Ban on Political Endorsements by Pastors Targeted
Isn't it amazing how all of the political talk given by Rev. Wrong was not vilified by groups like the ACLU (Against Christ, Loves Ungodliness) or the Americans United for Separation of Church and State? Yet, when churches desire to have their freedom of speech, freedom of association, and freedom of religion rights reinstated through participating in "Pulpit Freedom Sunday" - which is designed to throw out this ridiculous 54 year old ban - the leftist groups start screeching and complaining!! They didn't threaten Obama's church (because they know the church agrees with their leftist ideology) but they certainly are quick to threaten Christ honoring, Bible teaching churches with punishment - claiming that their tax exemption status will be taken away.
What is wrong with this picture, people?
Plenty!!
Excerpts:
"For so long, there has been this cloud of intimidation over the church," ADF attorney Erik Stanley said. "It is the job of the pastors of America to debate the proper role of church in society. It's not for the government to mandate the role of church in society."
Defining its latest mission, the ADF declared that pastors have "too long feared" the loss of tax exemptions.
"We're not encouraging any congregation to violate the law," Stanley said. "What we're encouraging them to do is exercise their constitutional right in the face of an unconstitutional law."
Way to go ADF! I hope that hundreds of churches participate in Pulpit Freedom Sunday!!
rjwusa over at Digg makes a great point:
The 'kabash' was put into place under the Johnson(D) administration when the tax exempt laws were re-written to limit the speech within a church to not include political statements. A church should enjoy tax exempt status just as any other not-for-profit organization does. N.O.W. enjoys tax exempt status as does Jessie Jackson's Rainbow coalition. The Christian church contributes millions upon millions of dollars to charitable causes, and this alone should suffice as a valid reason for tax exemption. The 501(c)(3) tax exempt status is not equally administered across the spectrum. That alone should cause it to be trashed.
HT: Washington Post
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Update 9/9/08 @ 10:52 a.m. PT
Additional resource:
Alliance Defense Fund and Family Research Council's letter to thousands of pastors informing them of their free speech rights.
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Update 9/9/08 @ 11:05 a.m. PT
Over at my other blog Protect Biblical Marriage I have posted an article and link to the latest onslaught against traditional marriage from the rabid, homosexual agenda activists and advocates.
Slap in the Face Against Traditional Marriage
Mythbusters out in liberal licentious land may want people to think that:
There is no "homosexual legal agenda" - all that activists desire is "tolerance" and "equality".
Well, the following article will convince you otherwise! I encourage you to purchase the book offered at the end of the article. It will open your eyes (Just like the Marketing of Evil book did) to the real goal(s) of the homosexual legal agenda going on in America today.
From ADF:
These terms often mean different things to activists than to ordinary Americans. The homosexual agenda was outlined by activists Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen in a 1987 article titled “The Overhauling of Straight America,” and a 1989 book titled After the Ball.
These publications outlined a six-point strategy to dramatically change America’s perception of homosexual behavior.1 The six points were:
Talk about gays and gayness as loudly and often as possible.
Portray gays as victims, not aggressive challengers.
Give homosexual protectors a “just” cause.
Make gays look good.
Make the victimizers look bad.
Solicit funds: the buck stops here (i.e., get corporate America and major foundations to financially support the homosexual cause).
And this strategic campaign is not concerned with truth. As Kirk and Madsen said, "It makes no difference [if portrayals of homosexuals] are lies, not to us...not to bigots. We're talking about propaganda."
"Talk about gays and gayness as loudly and often as possible"
In “The Overhauling of Straight America,” Kirk and Madsen noted, “The principle behind this advice is simple: almost all behavior begins to look normal if you are exposed to enough of it at close quarters and among your acquaintances.”
The media has been a willing participant in this strategy. Conservative media critic Michael Medved remarked, “A Martian gathering evidence about American society, simply by monitoring our television, would certainly assume that there were more gay people in America than there are evangelical Christians."
Episodes of Will & Grace, and recently, Law & Order: SVU, have mocked those who have overcome homosexual behavior. Far from neutral, these shows attempted to discredit the effectiveness of counseling men and women who desire to leave the homosexual lifestyle.
After one particularly disturbing episode of Will & Grace, Mike Haley, a former homosexual who works with Focus on the Family, sent a letter to Jon Kinnally, the executive story editor of the show. In his response, Kinnally said:
“…come on, Mike, even you’ve got to admit that fags trying to pretend they’re straight is pretty funny. In response to your request for a meeting, well, I think I can read between the lines on that one. I’m about 6’1”, brown hair, green eyes, and I’m into rollerblading, baking cookies, and cleaning up afterwards. My dislikes include game-playing, negative attitudes, and condoms.”2
"Portray gays as victims, not aggressive challengers"
Despite demographic statistics to the contrary, homosexual activists have skillfully portrayed themselves as a victimized class in need of special protections. Closer examination shows just the opposite. According to The Human Rights Campaign, 82 percent of the Fortune 50 offer sex-partner benefits. What's more, a Comm Group/G Society study released in October 2001 shows that the median household income of homosexual households is $65,000 - compared to the national average of $40,800. Also, 47 percent of homosexual men and 40 percent of lesbians hold professional or managerial jobs - more than twice the figure for the general population.
"Give homosexual protectors a 'just' cause"
Activists have repeatedly turned tragedies into opportunities to advance the homosexual agenda. Matthew Shepard's murder was horrible: two nonreligious thugs shamefully and brutally killed this young homosexual man by hanging him on a fence to die. However, homosexual activists blamed this senseless crime on conservative Christian organizations such as Focus on the Family .3Appropriately, the media expressed outrage over this horrible killing.
Yet, the same media was virtually silent when 13-year-old Jesse Dirkhising was raped and murdered by homosexuals. Dirkhising's attackers drugged him, strapped him to a bed, gagged him with his own underwear, sodomized him repeatedly, and tortured and strangled him. This gruesome crime received coverage totaling 46 stories. In contrast, the Shepard murder saw more than 3,000 stories published.4
"Make gays look good"
Kirk and Madsen were well aware of the potential problems inherent in revealing too much, too soon, saying, “In the early stages of the campaign to reach straight America, the masses should not be shocked and repelled by premature exposure to homosexual behavior itself. Instead, the imagery of sex should be downplayed and gay rights should be reduced to an abstract social question as much as possible.” They added, “First let the camel get his nose inside the tent – and only later his unsightly derriere!”
Homosexual activists are subtle in their public demands as well, insisting that they want only "equality." This statement is heard the loudest in their demands for homosexual "marriage." Yet their plans for the institution of marriage are much bigger, and much more ominous. Activist William Eskridge admits he hopes gay marriage "will dethrone the traditional family based on blood relationships in favor of families we choose."5Michelangelo Signorile has told activists "to fight for same-sex marriage and its benefits, and then, once granted, redefine the institution of marriage completely...to debunk a myth and radically alter an archaic institution.... The most subversive action lesbians and gay men can undertake...is to transform the notion of 'family' entirely."6
Others tell us the goal is the abolition of marriage entirely.
"Make the victimizers look bad"
Perhaps most alarming is the growing trend of intolerance toward any individual who does not express complete and unconditional support for homosexual behavior. Betty Sabatino, an employee for a San Antonio bank experienced this animosity first hand. During a mandatory session of "fair employment practices," Betty participated in the question-and-answer portion (billed as a "safe zone") by asking why the company provided special considerations for employees based on sexual behavior. Her boss expressed "concern" about her question following the session, and within a few weeks, Betty was fired due to "management's loss of confidence" in her. 7
The Boy Scouts have faced unrelenting pressure and attack for refusing to admit homosexual scoutmasters to help lead and form the character of young boys. Columnist Mike Thomas of the Orlando Sentinel offered this opinion to the world:
"If I were the United Way, and all the agencies that depend on it, I'd build a big pile of wood with a pole stuck in the middle of it. Then I'd tie the leaders of the Boy Scouts of America to the pole, using only the most secure half-hitches and square knots. Then I'd rub two sticks together and work on that campfire merit badge."8
So much for tolerance.
"Solicit funds: the buck stops here"
The Gill Foundation reports that donations to gay and lesbian groups have grown to $100 million.9In stark contrast, many organizations lobbying for family values are constantly seeking cash just to keep the doors open.
For more on this subject, contact us about receiving a copy of The Homosexual Agenda: Exposing the Principal Threat to Religious Freedom Today.
Footnotes
1 Marshall K. Kirk and Erastes Pill, "The Overhauling of Straight America," Guide, November 1987.
2 Correspondence between Mike Haley of Focus on the Family and Jon Kinnally
3 Julia Duin, "NBC Flooded with Calls after Couric's Remarks: Family Groups Irked at Links to Death of Gay Man," Washington Times, October 16, 1998
4 Toby Harnden, "Liberal Media Ignores Rape-Killing of Boy, 13," The London Telegraph, March 30, 2001
5 William N. Eskridge, "The Case for Same-Sex Marriage," 1996.
6 Michaelangelo Signorile, "Bridal Wave," OUT, December-January 1994.
7 Robert Knight and Kenneth L. Ervin II, "Can I question Homosexuality? Don't Bank on It," from The Other Side of Tolerance: Victims of Homosexual Activism, Family Research Council, 1997,8.
8 Mike Thomas, "United Way Makes Giving Not Easy," Orlando Sentinel, July 23, 2001
9 Jim Hopkins, "Gay Entrepreneurs Pour Tech Cash into Causes," GFN.com, June 19, 2001.