Anti-Christian bigotry prevails: Human Rights Campaign’s Daryl Herrschaft threatened to boycott a DiversityInc Magazine forum on “Religion in the Workplace” if Americans For Truth were allowed to participate. The magazine caved in.

By Peter LaBarbera 

“How do you balance the need to create an open and equal workplace for LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] employees with the religious beliefs of those who oppose same-sex relationships?” 
— proposed discussion question for DiversityInc “Religion in the Workplace” roundtable that includes an atheist and a homosexual activist but dropped Americans For Truth after being lobbied by pro-“gay” panelists

Today I was scheduled to fly to Newark, N.J., to participate in a “Religion in the Workplace Roundtable” discussion sponsored by DiversityInc Magazine. But I won’t be going to Newark – because three of the panelists decided that true diversity was something they simply could not tolerate.

On Friday, I received an awkward call from Barbara Frankel, DiversityInc’s Executive Editor, who had originally invited me to take part in the roundtable — along with Daryl Herrschaft, Director of the Workplace Project at Human Rights Campaign, a homosexual activist group, and several other panelists including the president of American Atheists.

An embarrassed Ms. Frankel said she was forced to disinvite me, less than a week before the event, because Herrschaft and two other panelists (she wouldn’t say whom) had threatened not to come if I were allowed to participate. (I had already bought my airline ticket and received planning materials for the discussion.) Ironically, one of the proposed questions for the roundtable was: “How do you balance the need to create an open and equal workplace for LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] employees with the religious beliefs of those who oppose same-sex relationships?”

Frankel apologized and said that she was very upset about this development, but that her hands were tied. Of course, she could have stuck with the original plan and told Herrschaft and his two allies to take a hike, or at least a refresher course on genuine diversity.

Frankel’s decision to cave in to HRC’s demands represents a triumph of the new, Intolerant “Tolerance” over real tolerance. In originally inviting me and Americans For Truth to participate, Frankel – representing the very pro-“gay” DiversityInc — was, to her credit, practicing old-fashioned tolerance: people with divergent worldviews listening and talking respectfully to one another about each other’s viewpoint, in a spirit of civility.

The New Tolerance – epitomized by Herrschaft’s arrogant threat – is “tolerant” in name only. It is driven by ideology and power. Here’s the formula: certain viewpoints that the Left finds intolerable – e.g., that homosexuality is wrong and changeable behavior – must be denied public expression, or at least be marginalized. All to build a “hate-free” society, you see. (Conservative college students know well this counterfeit brand of “tolerance and diversity.”)

By J. Matt Barber

Posted by Concerned Women for America, Sept. 14, 2007

“They feel kind for a season, but remain blind to all reason.” — Matt Barber, just now

Such is the nature of political correctness. And in that spirit, lawmakers — who are purportedly sane — plan to take us all on a “long strange trip” through a mystical fantasyland where the impossible is possible and the objectionable is obligatory.

A vote is expected soon on H.R. 2015, the so-called “Employment Non-Discrimination Act” (ENDA). If passed, the bill would grant special employment rights and protected minority status to individuals who define themselves based upon chosen sexual behaviors and others who — among other things — suffer from clinical self-delusion. It would force employers to abandon their First Amendment civil rights at the workplace door.

More on that later…

In the meantime, two stories. One is fiction, the other is real. Both are fantasy:

Sean was a redheaded, freckled lad of pure Irish descent. Growing up, he always felt something was wrong. He didn’t like green beer, corned beef hash or any of the other things the Irish were supposed to like. Rather, he was fascinated by African-American culture and eventually made the self-determination that he was, in fact, a black man trapped in a white man’s body. No, not like Vanilla Ice, Eminem or other posers; Sean actually believed it.

There were others who felt the same way, and a movement was formed. They called themselves “transracial.” They made up fancy, official sounding terms like “race identity” and “race reassignment surgery.” They demanded special rights and government-mandated benefits such as affirmative action and reparations.

Okay, that hasn’t happened yet (that I know of). The whole idea is pretty ridiculous, right?

Try this on for size:

Sean was a burly truck driver. Growing up, he always felt something was wrong. He preferred Barbie to G.I. Joe and didn’t like football or the other things boys were supposed to like. Rather, he got twitterpated by the way pantyhose felt against his skin and eventually made the self-determination that he was, in fact, a woman trapped in a man’s body.

There were others who felt the same way, and a movement was formed. They called themselves “transgender.” They made up fancy, official sounding terms like “gender identity” and “gender reassignment surgery” and demanded they be granted special rights and government-mandated benefits.

Get the picture?

 Author David Blankenhorn

By Peter LaBarbera 

David Blankenhorn of the Institute for American Values — who has done tremendous work in defending the institution of marriage and in making the case against “same-sex marriage” — has now proclaimed the “equal dignity of homosexual love.” This has earned him high praise from a leading homosexual “same-sex marriage” advocate, Jonathan Rauch. Watch their 3-minute video debate segment on “Bloggingheads.tv,” “Does opposing gay marriage make you a homophobe?” online here: http://bloggingheads.tv/video.php?id=386&cid=2311.

How utterly tragic is this pronouncement by one of the world’s leading marriage advocates — who should know better than to go out on limb on the homosexual issue, apparently in solidarity with his homosexual friends and associates. (Click HERE to read Princeton professor Robbie George’s review of Blankenhorn’s latest book, The Future of Marriage, in National Review.)

On what basis and authority does Blankenhorn make this astounding claim about homosexuality? He is part of a growing trend of prominent “conservatives” (a label which Blankenhorn rejects) and self-professed Christians who have decided that they disagree with what the Bible says about homosexuality.

At least Blankenhorn is honest enough to state openly that he disagrees with the Word of God — most people at his level are not, preferring to play a double-game of proclaiming their fealty to Biblical truth, reason and tradition while actually undermining them all. On page 210 of The Future of Marriage, Blankenhorn writes:

“I am a Christian, I take the Bible seriously, and I know what the Bible says about homosexuality. I disagree with the Bible on this point. Or if you’ll permit me, I believe that Jesus’ teachings are inconsistent with the idea that today in the United States we should judge people as blameworthy just for being gay or lesbian.”

That puts Blankenhorn’s latest statements on homosexual “love” in perspective. Let’s hope and pray that he returns to truth on this issue, and that his friend Jonathan Rausch leaves homosexuality behind.

Predictably, homosexual activists are already touting the “failure rate” revealed by this study. However, many of the same activists have denied that people can change their “orientation” (i.e., their homosexuality) at all, a claim that is belied by Jones’ and Yarhouse’s research and ample evidence in the real world. Hopefully, this will be the first of many serious studies proving the reality of change to skeptical secularists and the media.

Another factor from my experience as a close observer of the “ex-gay” phenomenon is that many former homosexuals do not linger in “reparative therapy” programs, or participate in them at all. They attribute their dramatic and (relatively) rapid transformation to the power of God, and likely would not show up in a study of this kind. In fact, these “unstudied” overcomers would appear to be the most successful ex-homosexuals because they’ve moved on with their lives — as “reborn” Christians move on after overcoming any besetting sin. Moreover, they are not proud of their former sinful lifestyle and may not even wish to discuss it.

Who knows how many thousands of formerly “gay” men and “ex-lesbians” fit into this category — who will likely never be a statistic in this type of research? — Peter LaBarbera

The following is taken from a Baptist Press report on the ex-“gay” study. For the full Baptist Press article, click HERE.

Landmark Study: Change for Homosexuals Is Possible 

By Michael Foust, Baptist Press

Sep 14, 2007

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–In what some are calling groundbreaking research, a new four-year study concludes it is possible for homosexuals to change their physical attractions and become heterosexual through the help of Christian ministries.

The data was released Sept. 13 at a news conference in Nashville, Tenn., and will be published in the forthcoming book, “Ex-Gays?” (InterVarsity Press) by psychologists Stanton L. Jones and Mark A. Yarhouse. Thirty-eight percent of the subjects followed in the study said they had successfully left homosexuality, while an additional 29 percent said they had had only modest successes but were committed to keep trying. In another significant finding, Jones and Yarhouse said attempts at conversions do not appear to be psychologically harmful.

Experts in the field call it the first scientific study performed on a sample of individuals undergoing Christian counseling, monitoring their successes and failures from the beginning. A follow-up study is being conducted and will be released in the future.

“These findings contradict directly the commonly expressed views of the mental health establishment that change in sexual orientation is impossible, and that if you attempt to change it’s highly likely to produce harm for those who make such an attempt,” Jones, professor of psychology at Wheaton College in Illinois, said at the news conference.

Note from “perfectly straight” yet foul-mouthed “Ben Lowrey,” sent today via the Americans For Truth website (emphasis added):

[E-mail subject header:] You people…
 

…are [f—–g] ridiculous. No wonder you were attacked on 9/11, Peter, you are probably a [f—–g] closet [sic] homosexual yourself that is so scared by who you are you have committed your entire life to defeating who you are. After you made [sic] it illegal to be gay, why [don’t] you try to re-enact slavery? [F—–g] people, a) you won’t win …history has constantly proven that evolution and acceptance will not only OCCUR, but will occur at an exponential rate. You lives have been wasted, good job, failures. Cheers, Ben
 

ps. [I’m] perfectly straight. 

Folks, you hear a lot of bad news these days, but here’s some very good news: men and women are leaving homosexuality and living a life in line with God’s moral precepts — not in rebellion against them. Click this “700 Club” link to watch a wonderful video segment about how God drew Charlene Cothran OUT of the homosexual activist movement. Cothran, who went from “gay” activist to Christian evangelist, will be speaking at Americans For Truth’s banquet on Friday, October 5, in Lombard, Illinois, outside Chicago. See below or click HERE for more details and how to sign up online.

I hope you can come hear Charlene on Oct. 5, and Massachusetts father David Parker, who is battling the dangerous homosexual pressure campaign to indoctrinate young schoolchildren in pro-homosexuality viewpoints — without their parents’ knowledge. This banquet will educate you with not one but two of the most compelling speakers in the world on the homosexual issue — and I promise that it will energize you in the fight for truth for the coming year. In the process, you will be supporting AFTAH’s mission of answering the lies of the “GLBT” (that’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender) movement, with information that the Political Correct media will not give you.

How to Sign Up for the Oct. 5 Banquet

Seats are filling up, so sign up today. You can do so using a VISA or MasterCard on our new Online Donations page HERE, or send a check for $50/seat (table of 10 for $500) to:

Americans For Truth
ATTN: Banquet Coordinator
P.O. Box 5522
Naperville, IL 60567-5522

You can also sign up using Paypal or your American Express or Discover card HERE. Call 312-315-6152 to place a credit order by phone or get more information.

One more thing: please consider buying a ticket for your pastor or priest to come to the banquet, and make arrangements for your teenage children, grandchildren, or their friends, to come. Many pastors are ignorant about these matters, or too timid to discuss them effectively from the pulpit. And so many young people these days are believing the lie that people are “born gay,” and that’s “who they are.” But in the case of Charlene, “being gay” is who she WAS.

Homosexuality is a changeable behavior, not a “proud,” inborn identity. Young people need to see real, live men and women who have overcome same-sex desires — to strengthen their faith in God, and help them to share this heartwarming truth with their peers.

So bring a teenager or college student to this banquet on Friday, October 5 to help inoculate them against pro-homosexual professors in college and against a pop culture that celebrates sexual experimentation and denigrates Biblical morality.

Watch this video about Charlene Cothran. Note how God turned her “pride” into shame: her transformation began when she felt ashamed at a “gay pride” event for African Americans, in Chicago! At the end of the video you can watch Pat Robertson’s heartfelt prayer for people caught up in homosexual sin. I don’t see any “hate” in this man who so many liberals love to … hate. Nope, instead I see the love of Christ for people who are going down the wrong road of homosexuality. In fact, none of the people of faith I know “hates” homosexuals; we simply disagree with them and want them to know the that same indescribable joy that lights up Charlene’s face, as you can watch on the video!

Charlene tells me that part of her new life is meeting all the pro-family leaders like Pat Robertson — people she once despised as a homosexual activist — and learning that they are kind-hearted folk who just believe the Bible and sincerely want men and women to find freedom through Jesus Christ.

It is a privilege to welcome Charlene back to Chicago, and this time without that sense of shame! I hope you can join me in hearing her God-glorifying testimony of COMING OUT … from homosexuality. See below or sign up online HERE, or CLICK THIS LINK for more information on the Oct. 5 banquet.

God bless you,

Peter LaBarbera

Americans For Truth

“Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.  Let all that you do be done in love.”  (1 Corinthians 16:13-14)

How to Sign Up for the Oct. 5 Banquet

Use your VISA or MasterCard on our new Online Donations page HERE, or send a check for $50/seat (table of 10 for $500) to:

Americans For Truth
ATTN: Banquet Coordinator
P.O. Box 5522
Naperville, IL 60567-5522

You can also sign up using Paypal or your American Express or Discover card HERE. Call 312-315-6152 to place a credit order by phone or get more information.

“Now, I know that someday I am going to come to what some people will say is the end of this life. They will probably put me in a box and roll me right down here in front of the church, and some people will gather around, and a few people will cry. But I have told them not to do that because I don’t want them to cry. I want them to begin the service with the Doxology and end with the Hallelujah chorus, because I am not going to be there, and I am not going to be dead. I will be more alive than I have ever been in my life, and I will be looking down upon you poor people who are still in the land of dying and have not yet joined me in the land of the living. And I will be alive forevermore, in greater health and vitality and joy than ever, ever, I or anyone has known before.”

D. James Kennedy, Ph.D., from the website of Evangelism Explosion, which Kennedy founded. The site also has a video memorial tribute and timeline on this amazing man’s life.

Dobson calls late pastor “a giant in the battle to restore traditional values in our nation”

  We certainly echo the statement of Dr. Dobson below. Dr. Kennedy’s worldly detractors — focused as they are on politics — most likely are unfamiliar with his true passion of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Through his entrepreneurial genius — and programs like Evangelism Explosion — he made it easier for millions of believers to share the truth of God’s gracious way to heaven, where Dr. Kennedy surely is today. — Peter LaBarbera

Focus on the Family Statement

Dr. Dobson Remembers D. James Kennedy

Calls late pastor “a giant in the battle to restore traditional values in our nation”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 5, 2007

Colorado Springs, Colo. — Focus on the Family founder and Chairman James C. Dobson, Ph.D., issued the following statement today upon learning of the death of Dr. D. James Kennedy:

“The Church has lost one of its truly significant figures, and American families have lost one of their most passionate, effective defenders. For decades, Dr. Kennedy has been a passionate defender of biblical truth in a culture that increasingly forgot it. He was a giant in the battle to restore traditional values in our nation.

“Most importantly, I believe, Dr. Kennedy would want to be remembered as a man whose greatest desire was to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Believers around the world are indebted to him for holding firm to that important calling.”

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