Homosexual Activists Heading for Willow Creek This Weekend

From "The Gay Activists are Headed for Our Churches" by Harry R. Jackson Jr., posted 6/2/08 at Townhall.com

While their letters and discourse promised civility, we believed that the invitation carried a veiled threat of picketing or disruption if we did not “talk.” Because of our church’s activism in religious freedom disputes, I have received death threats and intimidating e-mails and phone calls from individual gay activists. In light of this history, our church had a feeling akin to those of US leaders who have to decide whether or not to negotiate with terrorists.

Two Saturdays ago (May 24) the radical gay rights group, SoulForce, showed up at our church in Beltsville, MD for a “discussion/debate ” with our pastors. The next day their group of gay “families,” including children, attended one of our worship services. The group of 31 kept their word to act respectfully this time.

So why did they come to our church along with TD Jakes’ Potter’s House, Eddie Long’s New Birth Community Church, and Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church? And why are they going to Willow Creek Community Church and Saddleback Community Church? The answer is simple. Their goal is to force us to accept their lifestyle by slowly desensitizing us to their aberrant theology and practices. This change in tactics is an attempt to play the pity card. Continue reading...

Willow Creek Senior Pastor Bill Hybels has apparently decided to engage in a meal and conversation with SoulForce. We would suggest this is both unwise and unbiblical. Would Pr. Hybels even consider sitting down to a meal and dialogue with 'Christian' proponents of pre-marital sex, adultery, group sex, or bestiality?

Homosexual behavior is NOT morally superior to other kinds of sexual sin - regardless of the acceptance it currently enjoys in our culture. In fact, God calls it an abomination - suggesting that He considers it a particularly serious offense.

SoulForce is composed of people who claim to be Christians yet promote what amounts to out and out rebellion to the clearly expressed will of God. The Bible is also clear about how we are to respond:

But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindlers not even to eat with such a one. - I Corinthians 5:11

Interestingly enough, homosexual activists seem to understand what Pr. Hybels does not. Dialoging with "wolves in sheeps clothing" lends credibility - to the wolves...

Recently, an American Psychiatric Assoc. symposium on the subject of reparative therapy was canceled for precisely that reason. Homosexual activists protested because they did not want to lend credibility to the notion that change is possible for homosexuals. Homosexual activist Wayne Besen said this about it:

"The cancellation of this forum is welcome news because it gave the wrong impression that the American Psychiatric Association endorsed 'ex-gay' therapy, when, in fact, the organization soundly rejects such therapies."

Likewise, Bill Hybels sitting down for a meal and dialogue with SoulForce gives the impression that the acceptance of homosexual behavior in the church is something worth discussing.

Not to waste a good PR opportunity, SoulForce is predictably spinning the event for all it's worth. Here are excerpts from an article from the SoulForce website [which has since been pulled down, since my/this Blog article was first posted].

Jay Bakker Leads LGBT Families to Sup with Willow Creek Church

(Chicago. IL) Jay Bakker, star of the Sundance Channel series One Punk Under God, will be the clergy leader for a group of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) and straight-ally families who will join Rev. Bill Hybels and members of his Willow Creek Community Church for a meal and conversation on Sunday, June 8, 2008.

One of the dads coming to Willow Creek is Jeff Lutes, Executive Director of Soulforce. Lutes and his partner, Gary Stein, have three adopted children.

"Pastors like Bill Hybels are part of a new generation of evangelical leaders," says Lutes. "We're asking them to get to know us and our families, because -- looking beyond the things that divide us -- we believe that they can exercise a new kind of leadership by speaking out for the safety and inclusion of our families."

Also joining the church supper with Willow Creek will be Reverend Kevin Downer of Chicago's Metropolitan Community Church and his partner, Toby Bishop. In his ministry, Downer hears stories of LGBT members of Willow Creek who are denied opportunities to be of service because they are openly gay.

Sup? They make it sound like an intimate 'tete a tete' among friends. CLICK HERE to see Pr. Hybels' dining companions.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time Pr. Hybels has entertained wolves. In April, he gave a platform to apostate emergent church leader, Brian McLaren, to address youth ministry leaders at the Shift conference. Read about it HERE.

It should be noted that Pr. Hybels is not the only mega-church pastor who has agreed to meet with SoulForce. Thus far, it appears 4 out of 6 mega-church pastors, have followed suit. See the SoulForce website for a progress report of furthering the gay agenda.

Pray for discernment and wisdom for our Christian leaders. They surely need it in the growing darkness...

UK: Officer Labels Christian Preaching a 'Hate Crime'

-- From "Christian preachers face arrest in Birmingham" by David Harrison in the Telegraph 6/2/08

A police community support officer ordered two Christian preachers to stop handing out gospel leaflets in a predominantly Muslim area of Birmingham.

The evangelists say they were threatened with arrest for committing a "hate crime" and were told they risked being beaten up if they returned. The incident will fuel fears that "no-go areas" for Christians are emerging in British towns and cities, as the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, claimed in The Sunday Telegraph this year.

Arthur Cunningham, 48, and Joseph Abraham, 65, both full-time evangelical ministers, have launched legal action against West Midlands Police, claiming the officer infringed their right to profess their religion.

To read the entire article, CLICK HERE. Alternate coverage of the story is HERE.

Univ. of Wisconsin to be Headed by Lesbian

Advocates envision trend of homosexuals leading educational institutions

-- From "UW-Madison poised to name openly gay chancellor" by Ryan J. Foley, AP, posted at FOX News 5/30/08

MADISON, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin-Madison is set to become the biggest university with an openly gay leader, according to gay rights advocates who hail the appointment as a milestone for the movement.

Cornell University Provost Biddy Martin was recommended Wednesday to be the next chancellor at UW-Madison, a top national research university with 40,000 students.

Martin, the No. 2 official at Cornell since 2000, is a professor of women's studies and German studies and author of the 1995 book "Femininity Played Straight: The Significance of Being Lesbian."

About eight to 10 openly gay people have become college presidents and chancellors but mostly at small colleges, said Candace Gingrich of the Human Rights Campaign.

"None the size of UW-Madison," she said in a phone interview. "It is a big milestone, and it's part of the progress that we're seeing at the college and university levels. When you've got more and more openly gay faculty members and openly gay administrators, there are bound to be those who want to aspire to presidencies and chancellorships."

"They have been trailblazers in showing to the public that sexual orientation has little to nothing to do with their ability to do their job, although it definitely shapes their world view just like any other identity," [said Amit Taneja, co-chairman of the Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals.]

Students at the LGBT campus center erupted in cheers when they learned Martin got the job.

She was the only one of four finalists who stopped there to chat during her campus visit, said Eric Trekell, its director.

To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.

CO Law Allows Men to Use Women's Rooms

Ladies expected to flee pool locker rooms fearing men in women's swim suits -- advocates say fears overstated

-- From "Guv strikes state's gender-specific restrooms" © 2008 WorldNetDaily 5/29/08

With today's signature on SB200, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat, has eliminated gender-specific restrooms and locker rooms statewide, giving woman and girls reason to fear being confronted by predators, cross-dressers "or even a homosexual or heterosexual male," according to a critic.

The state's new "transgender nondiscrimination" bill makes it illegal to deny a person access to public accommodations, including restrooms and locker rooms, based on gender identity or the "perception" of gender identity.

Those who would attempt to protect females from this intrusion are subject to a fine of up to $5,000 and up to one year behind bars.

"And by the way, because of the way this bill is written, it is not subject to the initiative process. There is no recourse,” [said James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, the Christian publishing and broadcast ministry in Colorado Springs]

According to the bill, business owners and managers of restaurants, gyms, barber shops, massage parlors and managers of public facilities "of any kind whether indoor or outdoor" cannot deny a person employment or access to a facility based on gender identity or that "perception."

Dobson warned the Colorado bill now will be "coming to every state in the country."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

-- From "Ritter signs bill giving gays equal access to accommodations" by Mark Barna 5/29/08 in the Colorado Springs Gazette

Gov. Bill Ritter on Thursday signed a bill that makes it illegal in Colorado to discriminate against gays, bisexuals and transgendered people when buying a home, renting an apartment or using public accommodations.

"The governor felt that this bill, SB200, was about fairness and treating people equally," said Evan Dreyer, spokesman for the governor's office. "It essentially updates anti-discrimination laws that in some cases have not been updated for 50 years."

Bruce DeBoskey, regional director of Denver's Anti-Defamation League, a civil rights organization, said the law is a step forward for Coloradans.

. . . DeBoskey denounced Dobson's view.

"It is unfortunate that they feel they have to exaggerate the dangers and play on people's fears," DeBoskey said. "This law is about fairness and justice for all people living in this state."

"The passing of this bill shows that Colorado is a progressive state."

To read the entire Gazette article, CLICK HERE.

You Won't Believe Your Ears...

Education 'experts' admit they wouldn't support abstinence education, even if they believed it worked...

I guess it's not about what's best for kids after all...

From "The Right Question" with Stuart Shepherd, posted 5/30/08 at Citizenlink.com

Click HERE to watch the short, but very revealing video illuminating the true agenda of these people - to sexualize our kids.

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. -John 3:19

Courageous School Board Members Take a Stand in CA

School board members condemned for voting to support initiative protecting kids from LGBT indoctrination

From "Sex indoctrination opponents are like Hiter" posted 5/28/08 at WorldNetDaily.com

A school board member in California says those who oppose the state's SB777, a law approved by last year's legislature and signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that restricts public schools to teaching only positive perspectives of homosexuality, are "like Hitler."

The report comes from Karen England of Capitol Resource Family Impact, which is working on the Save Our Kids campaign to assemble enough petition signatures in the state to put SB777 on the 2008 election ballot.

"Last night the West Covina Unified School Board took a bold stand for families and our values by voting to pass a resolution supporting the Save Our Kids initiative," said England's report. "This is the first local school board to publicly protest SB777 and its harmful policies."

"Three brave members of the school board voted to support Save our Kids: Steve Cox, Mike Spence and Camie Poulos. However, two members refused to support the Save Our Kids resolution: George Fuller and Jessica Shewmaker," she said.

Read the rest of this article.

Please consider contacting these three courageous people to offer them your encouragement for rejecting the easy road of silence preferred by most.

1717 West Merced Ave.
West Covina, CA 91790

Phone: 626-939-4600
Fax: 626-939-4701

What happens when LGBT activists are given the power to influence children?

This video of the recent Massachussets Youth 'Pride' event will answer that question, at least in part. Click HERE to view...

This event was:

• Tax-payer funded
• Organized by LGBT adults for middle school and high school kids
• included Youth Gay ‘pride’ parade
• also “Queer Youth” Prom

Even worse...

“Gay Christian” propaganda was passed out to the kids:

*"Reading the Bible with New Eyes" - a pamphlet that portrays Jesus as having had a homosexual affair with Lazarus and Mary as a lesbian. It also describes the Book of Acts as "defining a lesbian and gay 'nation'". It also states that Jesus "was a functional, if not physical, eunuch." READ pamphlet (PDF)

*"Queer Spirituality" - "Coming out is a life long spiritual practice. Because we live in a heterosexist society, Queers will always be invited to claim their unique identity." Read pamphlet (PDF)

*"Embraced for a Spiritual Journey" Invitation to worship at "a Christian church in the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer communities" which has "reclaimed from the homophobia and transphobia of the mainline church tradition that was the heart of the ministry of Jesus Christ." READ pamphlet (PDF)

*"History of Saints Servius and Bacchus", handed out by a man dressed as a Catholic friar, claiming that these two Catholic saints were actually homosexual lovers. READ pamphlet (PDF)

*"Catholic Theological Defense of Same-sex Marriage" pamphlet which states that there is "no moral right to declare marriage off limits to persons whom God has made gay" and that the Pope "is definitely wrong and he will be corrected some day by one of his successors." (Also handed out by the abovementioned "friar".) READ pamphlet (PDF)

NOTE: The MA Senate just approved $850,000 in funding for LGBT programs in public schools.

NY Gov. Orders Homosexual 'Marriage' Recognized

Building the gay highway from California to New York -- 'Marry' west and live east

Only a Federal Marriage Amendment can preserve the family now. Ask the presidential candidates to state their position; send a one-click E-mail (IL residents)

-- From "Gay rights advocates score wins in NY, Calif" by Michael Gormley, AP 5/29/08

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Gay rights advocates had reason to celebrate on both coasts Thursday, with New York set to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere and California preparing to begin issuing marriage licenses to gay couples on June 17.

Hours after California issued a directive Wednesday authorizing that date, word came that New York Gov. David Paterson instructed state agencies — including those governing insurance and health care — to immediately change policies and regulations to recognize gay marriages.

New York residents [can] flock to California, where gay couples will be able to wed beginning June 17 — unless that state's Supreme Court decides to stay its own ruling same-sex gay marriage. Upon their return home, in the eyes of the state, their unions would be no different from those of their heterosexual neighbors.

Paterson spokeswoman Erin Duggan said the May 14 memo is intended to guide the actions of state agencies. It states that agencies must change policies and regulations to make sure "spouse," "husband" and "wife" are clearly understood to include gay couples.

In California, a group opposed to gay marriage has asked the state Supreme Court to grant a stay of its May 15 ruling until after the November election, when voters are likely to face a ballot initiative that would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Passage of the initiative would overrule the Supreme Court.

Justices have until June 16 to rule on the stay request, according to the memo sent Wednesday by e-mail to the state's 58 county clerks.

The guidelines from Janet McKee, chief of California's office of vital records, contained copies of new marriage forms that include lines for "Party A" and "Party B" instead of bride and groom. The gender-neutral nomenclature was developed in consultation with county clerks, according to the letter.

"Effective June 17, 2008, only the enclosed new forms may be issued for the issuance of marriage licenses in California," the directive reads.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

-- From "New York to Back Same-Sex Unions From Elsewhere" by Jeremy W. Peters, posted on The New York Times 5/29/08

ALBANY — Gov. David A. Paterson has directed all state agencies to begin to revise their policies and regulations to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions, like Massachusetts, California and Canada.

In a directive issued on May 14, the governor’s legal counsel, David Nocenti, instructed the agencies that gay couples married elsewhere “should be afforded the same recognition as any other legally performed union.”

The revisions are most likely to involve as many as 1,300 statutes and regulations in New York governing everything from joint filing of income tax returns to transferring fishing licenses between spouses.

In a videotaped message given to gay community leaders at a dinner on May 17, Mr. Paterson described the move as “a strong step toward marriage equality.” And people on both sides of the issue said it moved the state closer to fully legalizing same-sex unions in this state.

“Very shortly, there will be hundreds and hundreds and hundreds, and probably thousands and thousands and thousands of gay people who have their marriages recognized by the state,” said Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell, a Democrat who represents the Upper West Side and has pushed for legalization of gay unions.

The directive is the strongest signal yet that Mr. Paterson, who developed strong ties to the gay community as a legislator, plans to push aggressively to legalize same-sex unions as governor. His predecessor, Eliot Spitzer, introduced a bill last year that would have legalized gay marriage, but even as he submitted it, doubted that it would pass. The Democratic-dominated Assembly passed the measure, but the Republican-led Senate has refused to call a vote on it.

Short of an act by the Legislature, the directive ordered by Mr. Paterson is the one of the strongest statements a state can make in favor of gay unions.

Groups that oppose gay marriage said the governor was essentially trying to circumvent the Legislature.

“It’s a perfect example of a governor overstepping his authority and sidestepping the democratic process,” said Brian Raum, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a national organization opposed to same-sex marriage. “It’s an issue of public policy that should be decided by the voters.”

In the directive, Mr. Nocenti wrote that state agencies should review all rules and regulations to determine whether they conflict with recognition of same-sex marriages and report back to him by June 30. Mr. Nocenti said that state agencies that did not provide “full faith and credit to same-sex marriages” could be subject to liability.

It is less clear what the directive means for state policies that are not enforced by state agencies but by the courts, like those that govern child custody . . .

To read the entire second article, CLICK HERE.

For background, read Activist NY Judges Recognize Same-sex Marriage

'Traditional Black Churches' Criticized as Homophobic by Obama

-- From "Obama Praised Wright, Criticized Traditional Black Churches on Homosexuality" by Penny Starr, CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer 5/29/08

(CNSNews.com) - In an Apr. 10 interview with The Advocate magazine, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said "homophobic" messages are coming from the pulpits of black churches because blacks attend church more regularly than other people and interpret the Bible more traditionally. In the same interview, Obama praised the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright, his former pastor and long-time spiritual adviser, for being on the right side of the homosexual debate.

"There's plenty of homophobia to go around, but you have a unique perspective into the African-American community," Kerry Eleveld, news editor of The Advocate, a homosexual publication, said to Obama, during the interview.

"I don't think it's worse than in the white community," Obama replied. "I think that the difference has to do with the fact that the African-American community is more churched and most African-American churches are still fairly traditional in their interpretations of Scripture."

"And so from the pulpit or in sermons you still hear homophobic attitudes expressed," said Obama. "And since African-American ministers are often the most prominent figures in the African-American community, those attitudes get magnified or amplified a little bit more than in other communities."

"I mean, ironically, my biggest ... the biggest political news surrounding me over the last three weeks has been Reverend Wright, who offended a whole huge constituency with some of his statements but has been very good on gay and lesbian issues," Obama said. "I mean he's one of the leaders in the African-American community of embracing, speaking out against homophobia, and talking about the importance of AIDS."

In an essay entitled "What do I tell my Children?" that was published in the August 2007 issue of Trinity United Church of Christ's Trumpet Magazine, Wright criticized "black evangelism."
"My grandson, Jeremiah, has already run head-on into the contradiction called Christianity in his twenty-one years of life," Wright wrote. "He has seen the racism of Christianity that has produced slave castles and white supremacy. He has also seen the ignorance calling itself 'Black Evangelism' which produces a religion of hatred, gay bashing and heterosexism."

To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.

Gay Marriage: Even Liberals Know it's Bad

The unavoidable consequences on children and society

-- From "Gay Marriage: Even Liberals Know It's Bad" by Frank Turek, Townhall.com, posted 5/26/08

Why not legalize same-sex marriage? Who could it possibly hurt? Children and the rest of society. That’s the conclusion of David Blankenhorn, who is anything but an anti-gay “bigot.” He is a life-long, pro-gay, liberal democrat who disagrees with the Bible’s prohibitions against homosexual behavior. Despite this, Blankenhorn makes a powerful case against Same-Sex marriage in his book, The Future of Marriage.

He writes, “Across history and cultures . . . marriage’s single most fundamental idea is that every child needs a mother and a

father. Changing marriage to accommodate same-sex couples would nullify this principle in culture and in law.”

How so?

The law is a great teacher, and same sex marriage will teach future generations that marriage is not about children but about coupling. When marriage becomes nothing more than coupling, fewer people will get married to have children.

So what?

People will still have children, of course, but many more of them out-of wedlock. That’s a disaster for everyone. Children will be hurt because illegitimate parents (there are no illegitimate children) often never form a family, and those that “shack up” break up at a rate two to three times that of married parents. Society will be hurt because illegitimacy starts a chain of negative effects that fall like dominoes—illegitimacy leads to poverty, crime, and higher welfare costs which lead to bigger government, higher taxes, and a slower economy.

Are these just the hysterical cries of an alarmist? No. We can see the connection between same-sex marriage and illegitimacy in Scandinavian countries. Norway, for example, has had de-facto same-sex marriage since the early nineties. In Nordland, the most liberal county of Norway, where they fly “gay” rainbow flags over their churches, out-of-wedlock births have soared—more than 80 percent of women giving birth for the first time, and nearly 70 percent of all children, are born out of wedlock! Across all of Norway, illegitimacy rose from 39 percent to 50 percent in the first decade of same-sex marriage.

Anthropologist Stanley Kurtz writes, “When we look at Nordland and Nord-Troendelag — the Vermont and Massachusetts of Norway — we are peering as far as we can into the future of marriage in a world where gay marriage is almost totally accepted. What we see is a place where marriage itself has almost totally disappeared.” He asserts that “Scandinavian gay marriage has driven home the message that marriage itself is outdated, and that virtually any family form, including out-of-wedlock parenthood, is acceptable.”

But it’s not just Norway. Blankenhorn reports this same trend in other countries. International surveys show that same-sex marriage and the erosion of traditional marriage tend to go together. Traditional marriage is weakest and illegitimacy strongest wherever same-sex marriage is legal.

You might say, “Correlation doesn’t always indicate causation!” Yes, but often it does. Is there any doubt that liberalizing marriage laws impacts society for the worse? You need look no further than the last 40 years of no-fault divorce laws in the United States (family disintegration destroys lives and now costs tax payers $112 billion per year!).

To read the rest of the article, CLICK HERE.

UK: Christian Non-profit Forbidden to Hire only Believers

Ruling says only the court can define the Christian organization's beliefs

-- From "UK Christian Charity May not Retain All-Christian Hiring Policy" by Hilary White posted on LifeSiteNews 5/26/08

READING, UK - Backed by the vociferously anti-Christian British Humanist Association (BHA), an Employment Tribunal has ruled that a Christian learning disabled charity may not maintain its policy of hiring exclusively practising Christians. The employment tribunal judged that the charity, Prospects, may not implement a policy of hiring only believing Christians on its staff on the grounds that it receives public funding and has hired non-Christians in the past. Further, the Tribunal ruled that a religious organisation was not qualified to judge what constitutes a "religious ethos" for purposes of hiring policies.

The Tribunal in Abergele, North West Wales this weekend ruled that only a court, not the organisation itself, may make an objective assessment of what constitutes its "religious ethos".

. . . The British Humanist Association called the decision a "landmark" that will broadly affect the right of Christian charities in the UK. Under current British law, religious organisations may maintain a religious hiring policy, but only if they can show that a particular religious belief is a "genuine occupational requirement".

Hanne Stinson, BHA Chief Executive, said, "A clear message has been sent out by this decision: that blanket discrimination in employment policies and practices on grounds of religion or belief is simply unacceptable, and that an instruction to discriminate against someone on the basis of that person's religion or belief will be unlawful."

. . . Governments in the UK and abroad are increasingly hostile to Christian organisations that attempt to maintain their religious identity. A very recent similar case in Canada ended when a Christian charity abandoned its employee code of conduct after a Human Rights Tribunal judged that it discriminated unfairly against people involved in the homosexual "lifestyle". Ontario-based Christian Horizons was fined $23,000 as punishment for attempting to maintain a Christian code of conduct for employees.

In a statement similar to that of the BHA, Barbara Hall, the Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission opined, "This decision is important because it sets out that when faith-based and other organizations move beyond serving the interests of their particular community to serving the general public, the rights of others, including employees, must be respected."

To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.

Will the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) be Repealed?

If so, the effect would be legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide.

-- From "Dem Senators Divided on Obama's Call for Repealing Defense of Marriage Act" by Josiah Ryan, CNSNews.com Staff Writer 5/21/08

On the Spot (CNSNews.com) - A sampling of Senate Democrats expressed sharply divergent views yesterday on whether they would support Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) call to "fully repeal" the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which in the wake of this week's California Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage as well as a similar 2003 decision by the high court of Massachusetts, would have the effect of legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide.

Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) said she would support Obama's position, while Sens. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Thomas Carper (D-Del.) said they would not. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) expressed surprise that Obama had taken a position in favor of full repeal of DOMA.

The Defense of Marriage Act, signed into law by President Clinton in 1996, protects states from having to recognize same-sex marriages contracted in other states. Ordinarily, under the "Full Faith and Credit Clause" of the Constitution, states are required to recognize "the public Acts, Records and judicial Proceedings of every other State."

"Obama also believes we need to fully repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally recognized unions," his campaign Web site says.

To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.

Two Preachers Arrested for Talking About Jesus in Public

The pair, including an American, will face July trial in Norway for carrying a sign at a freedom celebration.

"If people really understand what it costs to preach the Gospel, you'll understand the times we are in."

-- From "2 arrested for talking about Jesus" by Bob Unruh on WorldNetDaily 5/22/08

Larry Keffer, who works through the Biblical Research Center in Tampa, Fla., was accompanied by Norwegian evangelist Petar Keseljevic when both were arrested for sharing the Gospel along a parade route in Oslo, Norway, according to officials with the International Human Rights Group.

"Larry and Petar were standing in pedestrian areas behind the crowds gathering for the celebration holding an evangelical sign and sharing the Gospel with those who were gathered for the parade," [Spokesman Joel Thornton of] the IHRG said.

"Police asked them to move away from the palace of the king and take their message anywhere else along the route. They moved and were then approached by other police officers. Larry was never told that he would be arrested if he did not leave. One of the officers talked with Petar in Norwegian for a few minutes and then arrested them both," the IHRG said.

"The two men were not even preaching. Petar was holding a sign on a tall post and both men were conversing with the crowd. They were not using a bullhorn and their message was one of the need to be born again," Thornton told WND.

The sign read: "Only Jesus can save you from hell, read the Bible for the details."

"Several people cursed them and one person cursed America since one of the men was American," he said.

Thornton said the IHRG is working with a team of Norwegian lawyers to try to resolve the case against the two ministers.

To read the entire article and view the videos, CLICK HERE.

Judge Rules Sex Change for 12-year-old Girl

A judge has provoked controversy in Australia by ruling that an unnamed girl may began hormone treatment to block puberty, per an application from her mother for her to begin to reassign her gender.

-- From "Judge gives girl, 12, go-ahead to change sex" by Nick Squires in Sydney, posted at the Telegraph 5/26/08

A family court judgment said it was important to act quickly to prevent the onset of puberty as the girl dreaded the prospect of menstruation and developing breasts, and had threatened self-harm.

It was reported yesterday that during a hearing in December, the court heard that the girl from Victoria had thought of herself as a boy since the age of four. Several medical experts, including a psychiatrist, backed her application for a sex change.

"In my view, and on all the evidence, the treatment is in [the child's] best interests," the judgment said.

Further court applications will have to be made if the child wants to take the process further. Surgery to remove her womb and ovaries or construct a penis cannot be performed before the age of 18.

But the child's father bitterly opposed the decision, in part because of his daughter's young age, the court was told.

A medical ethicist, Dr. Nicholas Tonti-Filippini, said the decision was astounding. "Twelve is a time of great uncertainty for a young person ... I would question whether the medical evidence supports treating [her] in this way."

To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.

IL Congressmen Kirk & Biggert Fight Against Pro-life Effort

. . . by urging President Bush to rebuff social conservatives who want to cut federal funding for Planned Parenthood

-- From "GOP factions face off on abortion counseling" by Alexander Bolton, posted on TheHill 5/22/08

Illinois residents, CLICK HERE to E-mail your congressman on this Title X issue (HR 4133).

A group of [twelve] centrist House Republicans are squaring off with GOP conservatives on a sensitive issue touching on abortion.

“We read with interest in a recent Hill article that a number of advocacy organizations have urged you to modify Title X regulations,” the group of House Republicans, led by Rep. Mark Kirk (Ill.), wrote in a letter to Bush. “Changing the long-upheld regulations in a way that would restrict access to basic healthcare would be detrimental for many Americans.”

The Hill reported in early May that leading conservative advocacy groups had sent Bush a letter to reinstitute Reagan-era regulations that would strip federal funding for groups counseling patients on abortion.

“I am hopeful that President Bush will follow both President Reagan and his father’s presidency and ensure the non-abortion funding that flows to family planning through Title X does not indirectly support abortion referral or abortion services,” said Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), who has discussed the issue with Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt.

Reagan implemented the regulations more than 20 years ago, which the Supreme Court upheld in 1991. Former President Bill Clinton rescinded them shortly after taking office.

Conservatives expected Bush immediately to reinstate the counseling ban, but more than seven years have passed without action.

“We respectfully ask that you make the necessary changes to the Title X regulations, so that U.S. taxpayers’ funds are not used to promote and facilitate abortion,” leading conservative activists wrote in a May letter to Bush. “Collocation of family planning and abortion facilities sends the wrong message, defies congressional intent and should not be allowed.”

Title X provides nearly $300 million to family planning groups [including Planned Parenthood].

To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.

CA Church Positions Vary on Same-sex Marriage Debacle

Liberal and conservative congregations alike discuss whether gays and lesbians will be allowed to wed in their churches, synagogues and temples.

-- From "Coming to grips with same-sex marriage ruling" by Maria L. La Ganga, Hector Becerra and Rebecca Trounson, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers 5/20/08

Pastor Gregory L. Waybright struggled from the pulpit Sunday to reconcile the laws of God with the laws of man.

Though he wanted his church "to be a welcoming and loving house," he told worshipers at Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena, the California Supreme Court's decision last week to legalize gay marriage in California "is a contradiction of what God's word says."

"These are the kinds of issues every religion has to grapple with," said James A. Donahue, president of the Graduate Theological Union, a Berkeley-based consortium of theological schools. "How do you factor in the role of contemporary human rights, civil rights, the data about homosexuality" with "core traditions and beliefs?"

. . . at All Saints Episcopal Church, the Rev. Susan Russell led a between-services forum on the religious, legal and political ramifications of the court's decision.

"The justices have ruled in favor of the sanctity of marriage and against bigotry," Russell declared, as the audience cheered. "This is good news for all Californians."

[It's] personal for Russell, who celebrated her union with her partner in an official blessing ceremony two years ago. Russell said she and her partner haven't begun discussing what the new ruling will mean for them. As for her church, she said, "I'm glad we have 30 days to think it through."

William McKinney, president of the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley and a professor of American religion there, said the ruling was applauded on his campus, which is a multidenominational, theologically liberal Christian seminary.

At Second Baptist Church in Los Angeles, the Rev. William Epps said his congregation has been focused on its 123rd anniversary -- which it celebrated Sunday -- and has given no thought to the Supreme Court ruling.

Traditional Baptist churches "would not embrace same-sex marriages," Epps said, although he would be happy to devote a Bible study session to the matter if anyone wanted.

He himself has never been asked to bless a same-sex union. And what would he do if a homosexual couple asked him to marry them now?

"I'd have to prayerfully think about it," Epps said in an interview. "I would think it would be something I would have to seriously grapple with."

To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.

UK: Women Win Right to Children Without Fathers

Lesbian couples win landmark parental rights as requirement that fertility clinics consider a child’s need for a father is removed.

-- From "Women win right to children without fathers" posted at TimesOnline 5/20/08

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill will replace the rule with a “need for supportive parenting” after opponents were defeated in two votes by unexpectedly wide margins.

. . . The decisions mean that the legislation will grant the most significant extension to homosexual family rights since gay adoption was sanctioned.

It will stop fertility clinics turning away lesbians and single women because their children will not have a father or male role model. While the current law does not block such therapy, it is sometimes used to justify refusals.

. . . The law will now be brought into line with the Human Rights Act. The Bill will also allow both partners to be recognised as parents when lesbian couples conceive with donated sperm, or gay men use surrogacy. At present, only the natural mother or father is automatically considered to be a parent when gay couples have fertility treatment.

A Times/Populus poll last month found that 40 per cent of people were against the Government’s proposals and 32 per cent in favour. It also revealed a generational divide: while over-55s were strongly opposed, 18 to 34-year-olds were strongly in favour of reform.

To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.

California Decision Will Radically Change Society

"What is particularly amazing is that virtually none of those who support this decision...acknowledge this."

From "California Decision Will Radically Change Society" by Dennis Prager, posted 5/20/08 at Townhall.com

...If this verdict stands, society as we have known it will change. The California Supreme Court and its millions of supporters are playing with fire. And it will eventually burn future generations in ways we can only begin to imagine.

Outside of the privacy of their homes, young girls will be discouraged from imagining one day marrying their prince charming -- to do so would be declared "heterosexist," morally equivalent to racist. Rather, they will be told to imagine a prince or a princess. Schoolbooks will not be allowed to describe marriage in male-female ways alone. Little girls will be asked by other girls and by teachers if they want one day to marry a man or a woman.

The sexual confusion that same-sex marriage will create among young people is not fully measurable. Suffice it to say that, contrary to the sexual know-nothings who believe that sexual orientation is fixed from birth and permanent, the fact is that sexual orientation is more of a continuum that ranges from exclusive heterosexuality to exclusive homosexuality. Much of humanity -- especially females -- can enjoy homosexual sex. It is up to society to channel polymorphous human sexuality into an exclusively heterosexual direction -- until now, accomplished through marriage. But that of course is "heterosexism," a bigoted preference for man-woman erotic love, and therefore to be extirpated from society.

Any advocacy of man-woman marriage alone will be regarded morally as hate speech, and shortly thereafter it will be deemed so in law.

Companies that advertise engagement rings will have to show a man putting a ring on a man's finger -- if they show only women fingers, they will be boycotted just as a company having racist ads would be now.

Films that only show man-woman married couples will be regarded as antisocial and as morally irresponsible as films that show people smoking have become.

Traditional Jews and Christians -- i.e. those who believe in a divine scripture -- will be marginalized. Already Catholic groups in Massachusetts have abandoned adoption work since they will only allow a child to be adopted by a married couple as the Bible defines it -- a man and a woman.

Anyone who advocates marriage between a man and a woman will be morally regarded the same as racist. And soon it will be a hate crime.

Indeed -- and this is the ultimate goal of many of the same-sex marriage activists -- the terms "male" and "female," "man" and "woman" will gradually lose their significance. They already are. On the intellectual and cultural left, "male" and "female" are deemed social constructs that have little meaning. That is why same-sex marriage advocates argue that children have no need for both a mother and a father -- the sexes are interchangeable. Whatever a father can do a second mother can do. Whatever a mother can do, a second father can do. Genitalia are the only real differences between the sexes, and even they can be switched at will.

And what will happen after divorce -- which presumably will occur at the same rates as heterosexual divorce? A boy raised by two lesbian mothers who divorce and remarry will then have four mothers and no father.

We have entered something beyond Huxley's "Brave New World." All thanks to the hubris of four individuals. But such hubris never goes unanswered. Our children and their children will pay the price.

Read this entire commentary. I believe it will prove to be prophetic...

MI Gay Activist Calls for Jail and Lawsuits for Dissenters Refusing to Recognize Same-sex Marriage

Says dissenters should be "publicly slapped"

From "Michigan Gay Activist Sean Kosovsky Backs Jail, Lawsuits, for Refusal to Recognize Homosexual Marriage" by Pete LaBarbera, posted 5/21/08 at Americans for Truth

LOS ANGELES — Michigan’s largest homosexual activist group says once marriage is legally redefined to include homosexual couples, business owners and even news media outlets who refuse to recognize such marriages should be jailed or sued and “publicly slapped,” a Jewish and openly bisexual columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News reported Monday.

Statements attributed in the column to homosexual lobbyist Sean Kosofsky, director of policy for the Detroit-based Triangle Foundation, were denounced Wednesday by American Family Association of Michigan President Gary Glenn, co-author of the Marriage Protection Amendment approved by voters in 2004 to constitutionally reaffirm the legal definition of marriage in Michigan as only between one man and one woman.

“The Triangle Foundation openly admits homosexual activists’ intentions, once they gain sufficient political power, to impose their radical social agenda on America by brute force, trampling cherished American values such as religious freedom, freedom of speech, academic freedom, and even freedom of the press if it stands in their way,” Glenn said.

Read the rest of this article.

Talk about bullying...

In the society homosexual activists have in mind, there is no room for freedom of conscience, religion, or speech. Dissenters will be punished.

In fact, people are already being punished for acting in accordance with and proclaiming God's design for human sexuality. Consider the following U.S. news stories from just the past two years:

• NM: Photographer Fined $6000 for Refusing to Photograph Same-Sex Ceremony
• Anti-Discrimination Law May Force the Closing of Catholic Charities
• University Fires Employee Specifically for Biblical View of Homosexuality
• Lesbian Couple Uses Legal System to Force Club to Give Them Family Membership
• Christian Group Loses Tax-Exempt Status for Refusing to Rent Property for Lesbian Civil Union Ceremony
• Philadelphia Evict Boy Scouts for Refusing Gay Men Access to Boys

Etc., etc., etc.

Yahoo Columnist Says Homosexuals "Should be our Role Model in Marriage"

Because they "take marriage seriously" and don't get "bent out of shape" over infidelity...

From "Hurrah for Gay Marriage" by Erica Jong, posted 5/18/08 at Yahoo News

I've never understood the objection to gay marriage. We humans are pair-bonding creatures and we seem to feel safest when coupled. It's not true for everyone, of course, but most of us eventually want a partner to merge our books and lives with. Marriage provides certain extremely useful perks: a partner to be with you when you are ill, someone to share your poverty or wealth with, someone to share your celebrations and devastations, someone to raise children with. You'd think the right wing would be pleased that gay people share the same needs as other Americans.

In the past, gay people had to adopt their lovers to leave them their goodies. Or they had to go without a next-of-kin to depend on in hospital. All sorts of legal mumbo-jumbo was required because marriage was forbidden. And why? Because a bigoted old Bible seemed to imply that God made Adam and Eve -- not Adam and Steve -- as the anti-gay faction likes to say.

I've often found that gay people are better at marriage than straight people. They don't get all bent out of shape about sex for sex's sake. At least this is true for gay men. And they don't run to bust up a perfectly cozy union because one member of the couple -- or both -- has a fling. Some couples are faithful and some not. And they seem to practice this without the territoriality and hypocrisy of mixed-sex couples. Actually, they should be our role models in marriage. They take it far more seriously than straight people -- perhaps because it was forbidden for so long.

Read the rest of the commentary, which goes on to suggest that those who uphold traditional marriage are unable to think rationally and are motivated by economic greed.

II Timothy 4:3-4: For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths (NIV).

Good News! UK Couple Who Won't Accept Homosexuality Win Right to Foster

From "Couple Who Won't Accept Homosexuality Win Right to Foster" at The Telegraph 5/11/08

Derby city council blocked an application from Eunice and Owen Johns to provide respite care for under-10s after they admitted they could never tell a child that being homosexual was acceptable.

However, the authority has backed down after the Johns, both devout Christians, threatened to seek a judicial review.

The couple, who have four grown-up children of their own, were celebrating on Sunday after learning by letter that they can resume the application process.

To read the rest of the article, CLICK HERE.