So-called LGBT “Equality Act” will surely escalate State oppression against people of faith

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.

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.

 

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Matthew Kacsmaryk writes:

 The Inequality Act: Weaponizing Same-Sex Marriage

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.

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

PS. Reilly to Speak Again in DC Area Sat., Nov. 21: AFTAH is holding a second banquet featuring Mr. Reilly in the Washington, DC area Sat., Nov. 21–at the American Legion’s “Patriot Hall,” 330 North Center St., Vienna, VA 22180. For more info, click HERE. To sign up, use our special Banquet Registration Form.

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Thorner: Robert Reilly Keynotes Annual AFTAH Dinner-Banquet

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.

Threat of youth suicide drives radical, body-disfiguring “sex reassignment” surgeries on minor children–should this be legal?

 “We don’t offer anything that would have any long-lasting negative or irreversible effect unless this is truly a kid who’s older, who can make a wise decision, whose family is supportive.”— Dr. Scott Leibowitz, child and adolescent psychiatrist with Lurie Children’s Hospital’s Gender and Sex Development program

Folks, I am stunned at what passes for science and medical care these days. Emily Paschal, a 17-year-old girl from Gurnee, Illinois featured in these WYCC (PBS-Chicago) video segments, had her healthy adolescent breasts surgically removed as part of her “transitioning” process to become her male persona, “Emmet.” Her parents allowed the radical surgery in the name of helping their daughter become like the transgender “male” she thinks she is. They were assisted by Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, in a program led by an open homosexual, Dr. Robert Garofalo, who heads up the hospital’s “Gender and Sex Development Program.”

Last month I was interviewed by WYCC for this “In the Loop” segment,  “Raising a Transgender Teen,” without knowing the specifics of the Emily-“Emmet” Pascal story. WYCC is the lesser known of two PBS TV stations in Chicago, and this program aired September 24, 2015. WYCC used only a tiny portion of my interview, which is a shame because the reporter who interviewed me–not “In the Loop” host Barbara Pinto, who narrates the piece–was very fair and asked no “gotcha” questions. Note: I am identified here with “Center For Morality,” which will be a project of Americans For Truth as we transition to our new home in the Washington, D.C. area.

How tragic it is that the threat of suicide drives this entire process whereby panic-stricken parents–working with doctors who double as de facto LGBTQ activists–allow their child’s confused feelings to guide and rationalize the pursuit of permanent body-disfiguring operations.  Speaking of rationalizations: what would feminists say about Emily’s (“Emmet’s’) father Dirk Paschal recalling her leadership skills as a girl in the neighborhood as evidence that she was really a “boy.” Can’t girls be leaders?

The bottom line here is that doctors have become activists and pop-culture philosophers in pushing these extreme experimental “solutions” on vulnerable youth and their vulnerable parents–even though, as Dr. Garofalo admits (see 3:18 mark), the doctors are far from having all the answers. Most importantly, as he acknowledges, some kids overcome their sense of “gender nonconformity”–so why rush the operations and puberty-blocking drug “treatments”? And will we all one day as taxpaying Americans be subsidizing these horrific procedures through Obama-care? I question whether these radical “transgender” surgeries should even be legal for minors. More coming on this. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH

Some highlights of the video are transcribed after the videos and the page jump:

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[UPDATE: to listen to Janet Mefferd’s interview with AFTAH’s Peter LaBarbera, go HERE or click play in the player above (it starts at the 24:00 mark)]

Dear Readers, once again the pro-family, Christian movement falls into “Kvetch and Retreat” mode, which is another way of saying we are constantly backing up in our interactions with the homosexual juggernaut. This is why we lose. Needless to say, homosexual activists and their fellow travelers are not appeased by Dr. Al Mohler’s high-minded retreat on pro-heterosexual Reparative Therapy, as my friend and talk show host Janet Mefferd notes with regard to the Huffington Post columnist and “liberal Christian” professor Derek Penwell below.

I appreciate that Janet applies what I am calling the “Sexual Sin Substitution Test”: simply replace “gay” with another sexual sin and see if it makes sense. This helps to lay bare the pitfalls of making special accommodations, theological caveats–and even questionable apologies–in our approach toward those caught up in the sin of (proud) homosexualism and gender rebellion. With regard to Mohler’s curious apology–on behalf of non-consulted Christians everywhere–to people caught up in homosexual behaviors and feelings, I would ask–as a flawed Ambassador of Christ myself:

Why hasn’t Mohler apologized to the porn-using “community”? The adulterous “community”? And certainly the very large but misunderstood fornicators “community” deserves an apology, too. Why are he and other guilt-ridden Christians not apologizing to these sin groups?

The practical answer to that question, I submit, is that these other sins are not the beneficiaries of a powerful lobby that has turned ungodly yet changeable behaviors into proud self-identities–and a supposedly victimized “minority” with massive media, corporate and government clout behind it. And I say to Prof. Penwell— in the spirit of Jeremiah 17:9 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-11–repent, humble yourself before Almighty God and turn away from all anti-biblical attempts to justify proud homosexuality in the lives of others. Because no amount of cultural power and liberal propaganda can turn sin into righteousness. –Peter LaBarbera, Americans For Truth; @PeterLaBarbera; americansfortruth@gmail.com

P.S. I will be appearing tonight (Oct. 7, 2015) as a guest on Janet’s new radio show, “Janet Mefferd Today”  to discuss Mohler’s ill-timed criticism of pro-hetero Reparative Therapy. To listen to the interview, go HERE — it starts at the 24:00 mark.

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Mefferd writes:

Reparative Therapy, Southern Baptists and Moving the Goalposts

“When even Al Mohler is embarrassed to talk about ‘reparative therapy’ in straightforward terms everyone understands, it means that cultural standards are evolving toward greater hospitality to our LGBTQ sisters and brothers.” – Pro-homosexual liberal activist  and “liberal Christian” Derek Penwell

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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.

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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.

Read the rest of this article »

The case against sodomy: How to use reason and natural law to argue against homosexual acts and ‘gay marriage’

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.

Read the rest of this article »