I was greatly encouraged by the many letters AFTAH received responding to 14-year-old “Joe,” who wrote via our website explaining that he is a gay atheist who hates Americans For Truth. I will be passing on all the notes to Joe, and publishing a few, including this from suburban Chicago writer Laurie Higgins (emphasis added)–Peter L.:
_________________________________________________________________________
 
Dear Joe,
 
What you have said, what you feel, and what you think break my heart. All reveal the deception that our culture has taught our children. Mr. LaBarbera doesn’t hate you or homosexuals. And even though I firmly believe that homosexual conduct is not moral, I do not hate you either.
 
I no more hate you than I hate those who engage in other behaviors that I consider immoral, and those would include me, my husband, and my children. Every single human who has ever lived, save one, engages in immoral behavior. Our task is figuring out what constitutes moral and immoral behavior. You have appropriated one philosophical perspective on what determines right and wrong: you believe that if a behavior doesn’t directly harm another person physically, then it’s moral. But some of the greatest thinkers who have ever lived define morality differently. Defining morality as you have would permit adult consensual incest, lying, selfishness, polyamory, and apotemnophilia.
 
Neither Mr. LaBarbera nor I believe that homosexuals choose the feelings they have anymore than those who are attracted to adolescents or children or their siblings choose their powerful attractions, or those married men who are attracted to other women choose those attractions, or those who are powerfully drawn toward gambling or alcohol or drugs choose those attractions. We do believe, however, that those who experience same-sex attraction choose how they will respond to their desires, just as I choose how to respond to my selfish, or greedy, or angry, or lustful desires. Some in society tell you that acting on same-sex impulses is legitimate and good. They have lied to you, and it is a cruel lie.
 
You ask why someone would care about the sexual practices of others. I care that others are teaching children lies. I care that others are teaching kids that homosexual conduct is morally equivalent to heterosexual conduct when it’s not. I care because that lie carries devastating emotional, psychological, physical, and spiritual consequences. I care because I care about truth and its impact on the lives of individuals and on society.
 
Joe, homosexuals do have the full complement of civil rights.  They even have marital rights. Every homosexual can get married; they simply can’t redefine marriage. They can’t eliminate the criterion of complementarity, just as those who “love” children cannot eliminate the minimum age criterion, and those who love relatives cannot eliminate the consanguinity requirement, and those who love multiple partners cannot eliminate the binary requirement. The fact that homosexuals cannot redefine the institution does not mean the institution is unavailable to them.
 
As to your comment that homosexuals can think logically: You’re absolutely right, Joe; you were created in the image and likeness of God, and, therefore, you possess the gift of reason. It is not just religious traditions that inform us that homosexual conduct is wrong. Natural law tells us that. You are heterosexual, Joe. All humans are. Species cannot procreate homosexually. Our bodies are not designed for homosexual sex. They are exquisitely designed for heterosex. Desires do not define identity. And the male sex drive is so powerful, it can be misdirected to a whole host of inappropriate objects and activities. Don’t allow the unbidden presence of desires, impulses, or attractions define who you are. None of us should.
 
Please, do not dismiss arguments that emerge from religious tradition. Speaking as one who deeply values logic, evidence, and intellectual argument, I can attest that Christianity holds up intellectually. And remember, atheism too is based on faith. You are no more able to prove the non-existence of God than I am able to prove unequivocally God’s existence. But search out some “apologetics.” I would recommend the website of Ravi Zacharias. And read about the conversions of atheists like Mortimer Adler who was a famous University of Chicago philosopher, or British journalist Malcolm Muggeridge, or more recently the physicist Anthony Flew. And it’s not just the Christian Bible that teaches that homosexuality is wrong; the Old Testament does also, as does the Koran.
 
By the way, there are no scientific studies that prove that homosexuality is genetic. In fact, most scientists, even those who identify as gay and whose studies are most often cited, believe that at most, biology may play a part in desire, but that environmental influences are significant. In addition, the presence of biological influences tells us precisely nothing about morality.
 
Joe, there is freedom, truth, beauty, joy, and peace available to you. Seek them relentlessly, and know this, except for a very few fringe wackos, those who hold traditional beliefs do not hate you. On the contrary, they grieve for the lies you’ve been taught and desire nothing but that which is truly good for you.
 
If you would like to talk more, and your parents are agreeable to us talking, I would love nothing more. You can contact me through AFTAH. 
 
Laurie

NOTE: we have already received many responses to this item that was e-mailed out by AFTAH on New Year’s Eve. We will be posting some of these responses: 

Please read the letter below, which we received Saturday from a 14-year-old atheist boy who hates Americans For Truth.  Nothing makes my heart grieve more than a confused young person rejecting God and embracing an unnatural sexual identity (“gayness”) built around ungodly behavior that up until a few decades ago was viewed as so immoral that it wasn’t even discussed in public.  I don’t know Joe, but I can safely say that his tragic life choice was made easier by the organized homosexual movement.  This is the saddest end result of “gay pride” — corrupting the hearts and minds of young people and helping to put them in grave physical, emotional and spiritual danger:

________________________

The following message was sent from the Americans for Truth Website:
From: Joe [name withheld]  
Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2007 10:52 AM
To: americansfortruth@comcast.net
Subject: [AFT Web Site] Homosexuality.
________________________

To put it bluntly, I probably hate you more than anything else in the world. Like many others, I believe you have the moral equivalent of a modern-day KKK: hating people for being different and having opposing beliefs. I am a liberal, gay, atheistic 14 year old boy, and I believe I have more morals than you. You are a disgrace to humanity. I\’m sorry that I am being so childish in my \”argument\” which is turning out like hate mail, but I just cannot put in words how much I disagree with you. Homosexuals should have rights because they are humans, capable of thinking logically and making decisions, just like you and me. And why does what other people do sexually concern you at all? I want you to tell me, from a non-religious standpoint, exactly how homosexuals are hurting you? Because if they are not negatively affecting you in any way (which is what a suspect) then you should have no problem with them. Most of America knows the truth about homosexuality, which is that it is a preference, not a choice, just like a favorite food to put it in simple terms. You like it, because it pleases you, not because you choose to like a certain food. I\’m sorry that this message has stretched so long, and I would like a reply and a rebuttal to my claims. USING LOGIC, not religion. -Joe [————-]
________________________

I have yet to respond to young Joe, but let us all pray for him.  If you would like to send a message to Joe, send it to AFTAH at americansfortruth@comcast.net, and I will pass it on to him.  But I won’t be relaying any notes from our homosexual activist detractors, for it looks like Joe is getting enough bad advice already from the “gay” side. 

I hope and pray that the God whom Joe rejects will intervene in his life to take him off this course that can only lead to destruction: “There is a way that seems right to a man [or in this case, a boy], but in the end it leads to death.” (Proverbs 16:25)  Yes, there is a “culture war,” and a spiritual one, and lives hang in the balance.

Sincerely,

Peter LaBarbera

www.americansfortruth.org

Thank you to all who have stood with Americans For Truth in 2007.  Your generosity keeps us in the battle for Truth!

By Peter LaBarbera 

NOTE TO READERS: When we made our initial comments on our story, we were relying on what turned out to be a sloppy and erroneous Chicago Tribune story (see bottom), and we had not seen the Chicago Sun Times story on this crime, which conflicts with the Tribune account. I apologize for reporting this so quickly and for foolishly relying on a single Chicago media story for accurate news (not a good idea).

Here are the essential details from the Sun-Times article, “Alleged gay advance cited in rape” (emphasis added):

Felipe Rivera, 43, is charged with a hate crime as well as aggravated criminal sexual assault and other offenses, said a spokesman for the Cook County state’s attorney’s office. If convicted, he could face more than 30 years in prison, a source said.

 

According to a spokesman for Cicero police, Rivera and the victim encountered each other at a party Friday night in the 1200 block of South 50th Avenue.

 

“Mr. Rivera got upset apparently because he believed the victim, No. 1, didn’t respond to a female and then, No. 2, somehow winked at him — made what he perceived as a sexual advance,” said Cicero police spokesman Dan Proft.

 

30 years possible
Rivera then punched the victim in the face, Proft said, and was asked to leave the party. He allegedly waited outside for the victim. According to Rivera, the victim, 37, then propositioned Rivera for a sex act — a claim the victim denies, Proft said.

 

Rivera followed the victim to the outer staircase of a basement apartment, where he removed the victim’s pants and raped him, authorities said. Afterward, Rivera punched the victim in the head, leaving him semi-conscious, then inserted a metal broom handle in the victim’s rectum, sources said.

 

Rivera gave police these details in a videotaped statement, according to Proft. When asked why he did it, Rivera allegedly said it was “because he hates f – – – – – s, and this is what they get,” according to Proft.

 

A spokesman for the state’s attorney said Rivera also shouted “sexually oriented derogatory comments” during the rape.

 

After the alleged attack, Rivera went to his mother’s residence nearby. Because she has an order of protection against him, she called the police, Proft said.

I just spoke with Cicero spokesman Dan Proft, who says that the Sun-Times story is the most accurate he’s read.

In our original commentary (below), I relied on the Trib account which appears to have mangled Proft’s statement so as to assert that the violent assailant propositioned his male victim for sex. According to the Sun-Times, however, the assailant claims that his victim did the propositioning (which the victim denies actually happened). 

 Which homosexual activist(s) got AFTAH’s “Gay Grinch” award for 2007? Hint: it involves the Boy Scouts. Listen online to find out.

By Peter LaBarbera 

Click HERE to listen to the first hour, and HERE to listen online to the second hour of my guest-hosting appearance Dec. 17 on WYLL (a Christian station outside Chicago, Ill.) for the Sandy Rios Show. Sandy is a dear friend, president of Culture Campaign, a commentator on FOX News, and — I almost forgot — a Great American.

The show features (in the first hour) some great exchanges with my friends, African Americans Rev. Al Cleveland of Rehoboth Empowerment Christian Church and Charlene Cothran, discussing DiversityInc publisher Luke Visconti’s nutty comparison of me to a 19th Century slavery advocate.

The second hour features: an interview with Dan Zanoza of Republicans For Fair Media on CNN’s “political ambush” using a supposed “gay general” at its YouTube Republican Presidential Debate to promote homosexuality in the military; a short but sweet exchange with AFTAH Board Member Mike Heath of the Christian Civic League of Maine on getting men back involved in the “culture war”: and a short interview with Dave Smith of the Illinois Family Institute on his campaign to get the NFL to stop allowing bawdy ads during football games.

You can also listen at the end for AFTAH’s first annual “Gay Grinch” award for 2007. Hint: it involves the Boy Scouts of America.

There’s one big problem with the broadcast: I don’t think I said “um” enough…. Oh well, practice makes perfect. Thanks to Sandy for the opportunity. — Peter LaBarbera

Charlene Cothran/David Parker AFTAH BANQUET VIDEO Is Finally Available!

Excellent teaching tool for young people who are being brainwashed to accept homosexuality!
 
The AFTAH Banquet Videos are finally available and will be shipped ASAP!  To order a complete DVD (or CD) set of both ex-lesbian Charlene Cothran’s and parental rights hero David Parker’s outstanding talks, make an online donation of at least $25 postpaid to Americans For Truth (http://americansfortruth.com/donate/). Please use the online form at https://americansfortruth.nozonenet.com/donate/cc.php to specify your order.  You can substitute an audio CD but you must request this specifically. To order by regular mail, send your check or money order specifying “2007 Banquet DVD” (or CD) to: Americans For Truth, P.O. Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522.

Bulk Orders available: 2 for $40; 3 for $55; 4 for $70; add $10 for each additional DVD or contact us at americansfortruth@comcast.net (or 630-717-7631) for large bulk order pricing.

  AFTAH’s recent appearance on FOX’s Hannity & Colmes exposed millions of Americans to the reality that San Francisco now “tolerates” open nudity and perversion on its streets, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other city leaders beholden to powerful homosexual activists do nothing. Click on http://www.americansfortruth.org/donate/ to make a year-end, tax-deductible gift to support AFTAH’s critical work.

________________________________

“I give to Americans For Truth to preserve my children’s future.  I cannot fight the fight full-time like AFTAH does, but I can help with my resources.  There are many militant groups that are aggressively trying to steal my children’s innocence under the guise of ‘tolerance and acceptance.’  We need AFTAH’s voice.” — Richard, Inverness, IL, father of three, explaining his $1,000 gift to Americans For Truth

Dear ‘American For Truth,’
 
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are enjoying this blessed season.  Please consider an end-of-year, tax-deductible gift to Americans For Truth to help us start 2008 on solid footing.  You can give safely online at http://www.americansfortruth.org/donate/.
 
AFTAH is one of the few groups that unapologetically and aggressively confronts the homosexual/transsexual lobby, which is one of the most dangerous and evil movements facing America.  Why do I say that?  Because in the name of something noble (“civil rights”), homosexual activists promote the state-enforced acceptance of immoral, destructive behavior — and even corrupt schoolchildren through pro-homosexuality lessons that manipulate innocent minds. 
 
This agenda directly threatens our cherished religious and First Amendment freedoms — while undermining historic faith and Biblical morality by claiming that somehow, 5,000 years of Judeo-Christian teaching and tradition are wrong and homosexuality is actually a “gift from God”!

Just another lie created by a movement built upon lies.  Why is it that so many people are intimidated by this deceitful lobby, or are afraid to speak out against the pro-homosexual propaganda that is everywhere in the media and popular culture?

At Americans For Truth, we are not afraid, and we are not retreating.  I had a revelation two weeks ago while speaking at a gathering of pro-family leaders in Ohio.  A veteran pro-life activist heard my speech and later told me that he was simply unaware of how multifaceted and deep is the network of organizations dedicated solely to promoting homosexuality and gender confusion in the USA.  The following organizations collectively spend tens of millions of dollars every year, are highly specialized, and are focused like a laser beam on normalizing homosexuality in the culture — in our laws, the media, Hollywood, schools and even our churches:

Human Rights Campaign: Lobbying/Political Action
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force: Grassroots Organizing
Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN): Transforming K-12 Schools/Colleges 
Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG): Cultural Acceptance/Lobbying/Schools
Lambda Legal: Changing the Law/Pro-homosexual lawsuits
ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project: Lawsuits
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network: Military
Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD): Media/Hollywood
National Center for Lesbian Rights: Lesbian Parenthood/Child Custody
National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association: Changing Media from within
GenderPac: Redefining Gender Norms/’Transgender’ Lobbying 
Soulforce: Redefining Biblical Beliefs as “Homophobia’/Propagandizing Christian Colleges
Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders: Lobbying/Law/”Same-sex Marriage”

I thought to myself: if this savvy, pro-family hero was unaware of the size and strength of the “Lavender Army” (and the above list is far from comprehensive), then how ignorant is the typical American of what we’re up against?

Curiously, my new friend’s comment gave me renewed hope.  Yes, the hour is late, and our enemies are rich and powerful by worldly standards.  But they lack basic truth, and in fact they fear it — such as the sobering truth that homosexuality can never be “equal” to the natural family and marriage; in fact, homosexual behaviors lead to death and disease.  Or the simple reality that men and women can overcome homosexuality with a loving God’s help.

This is where Americans For Truth comes in.  The reason homosexual activists vilify us; the reason they monitor our every word, and why they barrage us with vile e-mails and cynically accuse us of “hate” — is that deep down they are afraid of the truth getting out.  Each manifestation of truth — like our San Francisco video, which shocks even the most jaded Culture Warriors to whom we have shown it — dispels a thousand “gay” lies and tired, liberal clichés!  And truth has a way of inevitably surfacing over time, no matter how biased the media are.    
 
Please help us today with a year-end, tax-deductible gift to help fulfill Americans For Truth’s mission of answering the modern homosexual movement’s lies, and the media’s mendacity, with facts and truth: http://www.americansfortruth.org/donate/.  From the bottom of my heart, I thank each of you who has helped to sustain AFTAH with your generosity and prayers.
 
God bless you, and Happy New Year.  I look forward to a new year of standing with you for what’s right in 2008!
 
Peter LaBarbera
 
President 
Americans For Truth
www.americansfortruth.org
(630)717-7631
 
P.S.  You can give safely online at http://www.americansfortruth.org/donate/.  We receive gifts totaling in the tens of thousands of dollars, but that does not compare to the tens of millions that our opponents raise to promote unhealthy lifestyles, even to children.  Please give faithfully and regularly so that we can continue to defend God’s truth on a daily basis.
 
Richard from Inverness, Illinois, a father of three young children, recently gave $1,000 to Americans for Truth.  He explains why:

“I give to Americans For Truth to preserve my children’s future.  I cannot fight the fight full-time like AFTAH does, but I can help with my resources.  There are many militant groups that are aggressively trying to steal my children’s innocence under the guise of ‘tolerance and acceptance.’   We need AFTAH’s voice.  Please join me in doing what you can to help Americans For Truth stay in the battle against secular pressure groups crusading for unhealthy and immoral lifestyles for our children.”

You can give safely online at http://www.americansfortruth.org/donate/.  To mail a tax-deductible gift of $1,000, $500, $100, $50 or whatever you can before the year’s end (so you can get your 2007 tax deduction), send your check to: 

Americans For Truth
P.O. Box 5522
Naperville, IL 60567-5522

____________________________

Charlene Cothran/David Parker AFTAH BANQUET VIDEO Is Finally Available!

Excellent teaching tool for young people who are being brainwashed to accept homosexuality!
 
The AFTAH Banquet Videos are finally available and will be shipped ASAP!  To order a complete DVD (or CD) set of both ex-lesbian Charlene Cothran’s and parental rights hero David Parker’s outstanding talks, make an online donation of at least $25 postpaid to Americans For Truth (http://americansfortruth.com/donate/). Please use the online form at https://americansfortruth.nozonenet.com/donate/cc.php to specify your order.  You can substitute an audio CD but you must request this specifically. To order by regular mail, send your check or money order specifying “2007 Banquet DVD” (or CD) to: Americans For Truth, P.O. Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522.

Bulk Orders available: 2 for $40; 3 for $55; 4 for $70; add $10 for each additional DVD or contact us at americansfortruth@comcast.net (or 630-717-7631) for large bulk order pricing.

 Can God bless homosexual activism? Nancy Pelosi thinks so. Speaking before the world’s most powerful homosexual pressure group, she said: “God has certainly blessed America with the work of the Human Rights Campaign.” Help Americans For Truth oppose such lies with a tax-deductible, year-end gift.

Recently, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) appeared before a massive fundraiser put on by the largest homosexual pressure group in the world, the Human Rights Campaign, to accept their 2007 National Equality award. In her speech — which you can watch by clicking HERE — Pelosi praised HRC “for being a powerful and positive counterbalance to the voices of hate.” Thus she confuses, as does the group that honors her, defense of marriage and the natural family — and opposition to homosexuality — with “hate.”

Here is how Speaker Pelosi ended her speech:

“Thank you, HRC. May God bless you. God has certainly blessed America with the work of the Human Rights Campaign.”

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Support AFTAH with a Year-End Gift! 

Will you support Americans For Truth with a year-end gift to sustain us in our daily battle to answer the lies of the homosexual movement and their powerful allies? Click HERE (http://www.americansfortruth.org/donate/) to donate by credit card or Paypal.  Or you can send your tax-deductible gift of $500, $100, $50 or whatever you can give to: Americans For Truth (AFTAH), P.O. Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522. 

_____________________________

Please forward this appeal on to your friends and family members:

A Note from Americans For Truth to Our Supporters:

By Peter LaBarbera

They have the power, the money and the influence.

We have the Truth.

They have Hollywood and the media.

We have the Truth.

They have the schools, the universities, the professional organizations, the corporate “diversity” programs.

We have the Truth. And the simple truth is that homosexual behavior is always wrong, but it can be overcome — like any sin — in a person’s life through the power of the Christ of Christmas, who came not to “condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” (John 3:17)

By Mike Heath, Christian Civic League of Maine 

That is what Coach Dave Daubenmire calls them.  He is referring to Christian leaders who choose Herod over John.  I imagine them in the crowd gathered around John the Baptist out in the wilderness.  They are the ones that started quaking when John stopped focusing on urging individuals to repent and be baptized.  They became fearful when John turned his preaching on the political elites.  The Bible doesn’t record every conversation John had, of course.  It does hit the highlights, however.  I think John probably made a lot of powerful people uncomfortable during his short time of ministry.  We only know about King Herod.

John confronted Herod.  He didn’t hold anything back.  Herod was a Roman tyrant who literally had the legal right to kill whoever he pleased.  John’s society recognized no individual rights that superseded Herod’s tyrannical power, unlike our great country.  The [Christian Civic League of Maine] is exactly like John the Baptist in the moment he publicly condemned Herod for sleeping with his brother’s wife.  There are some in the crowd who are less pleased with us than they are afraid of Herod….

…I used to care what people like this pastor think.  I’m teaching myself to care more about what God thinks. 

I used to think that Chicago historian Martin Marty is right.  He claimed the worst sin is to be mean.  While most Christians worked on fine tuning “nice” Satan made sodomy a virtue.  Imagine it.  The once great Church of England is splitting down the middle over nonsense.  I moved on from Martin Marty to Thomas Oden.  He is a scholar who wrote a book called “Requiem.”  He urges men like me to become known as “young fogeys” for refusing to be intimidated by the sexual orientation mob.

I’m now convinced that nice is merely an excuse to avoid controversy and righteous indignation.  Christians don’t need to get angry about what is being done to their families, children, grandchildren and neighborhoods.  They just need to get Biblical.  They need to take a stand for common sense.  They need to invite everyone to be honest about sexual morality.  Most people think sodomy is perverted, disgusting and miserable — and worse.  Fine by me.  We should encourage everyone who believes that to say it….

Click HERE to read Heath’s entire column on “Evanjellyfish”