannot overcome our differences of opinion when it comes to how we serve the community.

We at Americans for Truth are grateful to the Archdiocese of San Francisco for promptly terminating this arrangement.

Excerpted from Woman’s Death at Hands of ‘Gay’ Her Fault, Says Lawyer, published Nov 1, 2006, by WorldNet Daily:

Mary Stachowicz was attacked with such ferocity the assailant’s hunting knife blade was bent, but a defense attorney for her alleged attacker is painting her with the blame, saying it wasn’t a “hate crime” and it happened because her comments about his “gay” lifestyle assaulted the man…

LaBarbera said the woman “is a modern day martyr who died because she told the truth to a man caught up in homosexuality. Her compelling story is largely unknown to Americans, because the same media that devoted millions of print column inches and broadcast minutes to covering the Matthew Shepard murder case have largely ignored Mary’s story.”

“The reality today is that growing secularist intolerance threatens to redefine Judeo-Christian beliefs as ‘prejudice, intolerance,’ or worse, ‘hatred.'”

Continue reading at WorldNet Daily…

Homosexual activist Rick Garcia of Equality Illinois is losing it. Garcia, who I learned from this piece is not a native of Illinois but moved here from St. Louis to promote homosexual “rights,” called a Chicago sex club (bathhouse) where men go for anonymous sexual encounters with other men a “health club.” (Rick says he doesn’t know what goes on in there–right.) He also called me a sex-obsessed “freak” who will get a “tongue lashing” on judgment day.

Suffice it to say that Garcia’s health standards are wanting, and that as a practicing homosexual who calls himself a Catholic yet wars against the sexual teachings of his own Church (he called Chicago Cardinal Francis George a “bigot”), he might want to contemplate his own coming judgment day rather than worry about mine. — Peter LaBarbera, Naperville, Illinois

The following is excerpted the article by Paige Winfield entitled Their Only Common Ground: Strong Opinions, published October 22, 2006, in The Naperville Sun:

…LaBarbera, director of Naperville-based Americans for Truth, says that homosexuality is unnatural, dangerous and changeable. Garcia, director of public policy for Equality Illinois, says it is natural, safe and unchangeable.

According to Garcia, all LaBarbera does is “attack and spread lies about gay people” as he “distorts the message of Christianity.”

But LaBarbera says he rejects all hatred and violence against homosexuals while maintaining his belief that homosexual behavior is immoral. “Rick is saying we are all about hate,” LaBarbera said. “It’s just a disagreement about behavior. What he can’t understand is that we are opposed to the behavior, and we believe Rick is a little bit obsessed about having everybody accept the behavior.”

…LaBarbera criticizes Garcia for accepting money donated to Equality Illinois by Steamworks – a private men’s bathhouse in Chicago – which he says is a place filled with unsafe sexual behavior.

“Those are the places where people contract dangerous diseases,” LaBarbera said. “I think if Rick really cared about gay men, he would want to close that place down.”

Calling LaBarbera a “freak obsessed with sex,” Garcia said Steamworks is just one of many businesses from which Equality Illinois accepts money and said he does not know what goes on inside the club. He said it is more dangerous for gays to remain closeted out of fear than for them to spend time in bathhouses like Steamworks.

“I find it amazing that (Peter) is so concerned about a private health club,” Garcia said. “He is certainly no one to criticize, when he opposes distribution of condoms and safe-sex education in schools.”

…Garcia thinks he knows what awaits LaBarbera.

“I can hardly wait for judgment day to come for Peter LaBarbera, because he’s going to get a tongue-lashing like never before,” Garcia said.

Continue reading in The Naperville Sun…

Excerpted from Bauer: No Way Around It A Vote Endorses a Partys Values, by Bill Fancher, Jeff Johnson, and Jody Brown, published Oct 19, 2006, by Agape Press:

Democrats’ Plan for Defeating Amendments
In response to the success of those state ballot measures, the Democratic National Committee announced this summer it had adopted a five-point plan for fighting measures defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Parts of that plan include labeling those ballot issues as “divisive” ploys by the Republicans and others to deflect voter attention from other important issues, and working with the National Stonewall Democrats — a pro-homosexual element within the party — to develop “strategy and talking points” to combat the proposed amendments.

On Election Day 2006, voters in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin will consider constitutional amendments declaring marriage to be only the union of one man and one woman. The president of the group Americans for Truth believes the amendments should pass with little difficulty in five of those eight states.

“Arizona and Wisconsin are more of a battleground,” Peter LaBarbera asserts, “and then there’s a special situation in Colorado where there’s a pro-domestic partner initiative that was very smartly, by the way, put up by homosexual activists. So those are the three states to watch. I think the rest of the states will pass handily.”

That has been the case in all of the 20 states where a marriage amendment has been adopted by voters. The average approval rating has been 68 percent (see chart). But LaBarbera warns that if the so-called “civil union” amendment passes in Colorado, voters can expect homosexual activists to employ the same strategy in the future when other states are considering constitutional amendments defending traditional marriage.

Continue reading at Agape Press…

Excerpted from ‘Big Three’ TV Networks Charged with Piling On in Reporting on Foley Scandal, by Jody Brown and Bill Fancher, published October 13, 2006, by Agape Press:

A conservative media watchdog group is reporting that its research exposes the mainstream media’s biased treatment of sex scandals among lawmakers in Congress…

Conservative spokesmen Gary Bauer and Peter LaBarbera evidently agree with Bozell’s assessment…

Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth asserts that some Democrats are being hypocritical when they are expressing outrage about the Foley matter. LaBarbera says they “turned their backs” several years ago when the homosexual lover of Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) was allegedly running a male prostitute ring out of Frank’s own apartment in Washington, DC. Despite that, Franks has been elected to 13 terms in the House, notes LaBarbera.

“Then there’s [Democratic Congressman] Gerry Studds who consorted with a [17-year-old] boy [in the 1970s] … and when the House voted to censure him [in 1983], Representative Studds turned his back on the House, defiant against them,” says LaBarbera. Studds was elected five times after the censure.

In LaBarbera’s opinion, Democrats have set the example for looking the other way when it comes to homosexual-related scandals among their own members. For that reason, he feels they have no right to accuse Republicans of turning a blind eye to the Foley situation.

Continue reading at Agape Press…

Click to listen to National Public Radio’s All Things Considered:

“Gay” Republicans Feel Heat from the Foley Scandal

by Ari Shapiro

October 13, 2006 – It’s an open secret in Washington that gay men play an active role in Republican Party politics at every level. In the wake of the recent Congressional sex scandal, gay Republican politicians and their staffers are finding themselves attacked from the right and from the left.

Excerpted from State Marriage Campaigns are Targets of Intimidation Tactics, by Pete Winn, published Oct 12, 2006, by CitizenLink:

People in Colorado, Arizona, Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wisconsin are just 26 days away from deciding the fate of amendments to protect marriage.

In Wisconsin, proponents of traditional marriage find themselves the target of intimidation and harassment tactics utilized by their opponents, according to Julaine Appling, executive director of the Wisconsin Family Research Institute — and a leader of the Vote Yes for Marriage campaign…

Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth…said what is happening in Wisconsin is happening in other places as well.

“Gay activism has an ‘end-justifies-the-means’ mentality,” he said. “You just have to shake it off and go on your way, because we cannot let these thugs intimidate us from doing what’s right.”

LaBarbera said threats against defenders of traditional marriage seem to come with the territory — he’s had more than his share.

“It’s very sad to me that a movement which espouses tolerance,” he said, “would harbor so many people who are willing to use ugly, evil means to achieve their goal of victory.”

Continue reading at CitizenLink…